Tag: 3 Sisters Swamp

Kayaking A Teacher


Kayaking for most people is a fun hobby or outdoor activity they may do on vacation. Enjoying it and making memories that will last a lifetime, but for me kayaking is so much more for I’ve learned more while kayaking than I think I did in school. All these life lessons and interactions I’ve had on the water have brought light to new ideas or perspective which I wouldn’t have thought of other wise, growing me as a person both socially and professionally.

Some of these lessons are as simple as seeing someone conquering their fear of water or even kayaking. For the fear is in their head and once you change their perspective on the situation nine times out of ten, they will give it a try and enjoy it. I’ve learned that if the kids are happy then so are their parents, less is more and even when someone’s mean to you be nice to them and maybe you’ll bring the good out of them. Never judge a book by its cover for you don’t know their story and always show respect. While most of these are commonly heard, having seen these in action drives their point home.

The effects of kayaking haven’t only affected me but also the people we take out, our valued customers. While I am seeing the overall effect of a situation, the individuals in the situation have their own takeaways such as they can kayak or get outside and explore when they thought they may have gotten too old or nervous. I witness this with the retirement communities we work with, being very rewarding along with allowing me to learn life advice from people who been there and done it.

Never stop exploring the world is your playground and you can only make the memories if you go and conquer. Thank you all for reading, see you out on the water. -Grayson Harris

A family adventure

One of my favorite trip’s is the very family-oriented trip we do here at Mahaniam Adventures the sharks tooth island trip located on the Cape Fear River. On this trip we see a multitude of wildlife ranging from Ospreys and Bald Eagles to bait fish and even an occasional alligator. The beautiful ecosystem allows for all the wildlife to cohabitate, making finding shark teeth and fossils even more fun.

My favorite aspect of this trip is when kids discover something new. On the island there are hundreds if not thousands of little fiddler crabs running about, which some kids love and others don’t, but many have never seen them. When they final capture and look at the little crabs they light up with curiosity and excitement, making being a guide very rewarding. Similarly with the shark teeth and the fossils because many people don’t know that the fossils are there allowing them to learn something new, that goes for all ages. The simile from finding their first tooth or fossil, which pushes them to find more is one that lifetime memories are made of. So get your youth, elders, and you out there and explore. Find some teeth or fossils, kayak through the coastal bays, creeks or rivers of southeastern NC making memories with family and friends. Thank you all for reading and well see you on the water making a “Positive & Memorable” experience. -Grayson Harris

2624 Years Old Bald Cypress!

What do you think of when you see some old growth trees?  Do you ever wonder what they would say if they could talk?  What they would say they have witnessed over their life time of standing, weathering storms, drought, fires, floods, heat and cold?  I have had this thought many times as I paddle through North Carolina’s 3 Sisters Swamp.  Recently it was announced that researchers from the University of Arkansas identified a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)tree that was 2624 years old!  Wow, imagine that a tree here in eastern North Carolina that is one of the oldest trees known to man today.  This tree started putting down roots around 605 BC! 

Just paddling in this ancient swamp give you a since of awe.  Trees that are so big, it takes 3 or 4 grown men to put arms around them and cypress knees that are talker than I stand.  Every time I am there in the magical place I find myself in awe at the majesty of God’s awesome creation.  I also realize just how small I am in the grand scheme of life and grateful that God is always there each day for everyone who looks to him.

Don & Diane Harty own Mahanaim Adventures.  They specialize in helping individuals, families and groups to have “Positive & Memorable” outdoor adventures.  Whether these are wildlife view adventure, camping adventure or a simple kayaking adventure.  They provide kayaking adventures on Town Creek, Cape Fear River,Fort Fisher Basin, Masonboro Island, Black River, Holly Shelter Creek and Moores Creek.  Oh, yes, we do rent kayaks also.  Contact them at www.mahanaimadventures.com for more information about all of their adventures.

Can You Save Yourself?

