Oh man, that's the worst. My own low point was trying to dry soaked notebook pages in a microwave. It made the ink run and the paper smell like burnt popcorn for a week. Totally wrecked a whole project's worth of sketches. Sometimes you just have to learn the hard way that paper and water are sworn enemies.
Back in my surveying days, we put our checklists in plastic sleeves to keep them dry. It worked until a gust of wind sent the whole set into a mud puddle. We spent an hour fishing out soggy, now unreadable sheets. That was the moment our crew finally caved and looked into digital options. Funny how it takes a real mess to change old habits.