Flume

  Back around 1968, a group of six boys from First Baptist Church in Columbia went to Atlanta for an overnight trip with our Youth Minister.  That night, we went to a Braves baseball game.  The next morning, we went to Six Flags over Georgia.  I love Six Flags and have been there many times.  In fact, I have also been to the one in Texas and the one outside St. Louis.  

 On this particular trip, we wanted to do something that no one else had done, as far as we knew.  We found the Log Flume ride and wanted to cram as many of us in the one log.  There was no rule how many people could be in one log, so we devised a plan.  There was one kid in our group that new something about weight distribution, so he suggested that we get in by how much we weighed.  The heaviest would be in the front of the log, and the lightest would be in the back.  That way, we would get more speed going down the last hill.  The other part of the plan was that we figured that water could go over the top of the log due to the weight, so if that happened that some of us would be in charge of baling the water out of the log to avoid us sinking.  

 So, we went up to the ride and asked permission of the operator to let us all get in the log.  They weren't happy about that, but there was no sign stating a maximum, so they had to let us try it.  The heaviest boy was short, so we put him in the leg opening under the front of the log.  Then each of us, including our chaperone, got into the log one by one and crammed in as close as we could.  I was next to last and inside the log.  The seventh boy and lightest was actually sitting on the top of the log in the back.  The operator told us he couldn't do that, so we squeezed him in.  We had seven people in a log really made for four.

 The ride started.  The first thing we noticed was that water was coming over the sides, and we were afraid of sinking, so three of us began baling.  When the log started going into the first turn, those not baling were pushing off of the side of the rail to keep from flipping over.  We then figured out that if we leaned away from the curve, we wouldn't be in danger of flipping over.  We had to react backwards from what would be a normal reaction on that ride just to stay moving.  Things were going well, although the log was moving slower than usual due to the weight.  Then, we got to the last hill.  

 There was some debate amongst us as to how we were going to approach that last hill.  Our original thought was to lean back going up the hill and then lean forward going down the hill for maximum speed.  There were those who wanted to do that, since we wouldn't get so wet.  But then, another problem arose.  Some suggested that if we were to all lean forward that the log might flip over at the bottom of the hill from the weight.  We weren't keen on drowning, so we decided to do something differently.  Going up the hill, we all leaned forward to allow the chain to take us up easier.  Going down the hill, we all leaned backward to keep the log from flipping over.  This meant that we would get very wet from the splash, but it was better than drowning.  We survived.  We cheered.  We got up to the end of the ride, and the operator was pretty mad.  Some officials from Six Flags were also mad.  But, we did it.  Seven people in a log made for four.  We felt that it we had an unofficial world's record for the number of people you could get into a log at Six Flags.  I dare say we still have that record.  And, Six Flags has a sign on the ride now that says no more than four to a log.  Guinness should have been there to validate our achievement.