I have written about this subject several times over the past years in our blogs.  Often when setting up for our kayaking adventures, it is hard not to ask different people at the kayak launch if they know what they are doing or not?  When we do, I often get a silly look or simply no response at all.  The simple matter of fact is that we witness lots of people go kayaking (or any other adventure) and they just are not prepared for all that can go wrong.   Twice this week, we had kayaking adventures that we canceled due to high winds (Small Craft Advisories) on the water.  As we were putting up our gear, both times we witnessed different persons or groups heading out into rough waters. 

Image result for Pictures for kayak rescues

Questions to ask yourself before you take off kayaking:

These are all important things to consider before you strike out on any adventure.  Being able to properly answer these questions can mean life or death if you are not prepared.  I know of other kayaking adventure businesses that once to twice a summer, save someone from a really bad situation and even drowning.  Bad things can happen quickly and if not prepared, things could turn out really bad for you. 

Don & Diane Harty own Mahanaim Adventures.  They specialize in helping individuals, families and groups to have “Positive & Memorable” outdoor adventures.  Whether these are wildlife view adventure, camping adventure or a simple kayaking adventure.  They provide kayaking adventures on Town Creek, Cape Fear River, Fort Fisher Basin, Masonboro Island, Black River, Holly Shelter Creek and Moores Creek.  Oh, yes, we do rent kayaks also.  Contact them at www.mahanaimadventures.com for more information about all of their adventures.

Guided Kayaking Adventure Vs Kayak Rental

We often get asked which is better; taking a guided kayaking adventure or renting a kayak and do your own thing.  Well, I would say that all depends on your level of experience and familiarity of the areas you are paddling.  Guided trips, such as the one we offer here at Mahanaim Adventures are all inclusive.  This means that you get qualified guides that are familiar with how to kayak and to do rescues if and when needed.  The guides know the area, the river or ocean currents, local weather patterns and other safety concerns about the river you are paddling.

When you decide to rent a kayak and do your own kayaking adventure on your own, you are assuming all the risks involved.  Before you do this, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do I know how to get myself out of trouble if I get into some sort of trouble on the water? Remember, it is not a question of if you tip your kayak over, it is a question of when you tip over.  If you paddle enough you will get tipped over and have to do a self-rescue.  Do you know what to do when this happens?
  2. Are you familiar with the local weather patterns and make accurate decision on when to turn around or to not go out on the water? Weather conditions can change quickly even under the best of circumstances; don’t get caught out in bad weather.
  3. Are you familiar with the area and the currents of the river you are paddling? This is very important.  Getting lost or getting yourself in the wrong location to deal with the wake of a containership on the Cape Fear River can make your trip memorable for the wrong reasons.

In short when you are considering the question of taking a guided adventure or renting a kayak; ask yourself the questions above.  When taking a guided kayaking adventure, you can concentrate on having fun with your group, not worrying about all that can possibly go wrong.  When you rent a kayak and do your own thing, you are assuming all the risks yourself.  You are saying that you know and understand all the risks involved and are capable of rescuing yourself from a bad situation without ANY outside help.

Don & Diane Harty own Mahanaim Adventures.  They specialize in helping families and groups to have “Positive & Memorable” outdoor adventures.  Whether these are wildlife view adventure, camping adventure or a simple kayaking adventure.  They provide kayaking adventures on Town Creek, Cape Fear River, Fort Fisher Basin, Masonboro Island, Black River, Holly Shelter Creek and Moores Creek.  Oh, yes, we do rent kayaks also.  Contact them at www.mahanaimadventures.com for more information about all of their adventures.

Risk Management

Risk Management is something that we deal with on a daily basis. This is not to say that we deal with high risk adventures, but we do want to be able to provide a positive and memorable experience. There is a lot that goes into managing for risks for an outdoor adventure. For example we constantly watch the weather before any trip starts. This is to make sure that we don’t have any high winds to deal with and to keep an eye out for scatter thunderstorms too. Here in the Wilmington area scattered thunderstorms happen a lot all throughout the summer season. Another safety concern that we monitor during many of our kayaking trips is boat traffic, and container ships that travel along the Cape Fear River. These ships can create large wakes which become hazardous in shallow water areas. We also carry rescue gear in our guide boats on every trip in case someone does fall out of their boat. This is so that we can safely get someone back inside a boat if they do fall out. Along with our rescue gear, we also bring a large first aid kits on each trip.

