The Palmetto Paddler, Second Quarter 2000.

OFFICERS for 2000:

Karen Kustafik: President

Robin Roecker: Vice President

Dianne Mullis: Secretary

Rembert Milligan: Treasurer

Mandy Manuel: Member-At-Large

Ed Walshe: Member-At-Large

Ricky Odum: Cruise-Master (Whitewater)

Julia Raines: Membership

Parkin Hunter: Newsletter Editor

Bill Graves: Former President and Board Member

Steve Soltys: Cruise-Master

Open: Safety and Instruction

The Palmetto Paddlers meet on the last Tuesday of each month in the Gamecock Room of the Luther Lee Building, corner of Lincoln and Lady Streets in the Vista, Columbia, SC at 7:00 P.M. See us on the Web at http://community.columbiatoday.com/realcities/palmettopaddlers . Email the newsletter editor for club information.

The Palmetto Paddlers, Inc. is a non-profit corporation. Its purposes are to (1) encourage exploration of recreational waterways, (2) encourage preservation of waterways, i.e., conservation of forests, parks, wildlife, (3) promote enjoyment and appreciation of wilderness cruising and whitewater sports, (4) promote safety/proficiency in rescue/self-rescue, and (5) publish and demonstrate developments in all aspects of paddling.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

IT�S THE NEW YEAR. PLEASE PAY YOUR DUES. Membership in the Palmetto Paddlers is open to the public and new members are always welcome. Individual dues are $15 per year and family dues are $20 per year. Membership is for the calendar year, January 1 - December 31. E-mail the newsletter editor for a membership application. IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID YOUR DUES FOR 2000, please send your check to Rembert Milligan, Palmetto Paddlers, Inc., P.O. Box 984, Columbia, SC 29204. If you have paid but have not received your membership card, please contact Parkin Hunter @ t.hunter@scbar.org or mail the club.

LANDING CLEANUP

June 23, 2000

Under DNR�s Adopt-a-Landing Program, the Palmetto Paddlers has adopted the "Radio Towers" landing (also known as "Gardendale" or the "SCE&G Throw In") in West Columbia. From the Circle K/ 76 station at the Bush River Rd. exit from I-20 go .8 miles out Bush River Rd. away from Columbia to Garden Valley Lane (SC-32-938), turn left, go .3 miles, passing the railroad tracks and the Gardendale Swim and Racquet Club, until the road makes a 90 degree right turn. You will see the SCE&G sign for the landing on the left just after this bend in the road. We will hold a cleanup the evening of June 23, 2000. Meet at the landing as close to 6:00 pm as possible. Afterwards, we will plan to meet for wings, etc. For a map of the Lower Saluda showing this landing and the river rapids, go to http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/water/envaff/river/projects/saludamap.pdf. Please pick up some trash every time you visit this landing so we can keep it clean

TRIPS!!!!

June 11: Steve Soltys will lead "An Easy Afternoon Float." This will be a 3.5-mile trip down the Congaree, and after the Congaree�s intersection with the Wateree, the Santee, from the US 601 Bridge to Trezevant�s Landing. Contact Steve if you are interested. Look at http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=33.6886&lon=-80.6193&s=100&size=l for an online map of the route. By the way, www.topozone.com is a great source for online maps. Every USGS 7.5� quad for the lower 48 is available from the site. The largest alligator recorded in South Carolina was 13 feet, 1 inch. A poacher killed it more than a decade ago in Sparkleberry Swamp which is up river from Trezevant�s Landing. The mounted remains of this animal are now on display at the S.C. State Museum in Columbia. See < http://www.uga.edu/~srel/record.htm>.

June 17: Rembert Milligan is planning to lead a trip on Section III of the Chattooga over the weekend of June 17. Contact Rembert to sign up. Steve Soltys is also considering leading a trip on Section II this same weekend if there is enough interest from people that would like to take an open boat down an easy section of the Chattooga. If you have not been on the Chattooga, it is a beautiful river and this is a good opportunity for a relatively easy introduction to it. Contact Steve if you are interested. For information abut these sections of the Chattooga, check out the USDA Forest Service site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/fms/rec/Chattooga/chattoog.htm . We will plan to camp as one group and then divide up into those that want to do Section II and those that want to do Section III for the day. For those that are interested, there may be an opportunity to run from the Highway 76 Bridge to Woodall Shoals on Sunday.

July 22: Karen Kustafik will lead a trip on the French Broad with the Pigeon as a back up in case of low water. We will probably camp at Hot Springs. See http://www.hotspringsnc.org

for some information about the Hot Springs area. Contact Karen if you are interested.

August 5: Steve Soltys will lead a trip on the Augusta Canal. Designated a National Heritage area in 1996, constructed in 1845 and enlarged in 1875, the Augusta Canal along the Savannah River in Augusta, Georgia, survives as one of the most intact canal systems in the United States. Its original multipurpose mission of transportation, hydropower, and water supply makes it one of the best national examples of an efficient and fully integrated industrial canal system. Today, the canal remains part of the City of Augusta's water supply system, continues to supply hydropower to two textile mills, and provides outstanding educational and recreational opportunities. We will canoe a 7.0 mile stretch and see headgates, locks, fish ladders, and other historic structures along the towpath. Herons, alligators, and bobcats will share the Canal with us. See http://www.augustacanal.com for more information. You can see where the Augusta Canal parallels the Savannah River on this quad:

http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=33.5567&lon=-82.0437&size=l&s=25 . Contact Steve if you are interested.

TRIP PARTICIPATION POLICY

Trip participation requires a signed release. Participants must contact the trip leader or sign up at a regularly scheduled meeting. Participants are required to know their abilities and make their own decisions with regard to the trips taken. These are not "guided" or "outfitted" trips. Participants must be properly equipped for the trip chosen. PFD�s must be worn on all trips. On whitewater trips, participants must furnish properly outfitted (with flotation) whitewater craft and helmets must be worn. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent at all times unless the trip leader makes an exception in the leader�s sole discretion.

SOME LEGAL STUFF

The Palmetto Paddler is a publication of The Palmetto Paddlers, Inc. Views and opinions expressed in articles and editorials are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the official views and policies of the Palmetto Paddlers, Inc. The Palmetto Paddler is not copyrighted, and all material published herein and not individually designated as copyrighted may freely be copied, reprinted, republished or otherwise disseminated to any other paddling organization. Credit is appreciated. CAUTION: Paddling is dangerous and rivers vary on every trip. You are responsible for your own trip decisions. Trip summaries are for your convenience and cannot be relied upon to be accurate on any given day or for purposes of determining safety on a river.

CLASSIFIED ADS

$100.00 - 1991// 92 Perception Corsica S. Kayak. Well used, on both top and bottom! This boat is good only for pool sessions, class one & two rapids, and lake. The integrity of the boat would not qualify it for Class III and above. Included in price is medium size, well used Perception spray skirt. The boat does not have foot braces, nor hip pads.

$25.00 - 1991/92 Perception Fiberglass Shaft Kayak paddle. Well used, length is 204 cm., 90 degree fixed blades. Would make good training paddle, or possibly convert to a break down reserve paddle.

Free- ExtraSport yellow canoe PFD, size medium or large. Has zipper & cinch belt. Good for training, or seat cushion.

$25.00 - 198?-1991 Perception Whitewater paddle, approximately 58 cm, fiberglass construction. Well used.

$500.00, {OBE}, Moss Stardome III, 4 season, like new condition, used approximately three or four weeks.Dimensions are approximately 8 feet Long x 7 feet Wide and has high ceiling.

$300.00, North Face VE 25, 4 season tent. Like new condition, used 4 days.

Dimensions are approximately 111" Long x 70" max. width x 53" high.

$250.00, Sierra Designs Comet CD, 3 season tent, like new condition, used approximately three or four weeks. Dimensions are approximately 100" Long x 75" wide x 53" high.

Contact: George Tansil or call 803-781-9450 and Leave Messag: all prices are firm, unless otherwise noted.

