Safety Report, 5-7 AM:

Team Name Date Days in Route Location Number Nearest City Navigation Mileage Time called in Total River Miles Position estimated Alaska 5/16/01, Wed 12 Loc 1 Near Lock and Dam 7 Mile 715 7:00 AM 632 Third Double Helix** 5/16/01, Wed 12 Loc 1 LeClaire, Iowa Mile 497 8:15 AM 850 Tied for 1st and second, see May 14 report Kruger* 5/16/01, Wed 12 Loc 1 Did not call in, but travelling with Team Double Helix per coast guard request Tied for 1st and second, see May 14 report 1984 Record 5/8/84 12 Loc 1 Burlington, Iowa Mile 404 2:30 PM 943 * and ** - Note on Team Kruger and Team Double Helix - both teams were stopped 3 times during the race. See Race Delays for more information.

Updates/Comments Usually Received 5-7AM calls, but starting at midnight this particular day......:

More adventure on the Mississippi. . .

Team Alaska:
According to Kerm, who called at 7:00 from river mile 715, near lock and dam 7, Kermit is "sliming down the river" with all due speed, happy, evidently, to have two parasitical paddlers along for the ride. They were all in good spirits, even though Kerm and Bud had paddled until 1:30 a.m before stopping for several hours sleep around 4:30 a.m.

Team Double Helix:
At nearly midnight last night, Andrew called with the news that Team Double Helix and Team Kruger--now traveling together on the closed portion of the river between Dubuque and Keokuk, per instructions from Coast Guard Commander Ramirez--had been stopped by the Sheriff on the water, who demanded to know why they were disobeying orders to stay off the river.

According to Clark, who called later this morning, it was a rude "wake-up call" for him (sleeping under the bubble), since the Sheriff's boat actually collided with the Double Helix hard enough to send the bubble flying. Not only were they bumped with a boat from below, but a helicoptor was also angling in from above, hovering much too close for comfort. I asked Clark if he thought he was hallucinating inside the "Happy Hut," what with all the bellowing bullhorns, high-intensity searchlights and such, but he just laughed.

This "Drama in the Darkness" was peacefully resolved at 8:15 a.m., when Commander Eric Washburn, filling in for Commander Ramirez at the Coast Guard's Upper Mississippi St. Louis office, told the sheriff our teams could paddle the river unimpeded. Further, he said he would alert all Army Corp of Engineer and Coast Guard officials of our special permission to be on closed sections of the river. With that, the teams were off and running from river mile 497, near lock and dam 15, after spending what remained of the night in a parking lot in the small town of LeClaire, IA.

Team Kruger:
No one called in from this team, but Clark said they are there with Team Double Helix

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Note from Event Organizer/Webmaster, Mary Potter (Clark Eid's wife, paddler from Team Double Helix)

I returned home today at 1:30 PM to find a message from Andrew M. Gribble of Team Double Helix and played it....as Andrew's voice explained the Sheriff's boat and helicopter incident my 4 year old son said "Momma, is dad in jail?", "No Noah", I replied hastily, still trying to listen as the recording continued, "Momma, is daddy locked up", "No Noah", and continued to try to listen to Mr. Gribble at which point Noah ran off gleefully around the livingroom with his arms up saying "Daddy is in jail! Daddy is in jail!". Andrew never said anything about that on the recording...Noah just surmised this on his own, and asked Clark about it when he called this evening "Dad are woo in jail?" and then asked me about it when I tucked him in....and still asked me about it the following morning at breakfast.......I can't wait to get that note from the preschool teacher today about today's show and tell report.

I have received many calls about the race today, some from reporters interested in the sherriff incident and the fact that the teams have permission to continue their journey at this time. Clark did report to me (around 5 PM) that they did an interview with Channel 8 and might be on the local news that night. Special thanks to this sherriff's group who helped us inadvertantly "get the word out" about our race much better than we could have :-)

Safety Report Received PM:

Team Name Date Days in Route Location Number Nearest City Navigation Mileage Time called in Total River Miles Position estimated Alaska 5/16/01 Wed 12 Loc 2 Lansing, Iowa Mile 663 5:45 PM 684 3rd Double Helix** 5/16/01 Wed 12 Loc 2 Mile 457 5:27 PM 890 Tied for 1st and 2nd, see May 14 report Kruger* 5/16/01 Wed 12 Loc 2 Did not check in but reported by Team Double Helix as travelling with Team Double Helix per Coast Guard Requirement assume Mile 457 890 Tied for 1st and 2nd, see May 14 report 1984 Record 5/8/84 12 Loc 2 Mile 390 7:00 PM 957 * and ** - Note on Team Kruger and Team Double Helix - both teams were stopped 3 times during the race. See Race Delays for more information.

Updates/Comments Received, 5 to 7 PM Calls:
From Don Keller, official time keeper

Team Alaska
5:45 River Miles 663
Kerm said they are near Lansing Iowa. The paddlers have just arrived, so he did not have much time to talk. I did have time to tell Kerm that the CBS affiliate TV station in Rock Island WHBF, is awaiting his call, so they
can do an "on-the-river" interview, and air it this week.

Per Kerm's request I called Lock and Dam # 11. Yes it, and L&D # 12 is also open. The lockmaster was very friendly, and said he would help them get through the lock without delay. This is the very same lock that due to high water and a closed river, delayed Team Kruger and Team Double Helix, making their effort to break the Guinness record that much harder.

Team Double Helix
5:27 River Miles 457
Andrew had nothing to tell us this eve. I said based on the recent past,that was so bad ! Prompted for "news" he said that lunch was fast food burgers and macaroni and cheese. It was hot so they erected a tarp to shade the paddlers while eating. "Oh yes Edith Paule and Johann Fembek" (two volunteers from Austria) "created a great cucumber salad" with all kinds of neat things in it.

DON'S NOTE: Edith and Johann flew over to help for the entire length of the race, cooking, making camp. doing anything that needs to be done to help these paddlers. The kayakers are consuming 10-15,00 calories a day, eating all they can at the scheduled stops, and stuffing their pockets with high calorie "power bars" for on the water "snacks" .

Team Kruger
As of 11:34, Team Kruger has not checked in. Andrew of Team Helix told me that Team Double Helix and Team Kruger are still paddling together, per Coast Guard instructions, to navigate thedangerous, and officially closed section of the river between Dubuque and Keokuk.

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Team Amazon (webmaster's note - this team is no longer officially in the race, this is just an update!) - called in at 7:30 On Land, chasing Team Alaska. They tried to meet up with Team Alaska a few times, but found that the paddlers were moving very faster. Everywhere they went the paddlers had "just passed" Tony and Cynthia are heading home to Calgary, via Aitken and a Rett family visit. I could hear emotion in Tony's voice as he sent his thanks to Team Alaska for all the help they had given them, showing where and how to portage particular spots, etc, and doing it all so generously. Tony told me "We really, really appreciated the help they gave the girls (Team Amazons consists of Cynthia Belbin and Megan Duffy, but disbanded when Cynthia had to hospitalized last Thursday eve for a very serious infection). Tony also told me to tell Team Alaska they are welcome to stop in Calgary, Canada for a place to stay on their long journey home.

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Daily Updates

For More Updates, Photos and Videos please the main Race page.

* and ** - Note on Team Kruger and Team Double Helix - both teams were stopped 3 times during the race - 2 times by the Coast Guard, and 1 time by the Sherriff's office. See Race Delays for more information.

*** Note on Total Miles: For purposes of our site, we compile total miles as the total river miles the teams have passed. If teams take legal shortcuts, we note it on that date, but do not reduce total miles. Please see the May 9 report for more information.