SMITHFIELD HIGH TIMES
SALUTE TO THE SEVENTEEN
Cur trip began in August of 1965.
There were seventeen of us making the
journey. We travelled in two sailboats.
In command of one was Richard Cummings
older than the rest. In command of the
other was Chip Hubbard, the youngest
a^dult on the trip. We were sailing for
Camp Perry, a deserted house three milej;
upriver. Finally everything was preparec
and we cast off. The girls were in one
boat, the boys in another. Thus began the
most unusual trip the world will ever see.
As the wind caught in the sails and the
boat began to glide across the water, I
beathed a sigh of relief. Everyone was
glad to be off. Cur trip had been delayed
by strong winds the day before. V/e had
gone no more than 100 yards when the
Sound of ripping canvas pierced our ears.
Cur sail flapped helplessly in the wind.
trudged back to shore, as Richard re
moved the sail. He told Chip to go ahead;
^e*d get there when we could.
We waited an hour while Richard at-
lerr,pted to mend the sail. Finally, we set
off again. Again the sail ripped, and agai^^
^e were forced to abandon the boat,
¥/hen we did arrive at Camp Perry, it
'’^as in the back of a pick-up truck. We sufr-
^oyed the site, and discovered many in
teresting things about the place--there wan
^ nest of mosquitoes directly above the
bating table, the water was 75% sulphur,
^nd there were more than enough snakes
^^ound. Camp Perry itself v/as a deserted
story house, totally lacking furniture.
Therefore,” said our resourceful leader,
Always quick to find a solution to every
t^J^oblem, ”we will sleep on the floor.”
We spent two days at Camp Perry. W
'^ushed in an all-new GE wash tub; we coolc
over a new Frigidaire campfire, and for
^ garbage disposal we used the Whirlpool
^ole in the ground.
Cur experiences were many, and ofteii
^ique. There was the time that one of th(2
b
Rainier mem-bers of the crew sweetened
6 Kool Aid with two cups of salt. We
dubbed one boy ”Elsie” because of his un
canny ability to get lumps out of government
surplus powdered milk. Making our milk
involved an intricate process of heating
water, and then adding the dehydrated milk
to it. Then "Elsie” stepped in. After dili
gently pounding away at the lumips for about
an hour he produced a lukewarm concoction-'
I can’t honestly call it milk--which we then
poured on our corn flakes. Breakfast was
never too popular on the trip.
The pride and joy of the group, however,
was the drink we invented ourselves. It
consisted of the juice of a full grown water-
m.elon, flavored with orange, lemon, grape
fruit, cherry, and grape juice, and a little
sand for good measure. It may not have
tasted the best in the world, but it surely
was different!
On the third day of the trip we set out for
South River, a waterlogged island seven
miles across the river. It was a hot day,
and one of the passengers on our boat got
the brilliant idea of jumping overboard to
cool off. Her plan was to hold onto the boat,
and climb back onboard when she had cooled
off. All went well until her grasp slipped.
We sailed away, leaving her stranded in the
middle of a jellyfish-infested river. We
tacked and started back to pick her up. No
matter how hard she tried, she couldn't
seem to catch hold of the boat. We were
about to abandon her as a hopeless case
when, with a final plunge, her grasp held,
and we hauled her, very ungracefully, abcaid.
We arrived at South River in early after
noon. As usual, there had been trouble on
our boat. The dagger board, which balanced
the boat in proportion to the depth of the
water, had broken, and we thought we were
stranded. Somehow we fixed it, and ar
rived at South River in one piece. We
trudged through the marsh looking for our
campsite. We found it to be two tents and
a pump--period. Although we searched
until bedtime we could not find the girls'
latrine. When we did find it, we almost
regretted it. It consisted of two sticks
lashed to two trees. Before we left the is
land, we built a neat system of wooden