The Palmetto Paddlers, Inc. makes no warranties or representations with regard to the classified ads. These are the responsibilities of the sellers only.

CLUB TRIP REPORTS

April, 2000, Lumber River: The club had a wonderful float down one of many sections of the beautiful flatwater Lumber River this past April. The river was loaded with interesting flora and fauna and is known to house alligators, though none were spotted on this outing. We also discovered spots provided by the paper company which are set aside for canoe camping and picnicing. The Lumber River State Park, one of NC�s newest, provided a lovely group camp area with water and bathrooms nearby, but no showers. Group camping rates were extremely reasonable and reservations can be made by e-mail or phone. The park also has a canoe camping section located on another section of the river. There is detailed information on the various sections of the river available at the Yahoo Club http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/lumberrivermonitors a club run by Marshall Thompson, who was very helpful in our organizing this trip. The trip up is much shorter than it might seem on a map as it is mostly interstate and we highly recommend this river to any fans of flatwater.

March 18, 2000: Edisto River: On March 18, Serena, Sara, and Parkin Hunter, Steve and Matt Soltys, Dave and Dianne Mullis, Dennis Catoe, and Rock Garrick paddled the Edisto from Mars Old Field to Givhans Ferry State Park. It was a cool, cloudy day and the river was flowing fast. We camped at Givhans Ferry. Hurricane Hugo did a lot of damage to the campground and it was not nearly as pretty as people remembered. We highly recommend Duke�s barbecue in Ridgeville, but go early. The crowd was amazing. There were two well-marked, primitive campgrounds on river left on Westvaco Corporation land between Mars Old Field and Givhans Ferry. These would provide a good opportunity for canoe camping before the snakes and mosquitos come out. For information about the Edisto look at

(1) http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/water/envaff/river/rivercor/edisto.html ,

(2) http://www.bpbasecamp.com/wilderness/sc_edisto/ and

(3) http://www.epa.gov/surf3/hucs/03050205/ .

PALMETTO PADDLERS ON THE INTERNET

To increase efficiency for communicating information to club members, Palmetto Paddlers has set up these internet resources. We need to be able to communicate meeting programs, trip plans, and schedule changes quickly and efficiently. Given the nature of what we do, plans are always changing because of the weather and the water. The Club has a web site, courtesy of The State newspaper. The State is hosting free web space for non-profit corporations. The Club�s page is at http://community.columbiatoday.com/realcities/palmettopaddlers . We will try to keep trip plans and schedules up to date on this site. For a more general means to communicate, a list-serve for The Palmetto Paddlers has been established at OneList. If you are not familiar with a list-serve, it is basically a mailing list of people that have registered with the list-serve. Any member will be able to post a message to the list-serve, which will be e-mailed to other members. This could be a good way of communicating trip plans, meeting information, changes in plans, and other information of interest to the membership. It should be particularly good for last minute changes. To subscribe, go to www.onelist.com/subscribe/Palmetto_Paddlers .

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SAFETY

Steve Soltys provided the following write-up for a trip he took with friends in the Congaree Swamp. This, along with a couple of other incidents reminded me of how easy it is to be too casual at times with our sport with regard to safety.

