May 9 2001 5 Wednesday

2001 Race - May 9, 2001, Wednesday
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
Date: May 9, 2001, Wednesday, Day 5

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	6:30 AM	1136	5 miles south of Jacobson, MN	3rd
Amazons	7:20 AM	1141	Jacobson, MN	4th or 5th
Double Helix	6 AM	1033	Highway 6 Landing, MN	2nd
Kruger	6:15 AM	1007	Paper Mill Dam, Brainerd, MN	1st
Rebels	6:20 AM	1141	Jacobson, MN	4th or 5th

Webmaster writes: You can see detailed maps of where the teams are from the MN Dept of Natural Resources Maps -
Vermillion River to Palisades
Palisades to Brainerd, MN

Updates/Comments Received for May 9, 2001, Wednesday AM:
From Safety Officer Elizabeth Tynan
Between 5 and 7 a.m. (Mississippi River time) on May 9th, the teams made the following reports:
Day five of the Great Race, and all is well. :) Here you go:

Team Alaska: Kerm reported that his team had spent the night paddling, and that they were about five miles below Jacobson- river mile 1236--as we spoke, at 6:30. They saw Team Amazon camped at Jacobson sleeping, so paddled past very quietly. :)

Team Amazons: When Tony called at 7:20, I didn't tell him the Alaskans had sneaked past them in their sleep. (Some things are better left unsaid.:) Anyway, the girls felt great after getting seven hours of sleep, and were just preparing to leave from river mile #1241.

Team Double Helix: Tony, also exhausted after being up all night, reported at 6:00 that Clark and Tony were preparing to leave from the Hwy 6 landing--river mile 1033--after eating some breakfast. They had also paddled all night, with Clark getting some sleep under the "bubblewrap."

Team Kruger:
Stan called in at 6:15 to say that he had just fed Bob and
Verlen some breakfast after they paddled all night, taking turns sleeping in the boat. They were just preparing to start the portage at the paper mill dam at Brainerd, river mile 1007. Stan had only an hour-and-a-half of sleep last night, as he was still negotiating with the dam personnel at 1:00 a.m. about how the teams might safely portage. This morning, an alternative route was decided upon.

Team Rebels: At 6:20, Eric said that his team was rested and ready to take off from Jacobson, river mile 1241, after spending the night there. The team had a "gorgeous afternoon" of paddling yesterday, with tailwinds and sunshine, especially welcome after three days of miserable weather.
END OF SAFETY REPORT

Webmasters note - Shortcut taken in Aitken:
It was reported to me that Team Kruger took the Aitken Diversion, which is 6 miles in length. To my knowledge (I'm not a judge), this shortcut is allowed under Rule 9 of Rules for the Great Mississippi River Race for Rett Syndrome, May 2001. To explain, you can view this map from the MN Dept of Natural Resources Palisades to Brainerd, MN.. The Mississippi River makes a horseshoe shape above the city. The diversion channel cuts across this horseshoe in an attempt to divert flood waters away from Aitkin. The inlet to the diversion is at River Mile 1064 and it dumps back in at River Mile 1040.5. So....if you paddle the Mississippi River thru the city Aitkin and around the long way....you have to go 23.5 river miles. However, the diversion channel is only 6 miles long (across the horseshoe, see the map). You save 17.5 miles by taking the shortcut. To my knowledge, Team Kruger took this diversion, Team Double Helix did not.

Teams called in to Safety Officer between 5 and 7 PM
Date: May 9, 2001, Wednesday, Day 5

Team Name	Time Called	River Mile	Nearest City/State	Estimated Position
Alaska MSC	6:05 PM		Palisades, MN	5th
Amazons	4:57 PM	1078	Aitken, MN	3rd or 4th
Double Helix	6:59 PM	966	Little Falls, MN	2nd
Kruger	7:04 PM	940	North of Sartell Rapids, MN	1st
Rebels	6:30 PM	1078	Aitken, MN	3rd or 4th

Webmaster writes: You can see detailed maps of where the teams are from the MN Dept of Natural Resources Maps -
Vermillion River to Palisades
Palisades to Brainerd, MN

Updates/Comments Received for May 9, 2001, Wednesday AM:
From Don Keller, taking 5-7 PM calls, May 9:

Alaska 6:05 Mile Unknown
Kerm said they are overnighting at Palisades, MN
The biologist member of the team has so far counted 60 species of birds! I told them about the two dams that do not have buoys: Little Falls and Blanchard. and warned him of the extreme danger. He said they will watch for them.

Amazons 4:57 River Mile 1078
Tony called. They are stopped and are going to overnight at Aitkin. The paddlers are tired, but doing fine otherwise. I said "What's for supper ?" "We're going out, so anything they want" I told them about the two dams that do not have buoys: Little Falls and Blanchard. and warned him of the extreme danger. He said they are not paddling at night and will watch for them.

