Black River Kayaking | mahanaimadventures.com

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:

What is the weather like at this moment and what is the forecast for the rest of the time on my adventures?
Do I have the skills needed to take this adventure?
Am I properly prepared for what could happen?
Does someone know where I am at and where I am going?
Do I know how to get myself out of trouble if I find myself in unexpected trouble?
Do you know how to get back into your kayak if you should fall out in open water?

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.

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.

Cypress Trees & Lily’s

Over the past couple weeks; I have had the opportunity to go on a couple trips with Don to the Black River located in Bladen County, NC. This river offers plenty of beautiful wildlife including wild turkey, deer, several types of ducks, and wildflowers. The Black River is also home to the Three Sisters Swamp where you can find some of the oldest recorded cypress trees in the country. Although these trees are not marked, for their own protection, with an experienced guide such as Don, you will be able to see some amazing old growth cypress trees in this swamp that have been dated to being over 2,000 years old. Paddling through this swamp truly is a majestic experience. Being able to get up close and personal with these ancient cypress trees gave me a deeper connection to this swamp. In ways this swamp inspired me by showing me no matter how hard these trees have been hit and beaten by countless hurricanes, high winds, floods, and other natural disasters, they still stand tall and strong after all those years.

One of the most memorable parts of both these trips included seeing the beautiful spider lilies bloom. This is a special phenomenon here in eastern North Carolina because these plants only bloom for about two weeks out of the year. But what a spectacular experience it is to be able to see these plants bloom during their short flowering period. It’s trips like these which make me realize how lucky we are to be able to experience gods creation and enjoy the natural beauty of many diverse eco systems from a kayak.

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.