Woke up early to a bright fine day. I folded my ten, packed my last bag and blanket and started walking to the boat landing. I had been waiting for almost two hours when Robert and other rangers came down to the boat ramp and helped me slide the complete raft and all of my gear into the water. I waved until I turned around a bend.
I found out that this boat with the 2by4s holding the canoes together but apart with a span of almost 14 feet is very hard to maneuver. I could hold her on course if I paddled hard in the direction I needed to go, but she was quick to veer away from that course. I went through the first set of rapids, only a class one backwards. The trimaran rode the waves and drops well but was completely unsteerable with my kayak paddle. I tried the next set of rapids, a class two, using a metal pole that was to be part of my mast assembly as a dragging rudder. That worked to get me through the small falls without turning around, but the small waves splashed into the boats. Clearly this span and tie arrangement was not working.
I poled and paddled to an island, really an overgrown sandbar and tied the bowline to a tree. There I emptied the water from the boats with my plastic coffee cup. I pulled the boats up on the sand, trampling stinging nettles to protect my ankles from itching. I dug my portable electric drill out of the tool tote, and started shortening the span of this raft. I took the outside boats closer to the center one so the whole raft was now ten feet wide.
Repacking my tools, I pushed the raft out into the water and started again. The boat was more controllable now and much easier to steer. I was able to paddle hard enough with my kayak paddle to maintain a speed just faster then the water flow.
There was no breeze and the sun was warm. I used my cell phone to take some pictures which I hope to forward to my computer at home. I could paddle, or I could sit and rest while drinking coffee from my water bottle. I won't have coffee for too much longer unless I empty a fruit or vegetables can to make a coffee cooker.
At about noon I passed through another set of class two rapids, I was able to steer and hold course but not well. I realized that this situation could become dangerous if the water rose enough to prevent me from dragging my metal pole for control. I decided to put ashore on another sandbar and to shorten the span of the boats once more.
Three sandbars divided the river at this point and I unpacked my tools on the lowest. When the boats were bolted back together only nine feet wide. I unloaded my tent and set it up. This would be my campsite for the night. I journeyed less then three miles today, but I am learning how to make this trimaran work. Thank you, father, for the warmth and sunshine.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
April 3rd Journal Entry
Well, its the third and I did not get the boat launched, but I did get the whole thing put together and most of my stuff packed into it. Robert the head park ranger is coming down to help me push off at 8 tomorrow morning. It got up to 70 degrees today with very light breezes. Hard to believe that it was snowing and freezing yesterday and the day before. The wind is just now picking up at the end of the day.
A few fishermen out today at the foot of the falls. They were catching walleye and musky, doing well at it. Yesterday, i froze and today I slept in until almost 8AM. I got up to brightened skies and no coat weather. Called Lorrie hoping to get her mother's phone number. I am hoping she might be able to bring out my fiberglass cloth and my phone charger.
Jammie, Lorrie's mother, called after 6PM this evening. By then I had just packed the last of my tools into the boats. Maybe another day she can help me pick up those things and get my hair cut. I kept getting tangled in the briers yesterday and today as I carried things between camp and the boats. I can't comb out all the thorns, but it only a little problem.
I am sure glad I have no schedule, Daddy. I am not moving fast. I still have a fever from the urinary tract infection. It makes me achy. I ate a whole jar of my dill pickles and then drank all the vinegar hoping to kill the burn and start the flow again.
Sure was a nice day. lots of folks came by to ask what I was doing. Many expressed shock about an older woman traveling so far and being alone for so long. I told them that I hoped Dezra can come later. Donnie Turner of "Blue Cat on the New" a river guide service asked me to stop by as I pass his campground. His wife and co-driver gave me directions with landmarks recognizable from the river. She was very nice.
I suppose i should turn in. Thanks for the day, the deer and geese. All was lovely.
Dawn
A few fishermen out today at the foot of the falls. They were catching walleye and musky, doing well at it. Yesterday, i froze and today I slept in until almost 8AM. I got up to brightened skies and no coat weather. Called Lorrie hoping to get her mother's phone number. I am hoping she might be able to bring out my fiberglass cloth and my phone charger.
Jammie, Lorrie's mother, called after 6PM this evening. By then I had just packed the last of my tools into the boats. Maybe another day she can help me pick up those things and get my hair cut. I kept getting tangled in the briers yesterday and today as I carried things between camp and the boats. I can't comb out all the thorns, but it only a little problem.
