By David Kennard
dkennard@journalscene.com
I watched in horror as my teenage son struggled to escape
his kayak in the fast moving water. He got sideways going around a bridge
piling, and the powerful current folded the wood framed boat in half.
The boat that we spent several weeks building together in
the garage was lost in a matter of minutes. For the first few seconds, he
worked to free his craft, but it quickly became obvious that if he didn’t get
out, the river would swallow both him and his boat together.
Sam pushed himself free of the cockpit and swam to safety
just as I landed my own kayak and ran along the rocky river’s edge to help.
Together we saw the brightly painted boat sink deeper
against the bridge standard until it became only a red blur under the torrent
of the clear mountain water.
We put that frightening moment in the past and quickly vowed
to build a new kayak, but school, work and life got in the way and a new boat
never got started.
When we moved to South Carolina a little more than a year
ago, we decided my surviving kayak would not come with us, but when we
discovered the inventory of navigable waterways throughout the Lowcountry, we
soon made plans to build two more boats.
Sam left for college last spring; and so the task fell to me
to carry out the project we once planned to build together.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to paddle a section
of the Edisto River as part of a press junket touting the new ercktrail.org web
site. More on that in a minute.
After that short paddle, I came home inspired to get going
on recreating the kayaks lost out West.
A craftsman I am not, but after spending a week of vacation
recently turning a few 2-by-6s and a sheet of canvas into a working kayak, I
ended up with a serviceable boat ready to tackle any of the backwater rivers
and swamps in the area.
I missed Sam. Working alone this time, I found it a more
challenging project -- drawing the canvas tight with my left hand and stapling
with my right. I made mistakes that my son would never have made had we been
working together.
The plan now is to find a sunny day to put the new boat in
the water for its maiden voyage. I’ll likely have a look at the ercktrail.org
site for some ideas.
If you haven’t been there yet, you really need to have a look.
It’s got many, many resources designed to help paddlers enjoy their trip.
One of the best features is a section-by-section description
of the Edisto River that provides details important to boaters or floaters.
It’s also got an interactive “Report It” section that allows river users to
report any river hazards, significant changes or good ideas related to using
the waterway.
The site was created in partnership with a number of public
and private organizations with the purpose of attracting more visitors to the
area. More visitors means more tourist dollars for the region.
The Edisto is a much different river than the mountain
stream that ate my son’s kayak; its black water moves along at what seems slow,
but its power is deceiving. Boaters that find themselves in the strainers of
overhanging branches or the eddies on the river’s edge understand that they are
little different than a small stick pushed along by the mighty Edisto’s
migration to the sea.
I look forward to putting it in sometime in the next few
weeks. And I look forward to getting back on the water with my youngest son
soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment