Sailing down the lazy river...

Back In Columbus

2005-07-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

Rem here.....

Unfortunately with recent developments with the mast replacement, I drove away from Dennis and back home to get the work done in my own city. There are pictures of the short 4 days of sailing and 4 days of drifting and motoring that I will post on the site later this week. This journey will happen but it looks like this year it will not.....more to come soon!!

Michael says Goodbye to Ole Miss

2005-07-10T20:45:00.000-05:00

Michael here:

I've decided I must cut my trip short and return home to Columbus after just one week, while Rem will attempt to continue on. I really hated making it, but between the delay of having to wait for a mast and the arrival of Dennis, the first hurricane to make Gulf coast landfall in 68 years in July, then the river conditions afterward for a few weeks as it all drains to the Miss. , I won't be able to finish the trip and be back in time. So while I am as close as I am, here in Memphis, I have to make the trip now rather than later, while in a major city, and only a medium length torturous 16 hour bus ride home. I'm sure Rem will continue the trip after the boat is fixed up and ship shape (he may fix other things and paint her while she's being worked on. Nothing like a nip and tuck while your fixing a broken bone eh? ;-) ). And I'm sure Rem will continue to post his adventures to this blog.

I did have fun in Memphis this last weekend, it's a very nice city, and the marina and mud island park is awesome, but it always seems to smell like wet red hay. Don't ask me what red hay is, but that's the smell.

I'll continue to post about all the other things in the last week we didn't get to because of all the technical difficulties, including how Rem charmed the socks off 3 librarians by playing a piano that was in the library, immediately after we posted out last posts. (First time *I've* ever seen a piano in a one floor library).

For now, I'm signing off. Thanks for the opportunity.

Michael

Memphis TN, trying to type a message, waiting on mast :(

2005-07-09T15:41:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July

2005-07-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

Rem here....

Here in Curuthersville for 2 days. Its an intersting story how we actually got here. After nearly traveling 60 miles on the 4th of July the mast broke. A large storm kicked up some incredible winds and although we gave a good show for the tows we met our demise....the mast broke at the spreaders and I then helplessly watched the mast fall into the water on the port side of the boat. "BOOM" happy 4th of July!!! At first we were traveling with the wind at approximately 7-8 knots and moving faster than the barges that were in the channel. The wind picked up to approximately 30-40 mph with gusts up to 50 and I turned the boat into an upwind direction, letting some of the force of wind dump off the back of the sail. The stronger gusts at one point moved the boat completely sideways with the wind as wind scooped under the boat and kept us at a heel of about 40-50 degrees for an extended period of time (approximately 2-3 VERY LONG minutes). When I turned the boat back downwind as the storm was slowing we were gaining speed then the mast broke at the spreader where I later found out the top baton came out of the sail. We limped our way to a sandbar on the edge of Island 14 and spent a long night anchored there, contacting the US Coast Guard, who had been wondereing about our location and condition. We spoke with some barges that relayed the information to the Coast Guard for us and woke the next morning, drifting the nearly 13 miles to Caruthersville. In the Until yesterday we were able to manage an average of 35 miles a day and are currently in the process of trying to get a mast sent to Memphis, TN where we hope there can be a fully rigged mast there for us on our arrival Friday. We are planning on motoring/drifting down the river.....exactly the opposite of what this trip was designed for but......we have to do what has to be done.

Its clear that if we are not delayed too long that the New Orleans destination is a definate possiblilty within the timeframe we've alloted for the trip.....of course if a mast can not be found then the trip will have to come to an early end.

Excellent helpful people along the way.....I'd love to mention them all but am running short on my time at the Carutherville Public Library......yay for public libraries!!! Phone issues have prevented us from blogging......I was unable to charge my phone the Wednesday before we left for the trip....I went into verizon and was told those phones were out of stock but I could have one by Saturday......obviously that was not going to work........SO........I had the phone FedEx'd to the Paducah Airport and recieved the phone there....but still had to activate it....and being on the river there are many dead spots. The phone is working now and will probably try an audio blog later this evening. Pictures will be on the way too....We're hoping to catch the two PhD students, Jessica and John as they canoe down the river.... 5 gallons of gas.......9 gallons of water........Osceola.....here we come!!!!

120 river miles covered up to this point........and by the way.....whoever it was that called my cell phone and left a message wishing us luck and that there were no blogs yet.....PLEASE call again and tell us who you are!!!! I accidently deleted the message and was not able to identify who it was that called....but thank you for the well wishes...putt putt putt goes the motor :(

quick update for everyone...

2005-07-06T15:39:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

we're here in caruthersville, missouri at the public library at the moment, and we're sorry we haven't been able to post about our first few days. the first few days were VERY busy organizing the boat and figuring out, as we go, the organization of the boat and what we go through with supplies, as well as taking care of the vitals like water, ice and food. We didnt have a powered up cell phone to use as our connection for the first few days anyway. After we launch from caruthersville we'll attempt to connect while on the boat, as we have everything organized pretty much.