I am sure glad I have no schedule, Daddy. I am not moving fast. I still have a fever from the urinary tract infection. It makes me achy. I ate a whole jar of my dill pickles and then drank all the vinegar hoping to kill the burn and start the flow again.
Sure was a nice day. lots of folks came by to ask what I was doing. Many expressed shock about an older woman traveling so far and being alone for so long. I told them that I hoped Dezra can come later. Donnie Turner of "Blue Cat on the New" a river guide service asked me to stop by as I pass his campground. His wife and co-driver gave me directions with landmarks recognizable from the river. She was very nice.
I suppose i should turn in. Thanks for the day, the deer and geese. All was lovely.
Dawn
Saturday, May 28, 2011
April 2nd Journal Entry
Icy morning! I loaded 1/2 of the 2by4 cross pieces in the canter hull and took off. The Falls are at flood stage so the rapids are class three. Not the best place to try an untried boat.
I made it through, but took on enough water in this flat bottomed hull to scare me good. I beached the boat unloaded the wood, dragged everything up hill and put the hull on a public rack. I have decided to carry the rest of the equipment around the rapids.
Took one hull upstream and started back down like I had originally planned. It is confirmed, I have a urinary tract infection. Shivering, fever, cough and it snowed or rained and then froze all day long. The wind blew, gusting hard at times. I shot the rapids with an empty hull and decided to carry the last one down to the boat dock tomorrow. These things are not stable in any kind of rough water. I scare myself.
I have most of the wood at the boat launch. I am wet and tired. The mast I made from particleboard cracked as I picked it up so I am burning it to cook supper. Going to bed after. Hoping to connect and launch the whole raft (boat) tomorrow. Bless me, Father.
I made it through, but took on enough water in this flat bottomed hull to scare me good. I beached the boat unloaded the wood, dragged everything up hill and put the hull on a public rack. I have decided to carry the rest of the equipment around the rapids.
Took one hull upstream and started back down like I had originally planned. It is confirmed, I have a urinary tract infection. Shivering, fever, cough and it snowed or rained and then froze all day long. The wind blew, gusting hard at times. I shot the rapids with an empty hull and decided to carry the last one down to the boat dock tomorrow. These things are not stable in any kind of rough water. I scare myself.
I have most of the wood at the boat launch. I am wet and tired. The mast I made from particleboard cracked as I picked it up so I am burning it to cook supper. Going to bed after. Hoping to connect and launch the whole raft (boat) tomorrow. Bless me, Father.
April Fools Day Journal Entry
Bob Ballard and Pastor Steve will be here soon. I hope all the hulls can fit on their vehicles. Packed everything into bags and totes last night and woke at 4AM., thinking that the tent set up on the decking could be a going with the wind sail of sorts. I'll try that later.
Bob is here. We can only get one hull on his car. Pastor Steve will be late, he has a doctor's appointment. Well, daddy, I am here. It took several trips and I am near freezing. We took almost until 5PM to get the equipment unloaded. We had to relocate to Foster Falls, to the Millrace campground. A nice concerned, conservation officer thought it best that I not set up my boats on the Austinville Landing. He felt the wind and the water were much too cold. So here I am. I'll pole one boat upstream to say I was there.
The tent is set up, but it is designed for summer use and is inadequate for this temperature. It is snowing and the wind is strong enough to blow the tent material right down sideways onto my sleeping bag. Gosh, I am cold!
Ice on everything when I went to the outhouse. I hope to load all the gear in the single hulls and run the class three rapid ahead of me in the morning. Those rapids are the reason for the name Foster Falls.
Nite, nite. Brr.
Bob is here. We can only get one hull on his car. Pastor Steve will be late, he has a doctor's appointment. Well, daddy, I am here. It took several trips and I am near freezing. We took almost until 5PM to get the equipment unloaded. We had to relocate to Foster Falls, to the Millrace campground. A nice concerned, conservation officer thought it best that I not set up my boats on the Austinville Landing. He felt the wind and the water were much too cold. So here I am. I'll pole one boat upstream to say I was there.
The tent is set up, but it is designed for summer use and is inadequate for this temperature. It is snowing and the wind is strong enough to blow the tent material right down sideways onto my sleeping bag. Gosh, I am cold!
Ice on everything when I went to the outhouse. I hope to load all the gear in the single hulls and run the class three rapid ahead of me in the morning. Those rapids are the reason for the name Foster Falls.
Nite, nite. Brr.
