The weather and winds slowed them down, but they made it.

Tom and Aaron Israel completed this year's annual Brady Memorial paddle, carrying clear fresh water from Bear Creek to the Atlantic Ocean in record time and reporting by phone to Brady's son on the other side of the continent.

"We made entry into Deep River 10:30 Saturday morning (April 12) and got to Southport by 7:40 Friday night (April 18)," Tom Israel said. "It was dark by then, and the wind was blowing hard."

They postponed the ritual of pouring the water into the ocean until the following day.

Weather had been a challenge the whole way down -- down the Deep to where it meets the Haw to form the Cape Fear, and down the Cape Fear to the sea.

"Currents were extremely strong on our last day," Israel said. "That was probably the hardest day of paddling, because of the wind, that Friday."

Their canoe was not as maneuverable as it would otherwise have been, because it carried extra weight to make their trip an uninterrupted one.

"We carried over 300 pounds of supplies, didn't resupply anything," he said. "We had plenty of everything we'd need so we wouldn't have to stop for supplies along the way. That included food, clothing and water."

They carried two five-gallon containers of fresh water. River water is unsafe to drink unless purified.

The trip carries on something begun by the late Charles E. Brady, a former astronaut who grew up in Robbins. One of the purposes years ago when he carried Haw River headwater downstream was to demonstrate the ravages of pollution on the fresh waters of North Carolina. Today pollution is so widespread that all raw water from streams should be considered unsafe in its natural state.

"Even clear natural water can contain microscopic organisms," Israel said. "Boiling could kill bacteria, but if there is lead or mercury or some other content you would end up drinking that."

Wilderness campers today typically carry MicroPore filter pumps to prepare potable water from raw sources such as springs and creeks. Israel and his son just brought their drinking water along in plastic water jugs. They would be too busy paddling to pump, except for occasionally having to use a hand pump to bail water from their canoe.

"We used that when we paddled 23 miles in the rain one day," he said. "No leaks, just water from the rain or from taking on water going through Class II rapids passing by Raven Rock State Park and in the Lillington, Erwin area."

Some parts of the journey proved particularly tricky.

"At Smylie's Falls near Erwin, they were really rough," Israel said. "The rapids from what they call Narrow Gap through the Smylie's Falls area were the worst. They were the most 'adventurous.' We did take on water, but we didn't turn over."

The hand-pump they used to flush water from their craft works like a bicycle pump, with one hose pulling from the canoe bottom and another dumping over the side.

"The worst thing you can do to any canoe going through rapids is weigh it down," he said. "We were weighted down some 300 plus pounds. That put a lot of extra work into it. Although we had rain gear, we still got wet. We took dry clothes in sealed bags. If you don't get into dry clothing, you risk hypothermia. That could be a bad situation out there."

Arriving at the coast in night time meant they would wait until the next morning to pour the water.

"That night, we were able to stay the night with Barbara and Ray McCullough, who used to live in Southern Pines and now live in Southport," Israel said. "The next day, he got permission for us to go to Fort Caswell Baptist Assembly grounds and the beach there. That is where Aaron and I poured the water from the headwaters of Bear Creek into the Atlantic Ocean."

It had been just over a week from the time they put in to the Deep River just above Sanford. Father and son made it in less than the nine days they had plotted out for the journey, but not in time to get back to Robbins for the Adventure Bear-athlon.

He made the promised call to the West Coast where 7-year-old Charles E. Brady III is learning about his famous father's legacy and the way his hometown of Robbins commemorates him.

"I talked, must have been 45 minutes, with the mother of Brady's son about this trip," he said. "I didn't realize before that she is an environmentalist herself. She was very interested in our trip. I'll be sending her a packet of pictures and information on the entire trip so she can share the pictures with his son."

And someday, another Charles E. Brady may fill the annual jug and be putting in below town where the Bear passes the Old Plank Road on its way to the Deep and the Haw, the Cape Fear, and the sea.

Contact John Chappell at 783-5841 or by e-mail at jchappell@thepilot.com.