Lithia Springs River Run

Lithia Springs River Run

Plans for the safari

This past week I had occasion to travel by car to Miami. It was not for pleasurable reasons indeed. My closest friend was in dire health and the doctors had already suggested that he get his affairs in order. We all know the scenario. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. We have all had someone in our lives that has made a profound difference—that too was for the better or for the worse. That someone in my life was my best friend ever, Dody.

Mostly by my mom, my brothers, myself, and one sister were raised in Palmetto Beach Florida. Technically it was around Mackay Bay, Desoto Park to be sure. My home since retirement is now in Sun City Center, Florida. The trip to Miami by car usually entails a trip through Alligator Alley. The Alley runs through the northern part of the Florida everglades for a hundred miles or so give or take, a few miles. There is a lot of time to think while traversing the swamp to the left and more swamp to the right. My mind raced backward as the wheels of my car crunched a soft peaceful hum forward on the hot South Florida highway.

I had not thought about it for such a long time, but as I monotonously drove onward watching the yellow lines that divided the highway, I drifted back to thoughts of Dody and our youth. Suddenly a bright recollection invaded my memory. There we were planning another one of our excursions Little Joe, Dody, and myself. This time we had decided it would be a river trip through the jungle and over the swollen rapids of the Lithia Springs River just at the end of the rainy season. We had planned many a wild adventure together in the past and while most of them never came to fruition, we found that the excitement of planning was as much fun as the actual trip—so goes the imagination of teenage boys.

Our first hurdle would be to obtain a boat. Where would we get a boat sturdy enough and big enough to carry the three of us and our supplies down the river and all the way to the mouth where it spewed out into Tampa Bay. We decided that the trip would take about two days.

Dody was the brains of the outfit and warned us not to tell any of our parents or the dangerous trip would be quickly cancelled.

Little Joe, better known as Joito, well, he was plain crazy. On the other hand, I considered myself as the inventor, a specialist in finding ways to accomplish impossible tasks. Like I said, Joito was the crazy one he quickly suggested that we should build a boat.

I, being the inventor, mulled the suggestion over for a moment then chimed in. “Hey, that sounds like a great idea.” Dody, the practical one, followed suit and said that he would send for plans that he had seen in a sports magazine on how to build a dingy. Everything was settled so, we obtained maps from the local service station that included the southern part of Florida and the entire flow of the Lithia Springs River.

From that moment on there was no quelling our imagination. We spent many of the days that followed dreaming of our adventure, traveling down the swollen river, managing the rapids, and mingling with the wildlife. We talked about how we would fish and camp along the river, and of course fight off giant alligators and even wildcats. Someone suggested a camera so we could record our trip for posterity.

Joito volunteered an 8-millimeter movie camera. “I can get it from my uncle Armando. He will never miss it and will never even know that I borrowed it. I do plan to replace it when we get back.” He promised.

Dody and I were not into borrowing things with the owner not knowing. “No” Dody said, “I’ll bring my dad’s camera he’s got a good one. We don’t want to start the trip on a bad note.”

“Oh ok,” muttered Joito. “Just trying to help.”

“Try helping, by not getting us into trouble before we even get on the river,” Dody scolded.

I suggested that we build the boat out back of my house. My divorced mom worked all day, and I had an older and a younger brother that could help if we needed them.

Plans for the dingy finally arrived and Dody called us in for a meeting of the minds. We all agreed that the rainy season was over, and that “Operation Lithia Springs” should begin as soon as possible. We scraped together as much money as we could and headed to the lumber yard in one of Dody’s Dad’s old plumbing trucks. His dad ran a plumbing company from a big garage out back behind the house, he was a good soul always willing to help us guys out.

We arrived at the lumber yard and found out that the plywood required to build the dingy came in four by eight sheets. Our plans called for a boat size of five by twelve feet. Then there were the two seats plus front and rear transoms, and the frame built out of quarter inch furring strips. With incidentals like nails, glue, and paddles, this was going to cost us a fortune—considering the money that we had on hand. We huddled on the back of the plumbing truck vanquished and disappointed.

