May 24 2001 20 Thursday

2001 Race - May 24, 2001, Thursday
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	7 AM		St. Louis Arch	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Stops near St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	7 AM		Lula MS	2nd
Kruger	2 AM	Mile 644		1st
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Stops near Monticello, MN	4th

Updates/Comments 5-7 AM calls
Reported from Mary Potter, Webmaster and Event Organizer:

Team Alaska, around 7 AM - As usual, Kerm called in in very high spirits. He said they were at the arch in St. Louis and were all ready to go. Team Alaska has participated in many interviews along the way and we talked about a few of them. He said they passed out Rett syndrome and Race literature everywhere they went and were just now running out of fliers and posters. I teased him and said "well, thank goodness!" and he laughed again. Kerm says everyone is in very good spirits, no injuries at all, and everyone is feeling fine.

Team Double Helix - Andrew called in at 7 AM, very late for Andrew, I wondered if he were violently ill at first since he seemed groggy and not his usual spit fire 5 AM calling self........ Andrew reported the entire team was sleeping in 2 donated hotel rooms at the Isle of Capri Casino in Lula Mississippi across from Helena, Arkansas. The team had been there since approximately 12:15 AM and he said the paddlers were still asleep. I did encourage Andrew to throw some quarters in a slot machine since I would have been down there doing just that instead of calling "me". He said while it was great to be in this wonderful hotel with all the amenities, he was just too stinkin' tired to do anything but sleep right now. I asked about the paddlers, he said they were both asleep.

Team Kruger - Stan called and said the paddlers were at mile marker 644 at 2 AM when the road crew had last seen them. Bob and Verlen were preparing to paddle through the night after taking cover off the water for about 3 hours during a bad lightening/rain storm. The road crew will meet the paddlers about 52 miles downstream from mile 644. Stan reports all are fine and feeling good and since I never hear from Dana anymore (since she joined the crew) I will just have to take his word for it :-)

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	time called	river mile	neartown	position
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Stops near St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	time called	river mile	neartown	position
Kruger	time called	river mile	neartown	position
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Stops near Monticello, MN	4th

Updates/Comments, 5 to 7 PM Calls
from Mary Potter, Event Coordinator and Web Master.

Team Alaska - Kerm reports at 8:30 that they are in St. Genevieve at mile 150. All are in good spirits as usual. Kerm said the team interrupted a city council meeting to get a free campsite and were in fact camping under a pavilion now :-).
On the down side, Kerm reports Tony lost his $369 graphite paddle today. Tony has steadfastly tied his paddle in every day when kayaking except today. Of course, today was the day he dropped the paddle and watched as it float away towards a barge. He decided it was just not worth pursuing, and Kerm thankfully agreed :-) Of course, we all know given the Alaskan team's luck, that paddle may not only resurface unscathed and just a little bit smarter but will then go on to be turned in to the local police who will call me to ask if someone from our race is missing a paddle! (for inside information on this story please check out Team Alaskan's lost kayak over a dam and it's successful recovery 6 days later...May 12 and May 18

Team Double Helix - Andrew Gribble called at 6:35 PM to say the paddlers were at mile 620 and the road crew was heading towards Great River Road State Park to await the team and have a hot meal ready. Andrew thinks the whole team will stay on shore tonight. Clark called not a minute later and said they were at mile 620. He could not talk long, as usual....

Team Kruger - Stan called in to say the paddlers were at mile marker 560 at 6:40 PM CST and the road crew will meet them in about 30 miles. Family members of both paddlers have joined in to rally in support of the team. Stan reports he is the first one to get tic bite in the race!
Stan, as always :-), asked where Team Double Helix and Team Alaska had called in from (Stan says "Bob wants to know...) ....I asked Stan, "Where are you again? Mile 560? Oh, Team Double Helix is at 550." After a few seconds of dead silence I burst out laughing, as did Stan, immediately getting my little joke....I told him I wanted to tease him, but not too much!. He laughed and said well, he appreciated that (I think the "not too much" part). I told him Team Double Helix was at mile 620 at 6:30 or so and that Team Alaska left the arch in St. Louis this morning and were all doing well.
Stan said Team Kruger is still going for the record despite all delays and bad weather. He thinks it's unlikely they can make it at this point but still within their reach, and they are going for it! Good luck Team Kruger!

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 24, 2001 Thursday

Early May 24, the rain let up, but fog rolled in. I remember going through Sunflower Cut Off at river mile 625. When I came out of the cut off, there was a tug on the other side of the island. According to the chart, I was in the channel, and he wasn't. I never found out if I was in the right place or if he was. It was too foggy to find any buoys in the cut.

During the next 65 miles of river, there are at lot of charts that overlap. On the
chart that has river mile 605 to 592 on it, the north pointer is actually pointing west.

On Scrubgrass Bend, we cut the corner to the left. There was a tug with barges behind us, and we didn't want to take his wash. As we made the turn, we hit one of Smith Point Dikes. This was the fist dike or wing dam we hit. It would also be the last. The Army Corps of Engineers installed these rock dams to keep the river in its channel. All of the dams had been under water because of flooded conditions. Whenever the wing dams are close to the surface, they cause severe turbulence. Sometimes very rough, especially disturbing at night. That's why it pays to stay in the channel when possible.

Once we got around Scrubgrass Bend, we had a straight away, then a right turn around Victoria Bend. Come to find out by cutting the previous bend, we ended up being ahead of the tug still. This time, we were on the outside bend and did get his wash. After getting around the bend, we saw David and Mike paddling up river to meet us. Mike and Janet had arrived at our feeding spot, Rosedale Gage, just in time. They would remain with the support crew until the end and they were glad to have their expert help. We pulled in to have a quick bite to eat. It was 12:50 p.m., May 24.

Later that day, we came across one of the first big river boats. They make them so they look like the old rear paddle wheelers. It was near 6:00 p.m. when we arrived at Easton Landing for our next feed. We had news there that Verlen's wife Jenny would soon join our support team. Nancy and Terry were bringing her out in their fifth wheeler. They planned to follow to the end. They were also a welcome addition to the team.

Captain Stan could take much needed rest!

End of Team Kruger Log May 24, 2001