L 272 I'm having a hard time believing the tow boat business is in a recession. There was a continuous chain of towboats pushing 21 to 35 barges all day. I saw grain, rocks, petroleum, natural gas, junk cars, coal, and countless empty barges moving in both directions on the river. I think I now know what a smart car driver feels like driving on an interstate filled with 18 wheelers. I monitor the ship to ship channel on my radio just to try to figure out what's happening. Sometimes there will be a group of tows stopped and I have no idea why. I have never been mentioned in any radio traffic that I have heard. I suppose that's a good thing but a shoutout to the tows coming up that there is an old retired airline pilot paddling an overloaded kayak down the river and to cut him some slack would be nice. I have been paddling more miles than I need to to make my Nov 4th meetup with thehouseofwilliams. I can either slow down or spend 2 nights in a campsite. I don't know what to do. I have been getting up at 5 for so long I can't really sleep in. Of course going to bed at 8 might have something to do with my early getup.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Cool front
L 309 I'm getting some radio stations from Baton Rouge. I've been listening to Mississippi public broadcasting. (MPB) Its mostly classical music during the day. I'm not overly enthusiastic about paddling to an orchestra. Maybe Baton Rouge will have all day talk. My iPod has a radio. I can't overemphasize how important that device has been to me on this expedition. There's just so much swish, swish, swish of my paddle I can take. I have 2 solar chargers that I keep strapped to my bow. They have been working great. I have been able to keep my phone and iPod fully charged the entire trip. The rain started in the middle of the night and ended around 5. I had a pretty normal day except for the wind. A strong tail wind can be scary. The waves are building behind you and you can't see them approaching. Today I passed the diversion channel that the COE had to open when the river got so high last spring. The water was diverted into the Atchafalaya river to reduce the possibility N.O.would flood. Of course people who owned property along that diverted water were SOL.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Natchez Mississippi
L 346 I camped 15 miles above Natchez last night. I was going to pull in there to replenish my fresh water supply. I have been filtering river water but I prefer city water. The city boat ramp was just below some businesses so getting the water I needed was easy. I found out that the casino buffet, which is next to the ramp, started at 11. It just happened to be 10:55. I walked over there wearing my 5 day old clothes and ate lunch. A front was supposed to arrived this afternoon so I wanted to establish a camp that would protect me from the north wind. It took some looking but I'm in some trees sheltered a little bit. The wind shifted at 5 and it cooled off immediately. I have been outdoors for nearly 10 weeks straight. It's kinda weird living in the weather and watching it change back and forth. I should get some rain later but the north wind will be mostly at my back.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Another day
L 374 With my extraction date established (Nov 4) and the number of miles remaining (280) we have determined a mpd requirement. It's 32 or so. I've been doing quite a bit more than that so I should have an extra hour or so per day. Maybe I'll use it to eat. I like that idea. I've got a few things to do so I need to get to them. I fried up some tortillas for a snack and I should use soap on the dishes. Camping is hard work.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Back on the river
L 411 I had a good, productive, restful stopover in Vicksburg. Jenny set it up all I did was show up and implement. She's getting good at this. I think that might be my last hotel before N.O. I'm going to confess something here that probably doesn't need confessing. I have lost weight. I just can't seem to eat enough to get full. I bring this up now because of what I had for dinner tonight. Yesterday, during my grocery store visit I bought a box of Mac & cheese that has 4 servings. I made it tonight because it was taking up a lot of room in my food bag. I easily ate the entire package. While it was cooking I ate an orange and an apple. I just ate a bag of M & Ms. I could eat more but this is getting ridiculous. I wonder how many calories paddling an overloaded kayak for 8 hours a day requires. Probably a few more than I am able to replace.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Check, check, double check
U 437 Made turn up Yazoo river and found hotel - CHECK - secured boat - CHECK - showered and shaved - CHECK - gorged myself at $8.95 all you can eat casino buffet - CHECK - did laundry - CHECK - did grocery shopping - CHECK - found liquor store and bought Bourbon - DOUBLE CHECK - gone to casino and won a bunch of money ----- thats probably not going to happen but I might go down there and let them mix me a Bourbon and raspberry lemonade.