Friday, May 27, 2011
March 30 Journal Entry
Everything is done, dear. Tomorrow my friends come to move everything to Austinville. I definitely need their help. My car died coming home form seeing the dentist in Gary on the 28Th. Poor Deloris Ramona went to the scrapyard two days early. Her demise gave me a chance to give away some design books to the car scrappers.
I still have a rough cough, Father, and the start of a urinary infection. If it gets worse, I'll stop and see a doctor. I turned in all my library books and did not buy any more at the Friends of the Library sale. I took Alexis to the courthouse to change her name. Now, she will take that letter to apply for a changed birth certificate and passport.
I am jumpy and nervous. Bye, Father.
I still have a rough cough, Father, and the start of a urinary infection. If it gets worse, I'll stop and see a doctor. I turned in all my library books and did not buy any more at the Friends of the Library sale. I took Alexis to the courthouse to change her name. Now, she will take that letter to apply for a changed birth certificate and passport.
I am jumpy and nervous. Bye, Father.
March 22 Journal Entry
I am designing the sail and mast today. While I am at it I will think about a reply to Congressman Morgan. He is a soul with limited compassion for the weak. One who believes that we do not have enough of everything to share with the world.
My mast and mast seat looks like a vagina waiting for a penis to slide into it. All this so the wind can push my trimaran. It reminds me of Charles Stross, who said through one of his story characters, "Power come from a big swinging dick."
The pilgrim, puritan women in America were adamant about the keeping, teaching, and enforcing of the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments were the only hope they had of living past middle age. In a country where all power did come from a dick between legs, women had no power. They were chattel, soon used up and thrown away. America was a land with its own Taliban in charge.
The command against adultery sounded good on paper, but any man could trump that commandment with a letter of divorcement for any reason. The usual was a simple, "she doesn't please me anymore."
An older woman's only hope lay in "honor your mother." Perhaps a dutiful child would see to her post good looks survival. So women perpetuated the patriarchal society as their only hope of self preservation. Women owned nothing, controlled nothing, not even animals. They had control of children, but only for a few years. Once that short teaching period passed all opportunity was lost.
My mast and mast seat looks like a vagina waiting for a penis to slide into it. All this so the wind can push my trimaran. It reminds me of Charles Stross, who said through one of his story characters, "Power come from a big swinging dick."
The pilgrim, puritan women in America were adamant about the keeping, teaching, and enforcing of the Ten Commandments. These Ten Commandments were the only hope they had of living past middle age. In a country where all power did come from a dick between legs, women had no power. They were chattel, soon used up and thrown away. America was a land with its own Taliban in charge.
The command against adultery sounded good on paper, but any man could trump that commandment with a letter of divorcement for any reason. The usual was a simple, "she doesn't please me anymore."
An older woman's only hope lay in "honor your mother." Perhaps a dutiful child would see to her post good looks survival. So women perpetuated the patriarchal society as their only hope of self preservation. Women owned nothing, controlled nothing, not even animals. They had control of children, but only for a few years. Once that short teaching period passed all opportunity was lost.
March 18 Journal Entry
Yep, its the flu. Lorrie may be starting in on it as well. Hope the baby is fine. She and Mike are as pleased as squirrels playing catch me jump. I will miss seeing the little one's birth and most of her first year if i complete this journey.
I am just able to move about today, so I am using up my planned lazy slack.There will be no room for mistakes, learning and corrections on the next two boats. I'll bounce (slump) down to Kmart this morning to get the rest of the fun-noodles. Found a great deal on rope at the closing hardware store, two blocks from home. Twenty dollars for more than two hundred yards. I should get an anchor so I can stop one boat and line the others through rapids as I go down river.
I hope to get paint for the 2by4s today. They can dry while I cut out the last hull and begin putting it together. The seams on hull two are curing.
Real stuffed up head, dizzy too. Keep on keeping on. Should be able to paint outside, thank you, daddy.
I am just able to move about today, so I am using up my planned lazy slack.There will be no room for mistakes, learning and corrections on the next two boats. I'll bounce (slump) down to Kmart this morning to get the rest of the fun-noodles. Found a great deal on rope at the closing hardware store, two blocks from home. Twenty dollars for more than two hundred yards. I should get an anchor so I can stop one boat and line the others through rapids as I go down river.
I hope to get paint for the 2by4s today. They can dry while I cut out the last hull and begin putting it together. The seams on hull two are curing.
Real stuffed up head, dizzy too. Keep on keeping on. Should be able to paint outside, thank you, daddy.
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