This past Wednesday, July 2, we headed to Ginnie Springs in Florida. It is clear water springs that people will usually float on tubes from there down the Sante Fe River for an hour or two and walk back down a dirt road.
W e put in at the springs and, at the last minute, decided we didn’t really want to make the float down the Santa Fe River. So, we tried to get back into the clear water of the springs itself against the current and it was not working.
I don’t know if I slid off of my tube or fell off, but I do know that I was off my tube and my left foot was hung up in some roots and the water was about up to my nose.
I was trying not to panic and get my foot loose at the same time. I was about to get in a bad situation.
I had already swallowed some water before I finally got it loose. My tube was probably 100 yards downriver and I was trying to hold on to Bonnie’s as all of this was going on.
We flagged down a couple of kayakers and pointed at my tube and they paddled down and brought it back to me.
We were able to get to the bank, crawl up, cut through, get back to the springs and put the tubes back in so we could get out of the current and finally get out on the other side.
My granny Julia drowned in 1970 in the Satilla River and I had a great Uncle Elton that drowned off the Georgia Coast several years ago.
I really don’t want to add my name to that list and realize that it can happen very easily!
• Wayne Morgan is freelance wildlife photographer and author.
