My wife is from south GA and I have fished around gators in small craft before. Never had a gheenoe, but I fished in a little plastic boat that would fit in the back of a pick up with no problem. I never had any problems, but I kept a close eye on them. I tried night fishing a couple of times, still didn't have any problems, but they would get pretty close, too close for me, I gave up night fishing. I don't know if its true or not, but I heard of a guy that got into some trouble in a jon boat around gators, but he was using a fishing stringer and had the fish hanging over the side.

hNt