I brought this over from the old forum ...... just to prove that we never do anything wrong when out in our boats , so the new members of this forum can see that we are the experts.
We never paddle a canoe backwards, set up tents so the wind can blow them away or dunk our expensive cameras in a swamp so we can swim with the Gators. NO SIR ............NOT US.....NO WAY....We Know What We are Doing......Some of the time.
Bill Logan ( http://canoe-suwannee.com/ ) and myself wanted to get a bunch of pictures of the Gators in the Okefenokee Swamp and decided the easy way to do it was to go back with his metal canoe and a motor so we did not have to paddle the swamp for the pictures. Run back in with the motor , then shut down and paddle to get the pictures. This decision was made after padling the swamp several times.
Well, ....... Bill and I got to the Okefenokee in one piece and dropped the canoe in at the East Entrance (Suwannee Canal Rec Area ) put the motor on it and tried it out.
Bill's aluminum canoe with the 7.5 mercury will really scoot along and covers more water then paddling. When we would get to the area we wanted to photograph we would shut down the motor and paddle.
It seemed like a good idea because we could cover more water and get more pictures of the wildlife and gators. Man there are some gators in that area and they are not that hungry as we would find out later the next day.
Anyway we checked out Grand Prairie and part of Mizell Prairie the 1st day and then went back to the tents that were set up at traders Hill.
The next day (Tuesday) we loaded our gear in the canoe and got ready to go into the swamp.
We had a lot of cameras with us. I had a Nikon N60 with a 80 to 300 zoom micro lens and a 28 to 70 lens along with a waterproof Cannon. Bill had a new digital Olympus with a telephoto lens and a brand new digital cam corder along with a tape (Sony) recorder to document everything on. We were set for almost anything......The almost is what got us.
We took out of the marina and waved good by the local gator who likes to sunbathe in the marina next to our canoe and went into the swamp. We met some fishermen and chatted with them for a few moments and then proceeded up the canal to the Chase Prairie area or about 12 miles into the swamp.
In Chase Prairie we got some good shots of gators and wildflowers along with the normal swamp shots. Around noon we stopped for lunch and then started back down the canel to go to a location where we saw the big old boy the day before.
Going down stream we met the two fisherman again and exchanged pleasantries and then we left them......We did not know that in about 20 minutes we would see them again but under different conditions....
As I said that mercury really did make Bill's canoe scoot ......We were going downstream when the canoe (on the right side just off the center line hit a gator/log* that refused to move so it was up to the canoe to move and it DID...We did a 180 degree roll to the left and what was dry was now wet and the wet (bottom) of the canoe was in the sunlight and we were in the water and swamp with the critters.
*(Gator or log , that we hit. Bill and I can not agree on that , I was in the bow and told him it was a BIG GATOR)
I or we can tell you right now the mud is deep in that area because we were up to our chins in it. I felt around with my foot for something solid to stand on and felt something solid (without any bumps on it , a gator's back or tail) and knew it was a log.....good solid footing for now. Bill came sputting to the surface and found good footing and we grabbed the canoe...
While trying to save items I could hear an outboard motor running and it was the two fishermen. They saw the stuff floating and came over looking for us ....MAN was I happy to hear there motor and know that help was close by. Between there help and bill and myself we managed to flip the canoe back over and get most of the water out of it...Flipping a light weight canoe with a motor on it is hard to do when you are up to you neck in the water and gators and who knows what outer critters.
The fishermen (Sgt. G.W.Fisher, #1209, DeKalb Police, and his Father) gave us a ride in there boat and towed the canoe back to the marina. You never know when the Good Lord will smile on you and this day he was really smiling on Bill & I because if the Sgt and his father would not of been there Bill and I could still be there.
If anyone wants all of the cameras that we had with us and my glasses I can show you where they are but you will have to go swimming to get them, unless some nearsighted Gator is wearing my classes and using the cameras to take home movies and pictures of his family......... Ha Ha. By the way before anyone asks ......YES we were the largest thing that the Sgt and his father caught that day or drug out of the swamp.
As I said in this section.....Good or bad Let us know.
I was going to use the heading of
Chuck & Bill go Swamp Swimming and by the way the cameras are wrecked because water and the modern camera does not mix...