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to go to BSA Cape Fear Council’s Camp Bowers with Don to learn about the high ropes course, climbing tower, and zip-line that is part of the C.O.P.E. course there. The risk management that goes into operating these aspects is serious. Risk management starts before the course ever opens by having trained a professional such as Don inspect all the equipment, including different carabiners, ropes, helmets, and harnesses before use to make sure that everything is working properly and efficiently. Once all the gear is inspected and cleared for use then Don can inspect the course for any damage and safety concerns. After he has inspected the course, and everything has checked out, Don then begins to set up the course to be able to have participants safely climb up to the top where they can begin the course and use the zipline. To set up the belay system which makes sure everyone can get up on the course safely, Don uses steel climbing carabiners, it is important to note that he is not using aluminum carabiners because aluminum carabineers would be damaged by the steel cables that are part of the course which the belay is anchored to. Once participants are on top, they then have a self-belaying system with two adjustable ropes with clips that attach to their harness.  These tethers are then clipped into the steel cables for safety (called lifelines). These are used as a backup device in case anyone does slip or fall off of one of the obstacles. Even though it may seem as though there are many different risks to manage for, if done properly it makes any adventure operate safely and efficiently.

Don & Diane Harty own Mahanaim Adventures.  They specialize in helping families and groups to have “Positive & Memorable” outdoor adventures.  Whether these are wildlife view adventure, camping adventure or a simple kayaking adventure.  They provide kayaking adventures on Town Creek, Cape Fear River, Fort Fisher Basin, Masonboro Island, Black River, Holly Shelter Creek and Moores Creek.  Contact them at www.mahanaimadventures.com for more information about all of their adventures.

This blog was written by Mike Manning. I am Mahanaim Adventures new intern for the summer of 2018. I am a Park and Recreation Management student at East Carolina University, Go Pirates! I love the outdoors and have a strong passion for kayaking. This coming summer I will be writing a blog similar to this every other week to let everyone know about the awesome adventures we will have on the water this summer.

Safety and Awareness

This past Sunday I had the pleasure of helping Don guide a group of people to Sharks Tooth Island on the Cape Fear River where we hunted for prehistoric sharks teeth and fossils. Around mid-morning everyone had found their fair share of sharks teeth and fossilized shells on the island and were ready to get back on the water to do some more paddling. It was at this time that Don and I had noticed a fairly large container ship easing its way up the river towards the port, so we decided to stay on the island and let the ship pass by before returning to our kayaks and continuing the adventure. We chose to stay on the island because these container ships are known for having big wakes, especially while traveling in a river such as the Cape Fear. The areas where this is most prominently noticed are in shallow water. Because just like any wave, the wake from these ships doesn’t start to break until it finds shallow water. This is especially important to know while paddling because when the wake from those ships hit shallow water and start to break, it can provide an authentic whitewater experience here on the coast. And if you find yourself paddling through shallow water when this happens, you will most likely get flipped out of your boat.

So as the ship passed by, we gathered our group on the side of Sharks Tooth Island that faces Kegg Island, watching the wake from the container ship crash into the shallow water around the island.  After we had watched the wake stop crashing in the shallow water between the islands we then headed back to our kayaks to continue our adventure. It was at this time, we noticed a fisherman who was fishing on the opposite side of Sharks Tooth Island in a small john boat had been capsized by the wake.  From the position we were at, we noticed the man didn’t have a PFD in sight, his boat was completely swamped, and he was having trouble swimming. So, Don and I immediately began our rescue procedures by jumping in our boats and getting to the man as quickly as possible to save him from drowning. Once we were able to get the man safely to shore, we then recovered his gear that was floating away and fortunately we had additional help to recover his boat and paddle as well.

