Day 17 (back home on the water)

Daily stats
Start: 8:03 AM - New Madrid, MO
Finish: 3:34 PM - South of Caruthersville, MO
Time: 7:30:52
Daily dist: 50
Total dist: 423 miles
Weather: Start in around 30 with a high in the mid-50s.  cloudy.

As I sit here wrapped up in my sleeping bag gorging myself on the Christmas candy my mother sent down, I can’t really say I’m roughing it. I had almost settled for a brambly muddy shore to land on this afternoon until my eye caught the glint of sand on an island a few miles further on. An extra half hour of paddling took me off the water late but I ended up on a nice piece of real estate high and dry for the night, ready for the rain in the forecast.

The morning started off great with the better half of New Madrid coming to the water to see me off. Dave towed my boat and gear on his trailer right back to where I pulled out last Friday. He and Captain Chris suggested I launch from the town boat ramp but I had to refuse explaining that would have violated my only rule for this trip (no downstream help). I know it sounds silly but it matters to me.

Everyone watched in awe (me included) as three full bags of gear disappeared into the hatches of the Ikkuma. With water bottles topped off and a full bag of Christmas candy it was a bit of a squeeze and one lucky kid got a bottle of soda that I just couldn’t quite fit in.

After a few pictures, a big hug to Cheryl for my mom, and many good byes I launched into a thick morning fog.

The day was fairly routine minus the first half hour. The fog was pea soup thick and I could only see a few boat lengths in any direction. I wanted to miss a side chute past the town grain elevator docks so I steered into the channel and ran with the flow. After a few minutes of paddling I came slowly upon a buoy that was leaning the wrong way in the current. As I paddled very slowly up to it more than a moment past while my mind worked to comprehend that I was on an up stream treadmill facing the wrong way on the wrong side of the river. In minutes from pushing off I’d managed to paddle a giant loop in the fog. As I tried to convince myself that the Mississippi does indeed know which way to go, I heard a low hiss and looked up to see a five barge wide tow on it’s way up stream with me in its path. A shot of adrenaline had me out of the channel in no time but with a little less room than I like between me and a tow. Shaken but not stirred I decided that keeping close to the shore line would be the smart way to go until I could see more than tree tops in the mist.

This was a notable day in that it was the first that I didn’t have to wear my pogies (mittens) for even a minute. I also went without the dry suit for the first time in this trip donning instead the Kokatat Tec Tour paddling jacket and paddling pants that my mom had sent down as replacements for the stolen dry suit. I was in heaven being able to open up the collar and ventilate the jacket when I got warm, so much more comfortable than being sealed up in the dry suit all day.