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The
Great Mississippi River Race for
Rett Syndrome, May 2001 |
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Day
19, Wednesday, May 23, 2001
Safety Summary, All Teams
Safety
Report, 5-7 AM:
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* 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. |
Updates/Comments 5-7 AM calls, Reported from Mary Potter, Webmaster and Event Organizer:
Team Alaska - Kerm called about 6 AM CST from Mile 258. Kerm called in his usual tremendous humor and wanted to know when the party in New Orleans was so he could make sure all of Team Alaska would be there to celebrate! Kerm said when it gets closer to the party date (June 1, 2001, at the Hard Rock Cafe in New Orleans, 6 PM) their team was going to pull off the water, get ahead of Kruger's team and then get back in the water and "let" Kruger's team pass them :-) Kerm is not looking forward to the barage of river traffic "just waiting" below Lock and Dam 25 to go upstream but as usual, I suspect that sturdy Alaskan living experience and perserverance will guide this team through just about anything.....
Team
Double Helix - mile 767 at 5 AM. Andrew called at 5
AM CST sharp. Andrew
reports the whole team stayed on shore last night and was at the Ed
DuVall Boat Lake in Tennessee, the Volunteer State. Andrew did a great
job of explaining who Ed DuVall was but I have no recollection of
what he said at this writing (sorry Andrew!).
Andrew said the paddlers were eating oatmeal on the shore and I asked
to speak to Clark (my husband). Clark said yesterday during the daylight
they had some headwinds and had run into a very strange section of
water that was full of erratic popping waves that danced about the
race boat (kayak). He said there were stacks of waves travelling constantly
in all directions - like true Brownian motion. Thank you Clark! for
that molecular analogy :-)
Clark sounded tired to me, but well, and reports that he and Kurt will continue on to make the best time possible although the World Record for best time on the Mississippi is extremely unlikely at this time. He indicates he doubts they will travel at night at this point due to the dangers of barges, bad weather and at times, very dangerous river conditions due to high waters and flooding (which can change rapidly as seen in the example from above).
Team
Kruger -
Stan called about 7:20 AM CST, mile 729, south of Memphis by about
7 miles. Stan reports it's a beautiful day! Paddlers left this mile
at 7 AM. Verlen and Bob paddled through the previous night, all night.
After finding there was no landing in Memphis (due to flooding) the
team stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park and had a perfect site - not more
than 50 feet form take out. Stan reports the paddling goal for the
next 24 hours is about 150 miles, and will have to stay at that pace
every day to beat the current record. Stan remains hopeful but not
optimistic that they can hold that pace for the remainder of the race
unless all conditions are literally perfect.
Location
Report Received
5-7 PM:
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* 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. |
Updates/Comments Received, 5 to 7 PM Calls, from Steve Landick, Race Director
Team Alaska - mile 180 at the St. Louis arch in Missouri! All in good spirits, as usual :-)
Team Double Helix - Andrew M. Gribble called at 5 PM and said they were at mile 688. Closest city is Mhoon, Mississippi.
Team Kruger - Stan called at 5 PM at mile 672. Stan said a big raft of 21 barges had just passed - 21 in one tow - the biggest raft he has seen yet..... Stan reported paddlers paddled all day and were going tonight. Weather and water are excellent, and they expect the same to continue tonight. All wing dams are under water which significantly makes night time travel safer at this time. Paddlers can simply go right down the side of the channel without having to worry about threading between the tugs and wing dams.
(Webmaster says: Wing dams are rock jetties that extend from the bank out towards the channel. Wing dams help keep the flow/current of the deeper water to stay in the center of the channel to help the tows and barges.).
Stan also reported a rudder report set the team back a little bit.... all are well now and the team is in good spirits.
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From Webmaster/Event Organizer note - Mary Potter:
I
received a phone call from Andrew Gribble on May 24 saying that Team
Double Helix was on the water the evening of May 23 (this report)
and got caught in a sudden lightening/rain storm around 11 PM and
had to seek cover under the trees. It was a difficult situation, but
the team did finally get off the water and - get ready for this!
- stayed at the Isle of Capri Casino in 2 rooms graciously donated
to the team for the night. Tait Seldon of Tunica, MS met the crew
at the Mhoon, TN boat ramp, and, after hearing about what the team
was doing, called his friend Penny Franklin at the Isle of Capri casino
(near Lula, MS) and arranged for two rooms for us.
I found out just a tad bit later (on May 24) from Stan Hanson of Team Kruger that Team Kruger paddlers were caught in the same storm this evening. Stan Hanson reported that the road crew literally happened to be right there when the sudden storm hit, got the paddlers off the water, let the paddlers sleep about 3 hours, then Verlen and Bob resumed their paddling for the rest of the evening beginning around 2 AM.
The lightning/rain storms can occur very quickly and with little warning. Very dangerous, especially at night. See May 24 report for more info.
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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.
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Copyright: The Great Mississippi River Race For Rett Syndrome,
2001. All Rights Reserved
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