Chuck
We never paddle a canoe backwards, set up tents so the wind can blow them away or dunk our expensive cameras in a swamp so we can swim with the Gators. NO SIR ............NOT US.....NO WAY....We Know What We are Doing......Some of the time.
Bill Logan ( http://canoe-suwannee.com/ ) and myself wanted to get a bunch of pictures of the Gators in the Okefenokee Swamp and decided the easy way to do it was to go back with his metal canoe and a motor so we did not have to paddle the swamp for the pictures. Run back in with the motor , then shut down and paddle to get the pictures. This decision was made after padling the swamp several times.
Well, ....... Bill and I got to the Okefenokee in one piece and dropped the canoe in at the East Entrance (Suwannee Canal Rec Area ) put the motor on it and tried it out.
Bill's aluminum canoe with the 7.5 mercury will really scoot along and covers more water then paddling. When we would get to the area we wanted to photograph we would shut down the motor and paddle.
It seemed like a good idea because we could cover more water and get more pictures of the wildlife and gators. Man there are some gators in that area and they are not that hungry as we would find out later the next day.
Anyway we checked out Grand Prairie and part of Mizell Prairie the 1st day and then went back to the tents that were set up at traders Hill.
The next day (Tuesday) we loaded our gear in the canoe and got ready to go into the swamp.
We had a lot of cameras with us. I had a Nikon N60 with a 80 to 300 zoom micro lens and a 28 to 70 lens along with a waterproof Cannon. Bill had a new digital Olympus with a telephoto lens and a brand new digital cam corder along with a tape (Sony) recorder to document everything on. We were set for almost anything......The almost is what got us.
We took out of the marina and waved good by the local gator who likes to sunbathe in the marina next to our canoe and went into the swamp. We met some fishermen and chatted with them for a few moments and then proceeded up the canal to the Chase Prairie area or about 12 miles into the swamp.
In Chase Prairie we got some good shots of gators and wildflowers along with the normal swamp shots. Around noon we stopped for lunch and then started back down the canel to go to a location where we saw the big old boy the day before.
Going down stream we met the two fisherman again and exchanged pleasantries and then we left them......We did not know that in about 20 minutes we would see them again but under different conditions....
As I said that mercury really did make Bill's canoe scoot ......We were going downstream when the canoe (on the right side just off the center line hit a gator/log* that refused to move so it was up to the canoe to move and it DID...We did a 180 degree roll to the left and what was dry was now wet and the wet (bottom) of the canoe was in the sunlight and we were in the water and swamp with the critters.
*(Gator or log , that we hit. Bill and I can not agree on that , I was in the bow and told him it was a BIG GATOR)
I or we can tell you right now the mud is deep in that area because we were up to our chins in it. I felt around with my foot for something solid to stand on and felt something solid (without any bumps on it , a gator's back or tail) and knew it was a log.....good solid footing for now. Bill came sputting to the surface and found good footing and we grabbed the canoe...
While trying to save items I could hear an outboard motor running and it was the two fishermen. They saw the stuff floating and came over looking for us ....MAN was I happy to hear there motor and know that help was close by. Between there help and bill and myself we managed to flip the canoe back over and get most of the water out of it...Flipping a light weight canoe with a motor on it is hard to do when you are up to you neck in the water and gators and who knows what outer critters.
The fishermen (Sgt. G.W.Fisher, #1209, DeKalb Police, and his Father) gave us a ride in there boat and towed the canoe back to the marina. You never know when the Good Lord will smile on you and this day he was really smiling on Bill & I because if the Sgt and his father would not of been there Bill and I could still be there.
If anyone wants all of the cameras that we had with us and my glasses I can show you where they are but you will have to go swimming to get them, unless some nearsighted Gator is wearing my classes and using the cameras to take home movies and pictures of his family......... Ha Ha. By the way before anyone asks ......YES we were the largest thing that the Sgt and his father caught that day or drug out of the swamp.
As I said in this section.....Good or bad Let us know.
I was going to use the heading of
Chuck & Bill go Swamp Swimming and by the way the cameras are wrecked because water and the modern camera does not mix...
Chuck