I don't know if this will help you or not . . .
I shoot Cap & Ball revolvers and have for years. When I clean 'em, I remove the barrel, cylinder and leave the frame (grip/and frame) assembled. On the frame, I keep the grip out of water's way but take a toothbrush and my cleaning solution and give it a good scrub down finished by running it under water. The cylinder and barrel are cleansed the same way. We're talking steel parts here - frame and insides. After cleaning an wiping down, I take a blow hair dryer and blow everything dry - barrel, cylinder, assembled frame - on the frame, I blow it dry so that the air gets into the areas leading to the inside parts. All of the hot air not only dries it out but warms the metal parts up hot enough that it is sometimes hard to hang on to with bare hands. After drying and cooling down, I spray RemOil so that it goes in to the interior of the frame and oil the entire set of parts down (bore, chambers, outside, etc.) and then wipe down. I have never had a problem of any kind with the parts. Once a year, I disassemble and throughly clean everything.
If you carry your revolver and take a "dunking" - and have electric power available - do the same to it once you get it cleaned up. It really shouldn't be a problem.
I load snake shot using Speers shot capsule for my 38s - I'm in Arizona during the winter and we do get rattlesnakes although I have never been close enough to have to shoot one. A lot of folks carry the snake shot - if you are so close that you need to use your revolver it should work fine. If you are far enough away that you question if the pattern will cover the snake for a kill, then you are far enough away to head in the opposite direction.
I like the idea of the floating stick to practice - and you should practice to know how the snake shot shoots and patterns. Good luck and have a great vacation and hopefully you won't have to think about having to shoot snakes!