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Q < Speedy gator gives Bernie a scare Bernie Gray's Great Adventure is living up to its advance billing. Gray, 56, left his job as a sale representative at Quinte Broadcast- ing in June to kayak from Belleville to Florida. Recently he had a brush with Hurricane Hortense and this week he survived a close call with an alli- gator. Gray said the frightening reptile encounter occurred in a creek near Charleston, South Carolina in an isolated, swampy part of the state south of Georgetown. "This alligator came pounding off the bank and hit the water at what seemed like 100 miles an hour," he said in a thick Scottish accent. "I tell you, you've never seen any- one paddle as fast in all your life. I was convinced that he was after me and I was praying that he didn't like plastic." Gray calls CJBQ radio in Belleville every week with updates on his journey. He arrived in Char- leston Wednesday night and will stay in the historic city for several days before resuming his trip. Intelligencer photo Bernie Gray He plans to eventually make his way to the Florida Keys (where he may encounter more alligators) and possibly the Caribbean. (