Sweet tea-colored water. Snow-white, sugar sand. Pristine, untouched woodlands, sloughs and river banks and bottoms. Plentiful wildlife. Skies full of stars. Downed tree obstacle courses in the way.
The description may sound like a travel guide to a far off escape, but it is found right here at home, along the Satilla River.
Blackwater Outdoor Journeys recently documented a three-day excursion down the Satilla River from the Georgia Highway 121 boat ramp along the Pierce-Brantley County border.
Blackwater Outdoor Journeys is the YouTube channel of Rodney and Tina Thompson of St. George in Charlton County. A link to the channel is available at www.youtube.com/@BlackwaterOutdoorJourneys.
Rodney Thompson is shown with his canoe in the Satilla River. Photo special to The Times.
The channel has grown steadily since its creation from nothing to over 17,000 followers. They estimate all of their features have averaged a grand total of around 3.5 million views.
“We see where the series has been translated into Russian and Chinese,” R. Thompson says with a laugh. “I wonder how funny my redneck, country, deep south St. George, Georgia accent sounds in those languages.”
R. Thompson launched the channel in 2025, as a way to cope with the loss of his son, Lance, in 2020. The Thompson couple also lost their home — and keepsakes and mementos — in a devastating fire shortly after Lance’s death.
“I didn’t start this to chase an algorithm. I started it to stop time,” said Thompson.
They determined they had to find a way to make new memories and to document them.
“After losing Lance and then our home, I realized how many adventures had already faded into memory, and I swore that would not happen again,” Mr. Thompson said. “What began as an archive for my family has become a record for anyone who has felt the pull of dark water and tall cypress.”
Blackwater Outdoor Journeys and the YouTube channel then came into existence.
The YouTube Channel featuring the Satilla River is just one of an expansive documentary archive covering the Okefenokee Swamp and the blackwater rivers of the area including the St. Marys, the Suwannee, the Withlacoochee, the Altamaha, the Ocmulgee and the Okefenokee Swamp. Future adventures are planned, including a trip down the Alapaha River and a return trip to the Okefenokee.
The tag line for their adventures is: Where the map ends the wild begins. Stay rugged.
Wild and rugged is exactly how they found Pierce and Brantley County’s Satilla.
“We had to navigate around several downed trees that required us to unload the canoe and portage around them on the bank or try to find a way under, through or around them,” Thompson said.
Many of the trees fell across the channel of the Satilla when Hurricane Helene ravaged the area in September, 2024.
The Thompsons encountered an abandoned vehicle that was never removed from the banks and litter and some other signs of mankind’s interference on the river, but other views were breathtaking.
“The black water and the sandbars were just beautiful,” said Thompson. “These blackwater rivers and swamps have so much history and beauty, and we truly enjoy sharing them with the world. They hold a special place in my heart and soul. Once you get this Georgia sand or mud between your toes, you will not find a better place.”
Mrs. Thompson was not fond of the challenge of navigating the Satilla. Sitting up front in the canoe, Tina was always the first to encounter the downed trees as their boat plied through the waters to the obstruction.
“I’d rather sleep with alligators... I’d much rather sleep with alligators than go over trees and all that stuff we had to do,” she said, referring to encounters with alligators on an earlier excursion deep in the Okefenokee.
Blackwater Outdoor Journeys features the Thompsons’ real canoe expeditions through the blackwater rivers of the Deep South. All of the material is filmed by the Thompsons, uncut, unhurried and real.
The Thompsons documentaries are detailed journal-type records exploring the waters they grew up around. The couple films the trips honestly highlighting both good and bad experiences. They write down field notes for navigating remote water and document their camps, experiences and even trouble shooting from days spent on the river.
The Thompsons share their own insights and experiences with the gear, skills and trip-planning systems they use alongside live camping wilderness skills.
Rodney is the paddler, filmmaker and the voice behind the documentary series. He grew up reading the rivers before he learned to read a map. His wife, Tina, is co-paddler and river partner and is up front in the boat on most trips.
“Even though I didn’t grow up on these waters like Rodney, I’ve grown to love them like my own. It’s true, once you get the sand or mud between your toes, you don’t want to be anywhere else. I think we need to cherish and protect our beautiful rivers and swamp,” said Mrs. Thompson.
Thompson says he started recording for his own memory and over time that morphed into being a guide to paddlers planning their own runs.
“It helps others to learn what we got right and what we got wrong,” he said.
The Thompsons also say they do the documentaries to help others who may not otherwise get to experience the beauty and allure of Georgia’s blackwaters.
“Just being able to share the river and swamp with people who can’t get out there on their own is its own reward to us,” they say.
Shown above, the Thompsons navigate one of several blockages on the Satilla River over the course of the recent journey.
