Today we headed to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The morning was cool, clamy and cloudy. Dave was in a sour mood when he first got out of the tent but promptly got over it. With breakfast done a Reggie walked we loaded the boat and we're on our way. Shortly after launching we encountered our first barge of the day. We notified them of our position and paddled on. After they had passed we began to make our move back toward the channel just as we have done a million times before. Large waves from the barge surged towards us and at first appeared no bigger then before however this time the waves crashed over our bow filling our boat with water. Instantly I screamed, "crap the boat is sinking!" In pure shock over the amount of water that had filled the boat I froze. "Shut up and paddle the boats not gonna sink we're fine!" Dave shouted. Immediately we began to paddle back to shore the boat teatering from side to side from the water disrupting it's normal balance. Suprisingly Reggie hadnt moved, not even an inch. He just layed there in 5 inches of water as if he hadnt noticed at all. After the first near tipping sway of the canoe he suddenly realized that somthing was indeed amiss and stood up. As we paddled back Dave continued to reassure me that we were doing fine and that we would be there in no time. Once on shore we unloaded the boat and poured the water out. All we could do was laugh and get back in the boat. Reggie was hesitant and has since developed a clear mistrust of barges. Shortly afterwards we arrived at confluence. This was an amazing moment. It not only meant we were done with Illinois but more importantly that we had entered the final part of our journey. We had crossed an imaginary line that to us signified that it was possible, that we were really going to the gulf of Mexico. Now this isn't to suggest that at any point we believed that our resolve and skill wouldn't be adequate. No, this moment was a pat on the back, an acknowledgement from the river. Today we stopped after 43 miles on a nice little island 25 miles north of New Madrid we called tuckssouri since the Kentucky/Missouri run down the middle of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment