BOB & DAVE'S (& TERRY'S & KELLY'S & CHRIS' & ALEJANDRO'S) EXCELLENT (RIVER) ADVENTURE (PART 2)
As you may recall, brother Bob & I scoped out the Congaree river earlier this summer, so that when we involved the family, we'd have some knowledge of the river on our next kayak trip. October 1st, 2006, the big day arrived. We set sail first upstream, then downstream. Armed with a cheap (non-waterproof) disposable one-time use camera, I intended to photograph the trip. I felt confident of my ability to keep the camera dry, so neglected to protect the camera from the water. Unfortunately, the river got the best of me at one point & flipped my kayak. . camera & all. The following water-spotted pictures capture the moments.

Here we are in front of the home of Brother Bob with 3 of the 4 kayaks. (left to right: Bob McGowan, Dave McGowan...a.k.a. Captain Morgan, & best friend Terry Edwards)

Thanks be to my neighbors John & Mary, who lent us their (2) one-man kayaks, life vests, trailer & all-important trailer hitch.

John & Mary

And we're off to Ft. Jackson to rent another kayak.

Chris & Kelly elect to share a long narrow two-man kayak that we’ve rented from Ft. Jackson.

Shortly thereafter, Kelly & Chris are out of their kayak & into the river, thanks to some hidden rocks & strong current. They get our help dragging the swamped kayak back to shore. Kelly loses her prescription glasses & her lip gloss. (the lip gloss turns up later. . .not so for the glasses)
Chris discovers that there isn't a scuttle-plug with which to drain the water from the rented kayak. It has to be rolled over to drain the water out..


This is how the river looks from inside my vest pocket. I accidently snapped a picture while trying to extract the camera from my vest pocket. This is the spot where Kelly & Chris flipped (notice the rocks).


Terry Edwards paddles upstream in Mary’s one-man kayak. The others are not far behind.





Heading upstream is harder than we anticipated, as two groups of our kayakers head towards the Gervais Street bridge






Yours truly, heading upstream in John’s one-man kayaks




Here, I pause to rest with Alejandro & Bob. I have to hang onto their paddles to stay along side of their kayak, so this picture can be taken

Alejandro, Bob & I re-think our original plan about going further upstream & decide to wait for the others at this point, then reverse our course & float downstream.

Now heading downstream, a trains rumbles by on the overhead trestle. Shortly after this shot was taken, the railcars that came by were laden with military tanks, mobile howitzers & armored personel carriers. I wonder where they are headed as they rumble by. I’m glad the old train bridge was designed to hold all that weight.


We re-group downstream as we discuss our strategy for getting through the next obstacle: The Old Granby Locks


Terry Edwards is next in line to enter the lock, as I bring up the rear.


In he goes


Point of no return


Success! Now, my turn. (incidentally, this is the last picture I was able to take before taking an unexpected swim. In my attempt to take a unique picture of everyone standing atop the lock, I misjudged the power of the current & just how top-heavy a kayak can be) My plan was to hang a U-turn near the lock exit, & paddle along-side the lock walls to a set of ladder rungs embedded in the wall, hold onto the rungs with one hand, while taking the picture of everyone with my left hand. What could go wrong? . . .Plenty. . as I was soon to discover.

As soon as I re-surface, several things become immediately apparent:

• I’m over my head in rough water


• My borrowed cooler & water bottle are on their way downstream


• Zip-lock bags are not waterproof & should not be used to keep cell phones & wallets dry


• I have little strength left in my arms to pull myself back atop my kayak.

Son Chris recognizes my plight & swims out to assist me. As soon as I drag myself & my stuff ashore, I notice daughter, Kelly is chasing something under the surface of the water near shore. I figure maybe it’s a little fish or something, but NO. . it’s a baby snake (probably poisonous). So I lift the water-logged camera (water draining out) & snap a picture. I have visions of the snake bitting her & her swelling up like a blimp, miles from civilization & medical attention. Fortunately, my worse fears were NOT realized & she let the snake go free.

Crisis behind me, I join the group atop the walls of Granby Locks. It is only now that I realize that my favorite hat & sunglasses are not on my head, but, instead, heading downstream with my water bottle. The afore-mentioned ladder rungs are visible on the wall, to my right.



This is the last picture I felt like taking, being doubtful that they’d even come out in the development process. (note the water spots)

In conclusion,
· a great time was had by all
· Kelly replaced her glasses the following week
· Chris’ cell phone began to function again after it dried out
· Cheap disposable cameras are pretty resilient

Next time, we’ll know better!