We've had some great adventures already, and most importantly have found every friendly person along the mississippi river towns, especially here in caruthersville. Every time we've stopped in a small town and people have seen one of us get off the boat, we've been offered a ride into town for ice and water, and they usually approach us. People always come up to us and want to know how long we're going and where we put in and where we're from.

July seems to be river adventure season, as everyone has stories of people coming through in july via sail, raft, canoe and motor boat, and sometimes even jet skis. supposedly, well up river of us, there is a very large raft with a small shed built onto it with three guys going *very* slowly, so we probably won't see them.

Here is carthuthersville, the first place we found to eat was at the 4th Street Deli, where we met Ashley, our waitress, and her boyfriend, Cliff. We'd heard of a place called the Boat Club, which is actually just a small, quiet inlet. We were thinking of anchoring there for a couple nights while in Caruthersville, and they offered to drive us down and show where it was, as well as where the stores and stuff were. We talked with them quite a bit, so it was no surprise we went back there for lunch again today, (Wednesday the 6th). Originally we were going to hit a breakfast place, but we changed our minds - and thank goodness we did.

July is *indeed* travelers' month, as just on the other side of the cafe, a young woman stopped me on the way to the bathroom asking if we were sailing the river. I answered yes, and she responded, 'Great, we're canoeing it too' Jessica and John are canoeing on behalf of the Source to Sea and they're averaging about 60 miles a day, going to New Orleans, just like us.

Turns out they had just pulled in, and had their boat next to ours at the ramp. We sat for at least a half hour comparing stories of our trip so far, and our planned trip ahead. After we got back to our boat to get our laundry and laptop, we talked briefly again, and found out we're both anchoring at the yacht club on Mud Island in Memphis, and probably arrive around the same time. We definitely plan on coordinating with each other for the rest of the trip, if only to find out how things are going. It was a HUGE confidence and excitement boost for me to meet them, and I was literally bouncing out of the deli. I hope to see them more often.

The owner of Mona's Place, a bar right off the river wall, met us at the ramp, telling us many stories of other river travellers, and was the second person to mention Mississippi Bill, and older man who has canoed down many times before. He's also offered to refill our ice and water for us.

There's a reason why we've been in Caruthersville for two days, but I'll let Rem tell you that exciting story. I was underneath the whole time, like the good little novice that I am.

On our way to the laundry, we ran into Ashley again, and she offered to ride us to the laundry and library, and she said to call her when we're done. To all of my friends who mentioned"Deliverance" to me when describing river townspeople, for shame. I've found them to be friendlier than a lot of city folk quite honest. Caruthersville and the 4th street deli are definite stops if you ever do this trip. We even got to see there fireworks on the 5th from our boat, as they were rained out the night before from the storm that moved through the area.

Caruthersville has definitely been a highlight of the trip for me, which Ashley finds funny, as the young people we've talked to all plan on leaving. I mentioned, that like Pittsburgh, they'll be back for good, if only to retire, or to raise their kids, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to adventure while you're young. I wish I hadn't waited until I was in my 30s, personally. I may not have appreciated it as much, but that's the wouldashouldacoulda talking.

That's enough for now, and I plan on writing more tonight, as we experiment with the cell phone connection with the laptop from the boat. We're off to Memphis, and plan to be there by Friday.

Michael, over and out.

T-Minus 48 hrs.......and pics from last summer

2005-06-29T06:26:00.000-05:00

Rem here......

I was able to download a few photos from last summer's trip, which is a great thing considering that I am technologically challenged. "Michael" seems to be a magic word this month. Michael P. for his vast knowledge base of technological capabilities, and Michael B. for his thoughtfulness and his father's generosity for the use of his laptop during our journey. Without either of these people, this year's trip probably would have been very different than it will be.

Today is shopping and loose ends day. Many things are ready to go but, you know, items keep popping up. Tomorrow is packing day and a send-off gathering of friends and wellwishers around 10pm at AWOL. Friday we leave.

As the preparation comes to a close, it's about time that some stories from last summer's adventure begin. My next few posts will include all the people involved with last year's trip (5 individuals on board) and experiences so unique and inspiring they will remain with me for a lifetime.

Quickly, thank you to Allen, Rob, Shiela, Stephen, Mom, Chris and Michael, and Russell for their participation in lst year's trip. The journey simply would not have happened without you!!

Too Many Cooks In The Kitchen?!?!

2005-06-27T07:46:00.000-05:00

Rem here......

It's Monday morning around 9 am and today is the last day of sailing in Ohio. After a nice mid-day sail the mast will be coming down and the boat will be prepared for its trailer journey to Paducah, Kentucky.

My last blog indicated that i was having difficulty coordinating "helpers" to return the SUV and/or pick us up. I've come to a resolution with the problem as well as some insight for the trip itself. When something can be done more simply, its best to take that route. There is an airport 10 miles from the regional airport and we will simply leave the SUV in their secured parking lot. The cost of this will be less than the cost of round trip gas for the guzzler and paying someone for their time and energy. When we complete the journey the return trip either by car or train or air can be firgured out then.

