May 25 2001 21 Friday

2001 Race - May 25, 2001, Friday
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	7:45 AM	Mile 115	Chester IL	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Stops near St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	6:45 AM	Mile 585	Port of Rosedale, Mississippi	2nd
Kruger	7:30 AM	Mile 496	Mayorsville, Arkansas	1st
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Stops near Monticello, MN	4th

Updates/Comments 5-7 AM calls
Mary Potter, Webmaster and Event Organizer:
Team Alaska -
Kerm called at 7:45 AM CST and reports the paddlers are at mile 115 below St. Genevieve by Chester, Illinois. Everybody is fine and healthy.
Team Double Helix -
Andrew called in at 6:45 AM CST from the Port of Rosedale, Mississippi, mile 585. Team slept on shore last evening. All are well, paddlers have left and are on the water at this time.
Team Kruger -
Stan and I talked around 7:30 AM CST from Mayersville, Arkansas at mile 496. Team is in good spirits and family members are rallying in support of the team.
END OF SAFETY REPORT

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	7:30 PM	Mile 40	Commerce	3rd
Amazons	Withdraws 5/12/01		Stops near St. Cloud, MN	5th
Double Helix	5:10 PM	Mile 528	Greenville, Mississippi	2nd
Kruger	4:30 PM	Mile 437	Vicksburg, Mississippi	1st
Rebels	Withdraws 5/13/01		Stops near Monticello, MN	4th

Updates/Comments, 5 to 7 PM Calls from Steven Landick, Race Director, written by Mary Potter
Team Alaska -
Kerm called from Commerce at river mile 40 around 7:30 PM CST. Kerm said they are all getting ready for a big spagetti dinner. All are well and feeling fine.
Team Double Helix -
Andrew called from Greenville, Mile 528 at 5:10 PM CST. He told Steve that at one point the GPS read that the kayakers were going a speed of 18 mph this day. We wonder just how fast that current is going. Steve suspects the lead teams have now surpassed the crest of the flood.
Andrew emailed the webmaster later to say in Mayersville they have received food and drink donations from local grocers and much southern hospitality!
Team Kruger -
Stan is reporting the paddlers at mile 437 around Vicksburg, Mississippi at 4:30 PM. Stan reports both Bob and Verlen have had family members joining them in support of their final part of the journey and that Dana (Stan's wife) is taking care of all the maps and Stan is very happy to have all the support! He can finally kick back occasionally! In the mean time, Verlen and Bob plan to go non stop now except for occasionally stops to get food. Team Kruger doubts they can make record time given all the delays, but nevertheless, are "going for it".
END OF SAFETY REPORT MAY 25, 2001, FRIDAY

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 25, 2001
Early morning, May 25, as we approached Greenville, we tangled with a tug boat. He was coming out of the Greenville Harbor on our left. We hadn't seen his light until he came out, which was right beside us. A few minutes later, we met our support crew. It was Greenville bridge, mile 531. We had a hard time finding our way into the landing above the bridge. It was 12:40 a.m., May 25. They had to guide us with the radio and a strobe light.
When we left Greenville, Verlen was tucked in for his sleep. The river grows to about a mile wide in the next stretch. In the next five miles, I passed six tugs, each with several barges. All of them were up-river bound.
I turned on the marine band radio. Sometimes we would turn it on just to check on tug traffic. Tonight they were talking steady. I heard one captain, in his southern drawl, say that he hadn't seen a single can coming across to Lakeport light. Well, after 20 days of racing, I finally learned what river captains call buoys. It's a "can"! I checked my map. I was on the right bank, but at mile 525, I had to cross to the left bank. My problem would be that with a fog on the water, I would not see the Walnut Point light. At least if there were any cans out there I could find my way across. The thought crossed my mind to stay on the right bank and not in the channel. A closer look at the map told me otherwise. Kentucky Bend Bar was on the right as well as the dead-end bay. I watched my compass as I went almost straight east until I hit the left shore. I found Walnut Point light, also, but not until I was about 30 yards from it.
About 4:00 a.m. that morning, I came to Grand Lake Cut Off. Because of the flooding, it was about a mile and a half wide. It was still foggy. Somehow I had stayed too far right, and got behind Craft Lower Dikes. With lower water, it would have been impossible. Now I was behind another sand bar. I backed up a few hundred yards and moved left to the channel.
At 6:45 a.m., May 25, we arrived at mile 496. It was the Mayersville tennis court and boat ramp. Our crew had breakfast ready for us. They had been attacked the night before about 1 AM by a pack of wild dogs in Mayersville. No one was hurt but plenty scared.
By 1 :20 p.m., we were at river mile 457, Madison Parish Port. On the stretch below this, we saw a Coast Guard boat putting buoys in and relocating stray ones. It had not been uncommon to see 20 or so buoys laying on the banks in different places
We would paddle all night again on May 25, but not without excitement. After Vicksburg, it got windy and the river gets wide. I couldn't take a nap yet because we both had to paddle into the wind. After sundown, I took a short nap, then Verlen took his turn to sleep.
End of Team Kruger Log