It took a few moments, but I, being the inventor that I was, soon snapped my fingers and exclaimed, “I got it, I know how we can build the boat and for the money that we have right now.”

The guys did not seem to have caught my excitement. Joito mumbled, “We can’t do it, I never really thought we could.”

Dody followed Joito’s train of thought, “No but it sure was great talking about it. It feels like we have already taken the trip. Maybe someday soon we’ll try again.”

“No guys no,” I was determined. “Listen we don’t need a boat that will last a lifetime, do we? It has only got to get us down the river and out into the bay. We could leave a car at the end of the line and when the trip is over, we sink the boat and ride home in style. We will be done with it anyway.”

“Yes.” They agreed, a little color coming back into their faces. “What’s your plan Laddy?”

“We change the size of the boat.” I suggested. “The plywood comes in four by eight sheets—so we build the boat four by eight. That way we can build it with just two sheets of plywood and two 1x12 boards each with a length of eight feet. We cut the boards into four equal pieces two pieces for the seats. And two for the front and rear transoms. We can eliminate the frame altogether by cutting one of the plywood sheets longways in half with an upwards curve for the front end.

One half for each side of the boat and then use the other full sheet for the bottom. Then we screw the ends of the plywood to each other by the seats and the transoms eliminating the frame altogether. If we use lots of glue and plenty of rubber cement it should work like a charm. At least good enough to get us down the river, and out into the Bay.”

The guys got all exited again and remarked, “I wonder why nobody else has ever thought of doing that?” Well as fate would have it, we were soon to find out.

First leg of the journey…

Building the boat proved a little tougher job than we expected but overall, we managed, always considering the prize at the end of the rainbow. As we labored to finish the vessel many of our friends learned of our enthusiastic enterprise and decided to mimic our adventure. We decided, that is Dody, Joito, and I, decided to include another two sets of boatbuilders to join our expedition. We were the party of the first part, so we created the rules of participation and strangely enough the new recruits followed our lead. Soon we had three boats ready to navigate the tricky waters and rapids of the river. We named our vessels the Pinta the Nina and the Santa Maria. They taught history back in the day, and Columbus was still credited for discovering America.

The beginning of the end…

The big day finally arrived. The river was at its peak with the water as high as I had ever seen it. The waters started smooth enough but we knew that further downstream the river thinned out and the rushing water built up into white, curling rapids. Strangely enough we felt no danger at least not yet.

We put in laughing and joking about who was the bravest and who would make it out alive. Joito asked Dody if he would Will him his wading boots if he did not make it. Pete from one of the other boats overheard him and answered back. “Do not tempt Mother Nature.”

We were finally on our way crashing into each other’s boats but finally we were getting the hang of it. The dingy was doing simply fine in the not so raging river but we knew there was more to come. We could see a big curve in the river coming and just beyond that curve traces of white water and that meant we had hit the rapids.

Brad in the lead boat spied a tree that had been bent by a hurricane and had grown out into the river. He steered left and missed the giant palm tree.

Joito was first to steer our dingy starting in the calmer waters. Then it would be me and finally Dody to bring us home.

“We can make it just under the bent tree.” Joito hollers.

“No, no” both Dody and I screamed back at him. Too late Joito steers right for the tree and under we go. The boat and all the supplies get pushed underwater by the waters-flow. The three of us were left hanging on the bent tree as the last traces of the dingy disappeared under the water. The last boat was following our lead and soon flipped trying to miss the tree and our accomplices had to swim to shore.

As fate would have it only one of the three boats survived it all the way out to Tampa Bay. We lost most of our borrowed equipment and a total of five of us crew members had to hike through Florida swamps and farmers’ fields to get home which is a story for a later day.

Ask me if it was worth it and I will tell you that it was the best times I have ever had in my life.

Hang-on Dody I am coming to get you. The boats are ready, and the guys are waiting at the head-waters of Lithia Springs, and Dody, this time we are going to make it.

Ta ta, Lad