Double Helix 6:59 River Mile 966
The team is just now arriving at Little Falls Dam in MN. Many folks with children with Rett syndrome and the newspaper are there now to welcome teams.

Kruger 7:04 River Mile 940
North of Sartell Rapids, MN
Yesterday, Andrew had told me to tell Verlen to "Watch their back" So today Verlen send a message to Andrew "We are planning on watching our backs, all the way to the Gulf, so far we haven't seen anyone"

Rebels "6:30" River Mile 1078
Eric said they have stopped for the night next to TEAM Amazon. about 20 miles above Aitkin, MN at the Highway 109 Bridge.
I told them about the two dams that do not have buoys: Little Falls and Blanchard. and warned him of the extreme danger. He said they will watch for them. Eric is the "constant" paddler, with Carl and Al rotating.

END OF SAFETY REPORT

Webmaster/Mary Potter Writes: I don't have detailed info from all teams, but I do have some log notes, I'll share what I have....

Team Kruger - By Bob Bradford, Enhanced by Stan Hanson,
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
We arrived at County road 25 just before dawn. On the satellite phone, Captain San had told us to wait here because there was trouble at the portage around Potlatch. Our support team had arrived at the dam before dark the night before to check it out. When they got there, they found no warning buoys in front of the dam to keep boats from being swept over the dam. They also discovered that the put-in below the dam had several 20-foot logs floating in a whirlpool. This would be dangerous and foolish to attempt at dark. While Verlen grabbed a bite to eat, Chuck and I took the car down to check other portage options. We only found one, but it was two miles, and it didn't seem a good option. After getting back to the trailer and eating, we decided on a plan. It was dawn by now, and a lot safer. We took the portage over to the chain link fence, then went outside the fence rather than on the trail. There was a lot of brush, but it allowed us to put back in below the logs and whirlpool. Stan notified the race safety officials of the fact there were no safety buoys and asked them to pass that on to the rest of the teams. It was a race but good sportsmanship and safety were more important.

The homes below Brainerd are very nice and sit high on the banks. The day was crisp and sunny and our spirits were high. It was May 9, the fifth day of the race. It actually seemed like less than that. A few miles below Brainerd, I slid down in the bow and took a 30-minute nap. Just below Crow Wing State Park, we saw a deer swimming across the river. I'm sure she wondered what we were and why we were there. We reached Little Falls Dam around 1 :30 p.m. The portage was fine, but below the dam the angry river was very fast and turbulent. The next portage was Blanchard Dam, which proved to be very time-consuming. Our crew had several options for us to pick from. They aJso picked up several deer ticks and had mud up to their knees .

It was then that we realized our support crew was so busy cheching things out that they were getting less sleep than we were. It also got worse for them as time went on.

After looking at the Blanchard portage options, we decided on putting in about 15 yards down from the regular put-in. The bank was quite steep and had a lot of brush.

Once we got to the water, it was hard to keep the canoe upright while we got in because of the severe turbulence and high waves caused by the water spilling through the dam. The spray from the water reached at least a 100 feet high above our heads. Because of flooding, we had to paddle through thick tangled brush to get to the river.

The paddle to Champion Dam in Sartell was fast because of the increased current. Once we got there, we discovered, once again, that below the dam the river was impossible to paddle in. Our only option was a portage past the put-in, down the street three blocks, and put in below a bridge. It was getting dark. It was 8:20 PM, and our next town was Sauk Rapids. This place would be extremely dangerous, and almost impossible without capsizing especially after dark.

Our support crew headed that way to check it out with flashlights. As we approached the town, Verlen and I miscounted a bridge on our map and thought we were close to the rapids. In fact, we were about half mile away. This cost some time, but better safe than sorry. We realized our mistake and met up with our crew in the park above the rapids. The plan would be to wait until dawn, then take a short portage under the bridge and put back in.
END OF TEAM KRUGER LOG Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Team Amazons Log, by Cynthia Belbin, Wednesday, May 9, 2001
Day 5 - Megan is feeling good today. Me, not so much. We were told that around day 5 and 6 our bodies would get used to the long days and Megan was right on track. At this point my body was used to 10+ hour days but I was still hurting. We must have stopped for the night at Kimball Access along with the Rebels 73 miles (117 Km). We paddled with them for a while. We were going to hotel it tonight and go out for supper too. Fries, burger and a milkshake made me a very happy camper. Happiest Eric had ever seen me.
END OF TEAM AMAZONS LOG May 9, 2001

May 8, 2001 Tue

May 10, 2001 Thu