When coordinating such an extensive trip you can sometimes get ahead of yourself and try to work out all the details.....well, thats great in theory but the real answers come only when the situation presents itself.

Over the weekend we found many sites that talk about the horrible industrial cooridor, as it relates to pleasure craft, in and around New Orleans. We also recalculated the journey and came up with 905 miles, not the original 955. But to Mobile, Alabama the distance is 1,050. I think breaking 1000 miles should be a goal.......we'll see.

FOUR days and counting......by this time Friday morning we should be on the road heading to Paducah!! Its coming up fast but I now feel confident that with our creative solving problem skills, we will be prepared and ready for anything that should come out way.

Wow, one week

2005-06-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

Michael here...

I can't believe it's one week until we start the journey. Our 'requisition list' keeps getting longer and longer as we think of every contingency we can, including things like 'how do we have hot coffee every morning?' (Answer: Canned heat and a small covered pot in a wire frame for hot water, and my French press, which is safely made of plastic) I'm working every day up until we leave, and long hours, so every night for the rest of the week will be devoted to sorting and packing, sorting and packing. Thankfully, we only live a few blocks from each other, so I'm bringing things over to Rem's house little by little and packing there.

We know we can audioblog via our cell phones, and even textblog if we aren't annoyed enough with phone pad typing, but the principal problem is we don't have a laptop computer yet. We're exploring a couple options still, and I'm not really worried - we'll get one via RentACenter if we need to. As long as it's got a USB port, we'll have wifi access when we hit major cities (if the Mississippi River isn't completely covered), and with Rem's bluetooth phone, we can dial in if we need to. I'm looking to get an iPod with a mic attachment, because I really want to audio-record the trip as much as possible. We have a VHS camcorder for when we're not busy tacking and piloting, and exploring how to save the video electronically and uploading some clips. And we're powering/charging all of this via a car battery with a cigarette lighter power adapter.

We'll post our 'requisition list' this weekend (once I find it again) and talk more about the preparations. We'd like to make this a 'how-to' for anyone to use if they decide to something crazyfun like this.

By the way, my original inspiration for wanting to blog the trip came from a website http://www.mariesworldtour.com which I came across when I was researching how to travel to Australia via a freighter line. It's the awesome journal of a comic book professional from New York travelling around the world without flying. It consumed me for an entire weekend, and I highly recommend it if you have time to waste at your computer. My desire to audio record the trip comes from the fact that I love the public radio show, This American Life and get more out of listening to things than watching them (I don't even own a TV).

That's enough for now, and we'll be posting later tonight most likely.

Flickr

2005-06-23T14:03:00.000-05:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Michael, the novice, and last summer

2005-06-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

Michael here...

I'm the novice on the trip. Well, not a complete novice, but I have pretty much forgetten everything I learned last summer. Rem sailed the Ohio river last summer, starting in East Liverpool, Ohio, where Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia all meet, and the Ohio stops going north and starts heading south. The Ohio is what forms the borders and the panhandle of the tri-state area.

I had broken my ankle last June 11th on a basement staircase, and was pretty much homebound all summer. I had no idea that he had even taken this trip until he returned. At this point, I was getting out a bit more (thankfully), and ran into him at our local watering hole. When he told me that he had done the Ohio River, but had started in East Liverpool, I asked, "Why didn't you start the trip in Pittsburgh, where the Ohio starts?"

I'm from Pittsburgh originally, so I was a bit incredulous that he hadn't. After all, Pittsburgh supposedly has more boats registered than any other inland city (or something like that - Pittsburghers grow up with these kind of least/most stats all their lives). Well, he said he couldn't find any launches there, so East Liverpool it was. Well I knew there had to be a launch somewhere in Pittsburgh. Rem was eager to find it, and as the conversation progressed, invited me to join him on the trip if we found it.

But there I was with a cast on my right leg.

I knew I was getting it off by mid-to-late August - and it was my neice's birthday party in Pittsburgh on the last weekend of August. So, since I was going home to Pittsburgh that weekend, and knew I should have the cast off, I suggested either side of that Sunday, if everything worked out.

Well, we did find the launch, and I got my cast off just a week before the trip. But I still hadn't ever been on a sailboat yet...

Getting Ready

2005-06-22T11:41:00.000-05:00

Rem here...

Nine days and counting. The preparation is overwhelming. Last year there was an issue with having enough battery power to operate things like lights and the bilge pump. Even though the trip this year will take more "power" from the battery, I've equipped the boat with a larger deep charge battery and a larger charger. It seems though that the technology for solar charging is still lacking, at least with efficiency. So land, hopefully every other day eminent, will be our source of power and recharging. One persistent problem though has been to find a VERY good friend to take the truck back from Paducah to Columbus, Ohio. A 12 hour commitment is hard to find on the 4th of July weekend. I'm hopeful and optimistic that the answers will become clear. This evening I should be adding a pic of the boat as it was being taken out last summer at the furthest point in the trip. This is where we will return in less than 2 weeks to continue on the journey.