Date:         Wed, 13 Dec 1995 16:51:19 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "David Easterwood" <deasterw@st6000.sct.edu>
Subject:      VW U-Boat (LONG)


Everybody put on your hip-waders, here's my deep water story:

Last January I went camping with some friends in the Blue Ridge
Mountains of north Georgia.  The spot we were camping in required
us to cross Jack's River twice.  Not a problem as normally the
river is only 10-12 inches deep at the crossings.

A friend was in his Toyota Landcruiser & I was in my 73 Westy, with
everyone else in "regular" cars.  So they all piled in with us at
the first crossing to get to the campsite.

The second night it began raining really hard.  About 3:00am we 
decided to hike down to the river to see if it was rising.  It was
at about 18 inches so we were not all that concerned.  The next
morning it was just barely sprinkling rain when we went to check
the water level.  This time the water was cresting at 24 inches, so
we were a bit anxious.

We went back to camp and after lunch it stopped raining.  So after
trekking back down to the river we were pleased to find it was back 
down to 18 inches.  Should be back to normal level by late afternoon.

This is where faulty reasoning got us into trouble.  We should have 
left right then.  Nobody 'hipped' us to the fact that the run off
from higher up in the mountains had yet to reach us.  About an hour
and a half from dark we headed out for home.  When we got to the
river it was chest deep.

We all had to work the next day so we took the vehicles back to
higher ground and began packing out on the 2 hour hike back to
where the cars were parked at the first crossing.

Fast forward 4 days to the night we went to pick the cars up.  Even
though it had not rained in the last 2 days the water was still over
2 feet deep.  We decided to go for it any way and hiked in.  When
we got to the second crossing we were confronted with a tree that had
fallen at the crossing.  The next hour and a half were spent hacking
through the tree with a hand ax my friend had in his Landcruiser
while we were in knee deep cold river water.  We then used a chain 
with the Toyota to pull it out of the way.

This crossing is only about 15 feet wide and was anti-climatic.  The
other crossing however is 40 feet wide and was a different story.
My heart sank as the Landcruiser in 4WD went across ahead of me and
water went over the rear bumper and into the tailgate.  He stopped on
the other side and asked me if I thought I could make it.  I told him
I wanted to let my engine cool off for 20 minutes before I tried.  I
knew this would absolutely be pushing the limits of the Westy.

I told him to get his rope ready I was coming through.  I decided slow
and steady would be my best chance of limiting the water splashing into
the engine compartment, so I put it in first and was on my way.  Before
I got midway my headlights we submerged and I was navigating by the
Toyota's tailights.  As I heard the glug-glug of the exhaust system
underwater I began to think I was actually going to make it.  Then my
luck started giving out.

The engine began sputtering and finally died about 8 feet from the 
other side.  With water beginning to come in under the sliding door I 
quickly put it in first, released the clutch and climbed out the rest
of the way slowly using the starter.

Well, almost all the way...  The silt deposited on the bank was so 
slick he had to pull me to firmer soil.  After 15 minutes of WD40 and
drying the distibutor out it cranked right up.

Stopped at the first town, changed my oil and headed home.

It really is amazing how these vehicles can go where you wouldn't
think they could.  If I'd seen it on TV, I never would have believed 
it.

Dave