The canoe vacation as therapy

I just came back from 4 days in the BWCA in Minnesota. 2 friends hauled my ass in a canoe to a site on Gabbro Lake. We had a 208 rod portage to even get to the putin on Little Gabbro. My dorsiflexion has vastly improved since this episode in 2008. No smashed toes or falls. The portage was great therapy, up hills and down and having to correct ankle stability all the time while carying a 40 lb. pack. Because I was the duffer in the center of the canoe I sat on one of the packs. It was terrifying. Within 20 yards I knew we would tip over unless I lowered my center of gravity in the boat. 50 yards away was Safety Island, a 15 yard long rock with 4 10-15 foot pine and evergreen trees on it. I managed to get into a kneeling position when we grounded there. After 1 attempt to run up the class 1 rapids separating little Gabbro from Gabbro. I directed us to the right eddy where we lined the canoe up. When asked later what I rated the chances of making it thru the rapids safely, '50%'. With over 40 years of paddling canoes and much hairy whitewater, duffing it with no control over the course of the boat was excruciatingly depressing.