The WRC meets Dave Cornwaite, part 2

8/14/11

The water was a little high, which was good since we would be able to float over jetties and dikes with ease. The temps were in the upper 70s with a light breeze from the North, which would make downstream river travel easier. I was surprised how easy it was to travel on the Mississippi. Granted the weather conditions were ideal, which made it much easier than paddling on the Wolf. There was nothing to steer around. It was wide open paddling, similar to being on a lake. However, when we passed a channel marker we could see that we were traveling fast. Water split around the markers creating a backwash. Points on the bank also moved along quickly. It was estimated that we were moving at 6 mph. The water swirled and formed shallow domes, but we easily passed over the currents. Occasionally, a passing barge rocked the surface and made me fear becoming seasick, but I never became ill. Instead, I became enthralled by the possibilities for kayak travel. The Wolf River had been my playground most of my life and now I was on a river 200 times the size of my “home” river. It wasn’t long before I felt completely comfortable on the river, which worried me a little bit. 

I was able to move through the group and talk to different people. I got a chance to talk to Dave, and I told him that we were wondering about the water skipper, a tricycle like contraption with a blade at the back instead of tires. He laughed and said that it was interesting and that he held the record for water skipper travel at 13 miles. However, he couldn’t walk for days because the skipper required him to bounce up and down constantly. I was amazed that anyone could do that. Based on the videos, the water skipper looked difficult to use. Most people seemed to splash straight into the water once they left the dock. I also asked him about the string bike. Dave said, “They were common in South Africa and used an unbreakable string instead of chain. They only had one gear and did not get the same traction as a chain driven bike.” Dave said he probably wouldn’t use the string bike, but on his next journey he would use a “wike”, a recombinant bike with a sail. The name wike comes from the combination of a bike and a wind sail. Dave is planning to travel across the Atacama Desert in Chile. The driest desert in the world. I hope he lives. 

I also talked to Harry and others who kayaked on the flood crest day. The water was so high that the effluent of the Wolf, Hatchee, and Loosahatchee converged at the Mississippi River. Harry described an incident where he approached a floating tree, tied his boat to it and climbed onto the trunk as it floated down river.