David Grow shoots Bull Sluice
on the Chatooga River

In the early 1970s, David took me on a canoe club trip down the middle portion of the Chatooga River , on the border between Georgia and South Carolina. As I recall, we traveled in the Folboat he had built from a kit in his basement--from one of the most mysterious set of instructions ever put into English. At the climax of the trip, we reached a stretch of rapids with a waterfall so large that many portaged around it. Not David. He asked me to stand on a high, dry rock and take pictures of him as he shot the big rapids at Bull Sluice. The results were among his favorite photographs. For many years, he kept this sequence of pictures framed on his desk.

Here he is, making the approach to a rough set of rapids known as Bull Sluice.

He starts the approach, just before the sharp turn.

Perfect! An absolutely perfect maneuver of the first plunge.

Uh-oh, maybe I spoke too soon.

Undeterred, the boat plunges ahead without him!

This is my favorite picture of my brother -- shooting the rapids of Bull Sluice on the Chatooga -- without his canoe.

The kayakers who were watching out for his safety help him to shore.

Photos by Gerald Grow

Back to David Grow's Memorial Website