May 20 2001 16 Sunday

2001 Race - May 20, 2001, Sunday
The Great Mississippi River Race for Rett Syndrome, May 2001
We are Going the Extra Mile..... The Extra 2,348 Miles to Find a Cure!

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 AM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	5-7 AM	Mile 457	Near L&D 16, Muscatine, IA	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Stops near St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	6 AM	Mile 81.5	Wittenburg, MO	1st or 2nd
Kruger	7:30 PM	Mile 80		1st or 2nd
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Stops near Monticello, MN	4th

Updates/Comments Received from Elizabeth Tynan, Safety Officer, 5-7AM calls
Team Alaska: Kerm called from camp at an exotic location this morning: the Loud Thunder Forest Preserve, river mile 457, near Lock and Dam 16 at Muscatine, IA. Just dreaming out that name must have been enough to crank up the crew at dawn without complaints, for they all awakened early. (I guess Kerm will have to experiment with the "gong" some other day.) Kerm said they haven't seen any rain yet, but I warned him, as I did all the teams, that severe thunderstorms are due to move in to that entire area later today. I also gave him the number of some friends who live in Burlington, IA, who would like to meet the team when they arrive there sometime around 4:00 p.m.
Team Double Helix: Andrew M. Gribble is slipping. :) He slept in this morning until 6:00 his time, then called to say that they were at river mile 81.5, near Wittenburg, MO, expecting Clark and Kurt to arrive there at any moment.
A Clark-and-Kurt sighting is nice, but not the real attraction at that lovely location this morning. It's the fantastic feast that's waiting! It seems that the support crew--sans Edith, who is in seclusion getting some sorely needed sleep at an undisclosed spot farther upriver--arrived at the landing around 1:00 a.m. and attracted the attention of two local residents, Jeff and Debbie. Upon investigating the source of the lights they had seen and being told of the noble adventure our race participants had embarked upon, they went back home and returned with bountiful gifts: According to Andrew, two large slabs of ham, a large link of homemade sausage, ground beef, two loaves of bread, a slab of bacon (these are large, Midwestern-size SLABS, folks, not slices), and two bags of chips.
I have to admit, my eyes teared a little, and the famous line from "Field of Dreams" came to mind: "Build it, and they will come." Our race is the Rett equivalent of that baseball diamond in an Iowa cornfield, an event built with faith and hard work that personifies the hopes and dreams of all who fervently wish to see Rett Syndrome wiped out. And yes, "they have come,"--those who will help in ways large and small to help achieve our goal. As I hung up, I wondered if Andrew realized the magnitude of what he had witnessed: not just the generosity of warmhearted Midwesterners, but a larger truth of which they were a living example: that if we try hard enough to accomplish something good and have faith, a swell of support will come.
Team Kruger: John checked in at 7:30 to report that Verlen and Bob were currently at river mile 80, and that they and Team Double Helix were together--for the moment. :) Yesterday's trip was calm and uneventful after they left the Arch in St. Louis; even the "chain of rocks" that normally pose quite a challenge to paddlers were barely discernible beneath the high water. John said they were all a little tired, but in great spirits and doing well.
END OF SAFETY REPORT

Webmaster's Note : Team Double Helix and Team Kruger left together this morning.

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	5:42 PM		Fort Madison, IA	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Stops near St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	9 PM	Mile 953	Cairo, MO	2nd
Kruger	7:10 PM	Mile 956	Cairo, MO	1st
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Stops near Monticello, MN	4th

Updates/Comments Received, 5 to 7 PM Calls From Don Keller, official time keeper
Team Locations Sunday May 20 PM
Team Alaska 5:42 River Miles 389 - Fort Madison
Kerm called to say that they have only 802,800 paddles strokes till the Gulf. They had hoped for a 110 mile day, but storms and Lock and Dam #19 held them up. Everybody is fine.
Team Double Helix 5:45 Soon to be in Cairo (pronounced Kay-Row)
Jeff Romine notified us that paddlers, Kurt and Clark, left Commerce at 2:15. The support team is waiting at Cairo (pronounced "Kay row" by my steamboat pilot friend.) Earlier today the team was very graciously allowed to make a landing in Commerce on private ground by Merle Anne Williams. The location they landed at is pictured in the 1999 book "River Horse", on page 171. The book was authored by William Heath-Moon and is published by Houghton-Miflin.
The town of Commerce has only 300 people but it boasts 3 churches. Since the paddling team still has too much food, it was decided that some of the food would be left with Merle Williams to be distributed to the 3 churches. We are so glad to know this food will help some needy people.
Team Kruger 7:10 River Mile 0 - Upper Mississippi miles, River Mile 956 - Lower Mississippi miles
John Young called in to say that the paddlers have JUST arrived at an important milestone. Cairo- Fort Defiance.
They will be feeding them pasta and ice-cream. Two parties with pasta in two days...Yesterday's party was under the Arch at St. Louis That's CARBOHYDRATE LOADING ! They said that Team Double Helix is not in sight, but is due any time.
NOTE: On steamboat (mis)pronunciation Along with pronouncing Cairo, Kay Row, the steamboat/river people always pronounce a calliope "Cal E Ope" three syllables instead of four
END OF SAFETY REPORT May 20, 2001
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Webmaster Note/Event Organizer Mary Potter - Clark Eid from Team Double Helix called last night around 9ish....said that they had past the point of the confluence of the Ohio River, where the mile marker changes from 0 to 953. They were staying on the ground that evening. Clark said he saw Team Kruger go by just before he called :-) but also said he saw lightning in the distance and indicated he wanted the shore support to follow them in the boat at night due to the tremendous amount of boat traffic, tugs and barges.