This situation goes to show that if you are out paddling, or on any outdoor adventure, without a trained professional, that being aware of your surroundings can help you better manage for any possible risks and it could possibly save your life. It is also a great example of why you should always wear a life jacket while paddling on the water. Because if you paddle enough, it’s not a matter of “if” but a matter of when you are going to fall out of your boat and go for a swim.

Don & Diane Harty own Mahanaim Adventures.  They specialize in helping families and groups to have “Positive & Memorable” outdoor adventures.  Whether these are wildlife view adventure, camping adventure or a simple kayaking adventure.  They provide kayaking adventures on Town Creek, Cape Fear River, Fort Fisher Basin, Masonboro Island, Black River, Holly Shelter Creek and Moores Creek.  Contact them at www.mahanaimadventures.com for more information about all of their adventures.

This blog was written by Mike Manning. I am Mahanaim Adventures new intern for the summer of 2018. I am a Park and Recreation Management student at East Carolina University, Go Pirates! I love the outdoors and have a strong passion for kayaking. This coming summer I will be writing a blog similar to this every other week to let everyone know about the awesome adventures we will have on the water this summer.

Why is it so hard to work as a Team?

Over the past 15 year I have had the opportunity to lead a lot of different groups through teambuilding activities to help them come together as one.  This question that I ask is not meant to be some sort of deep physiological questions, but just my personal observations over time.  My question is; why is it so hard for use humans to work together on a team?  After much thought, I think the answer is very simple; we as humans find it difficult to put the groups needs (goals) above our own needs (goals).  In short, even on a team we still compete with each other rather as a whole.

You see, from my observation, we are selfish by nature and not team players.  All too often team members are competing against each other and not as a team with a focus.  When we are in completion like this, someone has to win and someone has to lose.   When this happens internally on any team, everyone loses when because the team can’t compete or function as it should.

Please don’t think that I believe that competition is a bad thing; I don’t.  However, in the wrong context, competition is bad.  Consider marriage as an example.  If a couple is continually competing with each other (one trying to make sure their needs are meet before the others), the marriage will not last.  All too often couples fail to think about what is best for the marriage, but only what is only best for the individual.  What is best for the marriage may not be the best for the person doing the pushing.  When you get two or more persons do this, things can spiral out of control quickly.

Pure competition means “I” win and someone looses.  We learn this lesson from an early age in life.  Where do we learn this lesson?  From the sports and other competitive activities our parent’s sign us up for as kids.  There we listen to our parents complain to the coach that their son or daughter is better than the player playing that key position, therefore their son or daughter should be playing that spot.

This is not how a team should work.  As a team member; the individual has to be willing to set their selfish, self-centered goals aside for the best of the group.  What happens all too often with groups we are lead through teambuilding activities, is that individuals sabotaged the efforts or disengaging with the team.  The reason I believe is that they feel their role is not important to the group.  Maybe the individuals did not fully understand what the others on the team needed or maybe they were rushed to do their job and provided something substandard.  The reasons can be many, but it boils down in most cases is the mentality of “Look out for number 1; me.”

Each of us want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, but we hesitate to truly engage in something bigger.  Why is that, because we are so used to putting our needs first!

Mahanaim Adventures provide excellent Project COPE (team building adventure) and other outdoor adventures to scouting groups, sports teams, church groups and corporate groups.  If you are having issues with your team or just want to take your team to the next level, contact us and we can help lead your team to that next level of working as a team

Don and Diane Harty are the owners of Mahanaim Adventures, the Cape Fear and Wilmington, NC areas premier outdoor adventure guide and kayaking business. Don and Joseph, son of Don and Diane, strive for each person on our adventures to have a “Positive & Memorable” experience. We offer quality half-day, full-day and overnight kayaking adventures. We also provide team building adventures and courses, as well as wilderness first aid classes to Boy Scouts and other groups.