On March 4 and 5, I (Steve Soltys) took a non-club trip 20 miles through the Congaree Swamp National Monument. I made a few observations which might be of interest if any of you want to try it in the future. We went from Cedar Creek Landing seven miles on Cedar Creek and then 13 miles on the Congaree River. First, the river level was about 3.7 on the DNR gage for Cedar Creek at the Gadsen Hunt Club. At this river level, there were about 12 to 15 places where we either portaged or pushed loaded canoes under trees minus the people. The canoe trail was well marked with silver diamonds. It basically took from 10 am to 5 pm to go the seven miles with a 30 minute lunch break. The real important point is that the canoe trail turns off Cedar Creek (because Cedar Creek is very obstructed beyond this point) at a place called Mazeyek's Cut. This is about 400 to 500 yards long and goes to the Congaree River. At this river level the water in Mazeyek's Cut is extremely swift (I would guess that there is about a ten foot drop over this 400 yards) and the obstructions are so bad that I decided to line my canoe down. Of the two who tried to paddle the stretch, one quickly realized their folly and lined their canoe. . The other, a fiber glass canoe, was swamped, cracked in half and pinned under a log without harm to the occupants and the recovery of most equipment. The canoe was beyond our ability to recover. One of the people on the trip who had done Mazeyek's Cut before when the water was higher said that it was more tranquil at higher water and was stunned at its difficulty at this lower water level. We were able to get everyone out the next day with a pleasant canoe trip on the Congaree River. I enjoyed this trip but must warn readers to be careful at Mayzck's cut, especially at lower water levels. [You can see the connector from Cedar Creek to the Congaree known as Mazeyek�s Cut on this map: http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=33.7754&lon=-80.7469&size=s&s=25 editor.]

The other incidents that reminded me of the hazards of our sport occurred on the Edisto River this year and at Mill Race Rapid in the Saluda at low water last fall. One of the parties on the Edisto River trip capsized his canoe within about ten minutes of the start from something as simple as a weight shift when turning to reach behind himself to change hats. The air was cold and the Edisto was really flowing. For those of you not familiar with the Edisto, it contains many strainers so this could easily have been more than a casual swim. The incident in Mill Race occurred when Alice Potter, Karen Kustafic, Dave and Dianne Mullis, and Parkin Hunter ran Mill Race at very low water. Dave and Dianne, in their tandem canoe, got hung with the result that Dianne got stranded on a rock between two fairly fast flows. After several efforts, in this non-life-threatening situation, we were able to throw Dianne a rope to assist her over to the side. These incidents show that anything can happen at anytime. Our experience with the throw ropes pointed out the necessity of practicing rescue skills, including such apparently simple things as throwing a rescue rope.

Be careful out there!

CONSERVATION ISSUES

Lake Murray Dam Re-Licensing: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will hold two public outreach meetings for the re-licensing of the Saluda Hydroelectric Project (Lake Murray-lower Saluda River). The meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2000 in the Irmo Elementary School Auditorium, 7401 Gibbes Street, Irmo, South Carolina. The afternoon meeting will be from 2:00 - 4:00 PM. The evening meeting will run from 6:30 - 8:30 PM. The intent of the meetings is to inform the public about the FERC re-licensing program and procedures. The same information will be presented at both meetings. The public is encourage to attend, ask questions, and learn how to be involved in the re-licensing procedures. The Saluda Project license expires in 2007. The re-licensing procedures typically begin 5 years or more in advance of the expiration date. Please direct any questions regarding these meetings to either Jack Hannula, Commission Licensing Team Leader, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426; (202) 219-0116; or Charlie Compton, Lexington County Planning and Development, (803) 359-8121.

The notice is published in the May 22, 2000 Federal Register at pages 32085-32086.

Go to http://www.amrivers.org/hydroresource.html for information on the re-licensing process.

KUDOS TO: WaterMark Paddlesports principal Robert Reid for purchasing a 230 acre tract on the West Fork of the Chattooga River in Georgia and immediately re-selling to the Conservation Fund. In doing this, Reid and WaterMark Paddlesports have ensured public access on this important Southeastern river for the future. Link to the press release by Dagger from http://208.55.164.96.

Action E-List: For updates on conservation issues, consider getting on the American Canoe Association�s Action E-List. Go to http://www.acanet.org/acanet.htm and link to the sign up by selecting the "Issue Alerts" button on the home page.

Chattooga River and Sumter National Forest Plans. You may want to get on the mailing list for the planning for the Sumter National Forest. Go to http://svinet2.fs.fed.us/r8/fms and select "REVISIONS" for the planning information and request to be put on the mailing list. The Sumter National Forest plan impacts the Chattooga, Turkey Creek, Stevens Creek, the Tyger, and the Enoree Rivers. Also consider joining the Chattooga River Private Boaters Association at http://www.chattoogariver.net.

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