Webmaster/Mary Potter says - I don't have logs from every team, but I will share what I have:

Team Kruger Log - By Bob Bradford, Enhanced by Stan Hanson May 20. 2001, Sunday
About an hour or so later, in the pre-dawn hours of May 20th , we had a close call with a tug. The tug with his loaded barges was coming up river. We were on the right side and thought we should go to the left and let him pass. What we didn't realize was that he had to swing way over in order to turn his load up river. Clark and I did a sharp left-hand 180-degree turn and paddled very fast for the right shore. I'm not sure how close it had been, but I can tell you it's probably the fastest I ever paddled in the race!

Very early in the morning, about 4:00 a.m., it was foggy. It was so bad that you could not see the shore. I started following Clark because he was using his GPS. Andrew from his support team had programmed it to show a river map. It seemed to me that we were doing a lot of zig-zagging. At one point I felt that we had gotten turned around. I went on my own even though Clark called me. This was a serious mistake! Within seconds, I could no longer see Clark and could not tell from where he was calling. Next, I heard the dreaded sound of diesel engines. It was a tug! I could not tell for sure where it was. I had to find a shore ASAP! Then there was a very loud toot on his horn. He must have picked me up on his radar. I somehow managed to find the shore and stayed there until he passed. I never saw the tug in the fog, but the river is half-a-mile wide in this area.

Once the tug passed and I could not hear his engines, I started paddling again. could no longer find my location on the chart. I stayed very close to the left-hand shore. After a few minutes, I noticed that the shore didn't seem to be moving by very fast. I stopped paddling and dreaded what I saw. The shoreline was going by backwards! I had been paddling up river! With the excitement of the tug, I had gotten turned around.

When we pulled into river mile 80 for breakfast, Double Helix had already been there for 30 minutes. On a lighter note, my daughter Angie and grandson David Phelps were driving up to our support team. It was May 20, and what a night it had been! Double Helix left before we finished breakfast, but only a few minutes. Angie and Dave were a welcome sight and addition for the support crew as well!

By noon that day, we were at Cape Girardeau, and it was Sunday. We pulled in to get some food. Stan and Jon had stayed in town to make repairs and adjustments to the trailer. David, Angie, and Dana were there to meet us with some hamburgers and shakes. The area we were at was like a sandy beach. I had to use a bathroom, but all of the stores were closed. David came to the rescue. He held a blanket up on the beach for me while I took care of business. Such is the life of a marathon canoeist. .. or have I already said that?

During that day, we would see the Double Helix again. Somewhere near river mile 44, Dorrity Landing, they were on the right shore eating. We were on the left bank and almost missed them. We waved and took over the lead again! At mile 25, we decided to take Brown's Chute. It's on the left of Brown's Bar and most of the time it's dry. On May 20th, it had lots of water in it. The chute saved about a half-mile.

Around 6:45 p.m. that evening, we arrived at mile 0, where the Ohio River comes in from the east. It is also the point where the Mississippi starts counting down from river mile 954. Now we had less than 1,000 miles to go! Our crew was on the left shore at Fort Defiance Park at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. We had a real treat. I'm not sure what we had for the main course, but desert was ice cream. This was Verlen's favorite, besides macaroni & cheese!

We tried to keep track of Double Helix to see if they would pass. They didn't.

We pushed off after 45 minutes and paddled into the wind. We crossed the river to seek some protection on the right bank. It looked like rain and the temperature started dropping. Either that or it was the ice cream! By 10: 15 p.m., it was a full blown storm with rain, thunder, and lightning. We looked for a spot to pull in. There was a sandy area on river right with just enough room. The overhead trees made it difficult to use our GlobalStarUSA satellite phone, but we did make contact with our team. We let them know we would wait out the storm. I can't imagine doing this race without these satellite phones. They were invaluable!

Verlen slid down into his bed and covered up. I scooted into the bow as far as I could get and laid my head on the seat. I had the spray skirt zipped up and my raincoat over my head. We had not designed the canoe to sleep two people at one time. After all, who would guide the canoe if both paddlers were sleeping?!
End of Team Kruger Log May 20, 2001, Sunday