Nauvoo Trip by River, Sept 2001

Building of the Kaw Warrior Kaw is one of the names for the Kansas River, which runs 175 miles west to east in northeastern Kansas. It runs through towns like Junction City, Topeka, Lawrence, and Bonner Springs. It is a shallow river but is what we call not improved by the Corps. Of Engineers. It meanders along in braids or channels, deep spots and shallow. You can walk across many parts. You need a special boat to travel this river. My friend Scott has a 1970 Grumman Aluminum sport canoe. He is a river enthusiast and felt a just name for a boat, which traveled the Kaw, would be Warrior. It is about 15 feet long and has a square back for a motor. We made some modifications to this boat, which enabled the driver to stand while holding on to a stainless grab bar. We extended the tiller to make it more comfortable to stand. Now the driver acts as a balance to the canoe and a shock absorber of sorts. We are able to handle rougher water this way and it is less fatiguing. It is like riding a skateboard. This gives the passenger, who sits in front, a comfortable ride. We made a web fabric backrest for the front seat and added cup holders, lights and underseat compartments to keep gear organized. We thought it looked serious. We made a plywood pad for the transom to give more strength and bought a 4-stroke, 15 hp Mariner outboard with a short 15” shaft. Mariner is actually the Mercury motor with the same parts and specs. The line Mariner is popular but at this point it is only a name. And we found out Mercury did not make this 4-stroke, it is actually made by Yamaha for the Mercury name. It runs on regular unleaded fuel and we found it gets about twice the mileage as a 2-stroke. That helps us, as we have to pull in to towns and carry our fuel back to the boat. We made a shelter cover out of old dome tent poles and attached a rain fly cover as an awning for the one sitting in the seat. So we had several options for configuration. Every time the configuration seems to fit a particular need, another idea begins to materialize. We’ve supplied most versions by walking through Lowes Home Improvement. Our innovation creed is “punish an idea until it works.” Usually the result has been “well, the money is exhausted too early.” Still, it is kind of fun to work on a problem that can be fixed with webbing, tape, pulleys, and turnbuckles. We made a trailer out of our kayak rack, which made loading easier. We used to disassemble everything to put in the back of Scott’s truck. That will give you some idea of the lengths we would go to take a ride on a river.   We checked out our fuel tank, lines and filter. Our paddles, our lifevests, tent, change of clothes, battery, lights, and maps. We were going to take this boat down the river for days not knowing what would happen. We were ready.   9/15/01 Sat, START OF TRIP 8:00 Kansas River Start, Perry KS. Tested boat and gear for the long trip this morning, I think everything is going to work. 9/17/01 MONDAY 8AM River trip from Kansas City (Hwy 291 ramp) to Nauvoo, IL. My wife, Jeri, came with us and would drive the truck and trailer back to Olathe. This ramp is about an hour from our house. She also taped our departure. It was somewhat rainy on this morning and she thought it might be too hard on us to go out in this small canoe over such distance and days. “Where will you sleep, and how will you get dry, won’t it be cold—gee, there’s a lot trees in the water!” She worried. “Oh it will be fine,” I said. We have our tent and I had packed the boat with food in every corner. We slid the “Kaw Warrior” into the water climbed in and without much ceremony, we took off. We were beginning our longest voyage to date, over 500 miles down the Missouri and up the Mississippi. We would reach our destination at the village of Nauvoo, which is perched on a bend in the river, 11 miles north of the lock at Keokuk, Iowa.

Speeding down the Missouri River at 16mph, top speed for the fully loaded Kaw Warrior. Empty, with only one person, she can hit 20mph on still water.

We had poles, lines, ties, lights, switches, gas cans and extinguisher, cameras and phone, but for some reason no raincoats. This would prove to be a mistake. We had taken plastic bags to cover us from rain, but these were inadequate and became useless after the first hour of heavy rain on Tuesday. A stop at Fort Osage with a view of the river is a must. We prowled around the restored place, took some pictures and wondered what it must have been like to be stationed here. Life had to be hard for the enlisted men. We were making our way down river through floating tree limbs, logs, and trash that had been washed out of streams by heavy rains. We had an extra prop this time, but tried to miss as much of the floaters as possible. On the first day we were weaving back and forth more than we were moving down river. With an early start, and the new Mariner 4-stroke, we hoped our progress would be rapid and planned to camp whenever the sun set. As it happened, when the end of the day came we had reached the Grand. From a former trip we had taken on the Grand River, we knew there was a ramp and town near. We had little rain on this first day but it was threatening storms all the way. We pulled up to the ramp at Brunswick about 5:00. Met a man there that was parked by the river with his dogs. We struck up a conversation and learned he worked for the railroads and had been a riverman for years. He had lost an arm in a boating accident. He drove us up to a local restaurant and helped us get gas. We bought him dinner for his trouble. We camped under a picnic shelter on a concrete slab and listened to the trains all night. Every 20 minutes another one would roll through. I know you have seen trains go by, but have you ever tried to sleep 100 feet from the tracks. It was night and the train’s lights were on. There was a crossing next to us, so the horns started about a mile from us. Our tent was on cement with a shelter roof above so the sound was deafening. The light lit up the tent like ‘Close Encounters’ but it was the rumble of the wheels that caused me to slide off my pad each pass. We timed it, they did come regularly, at least the freight and coal trains ran on time. Then an old motor home pulled up next to the shelter, a guy got out and pulled a generator over to the grass. He started it up and went back inside to watch TV. At least we couldn’t hear the trains anymore. I fell asleep about 10, slept like a baby. Our first day of river travel had come to an end; we looked forward to the days ahead and wondered what we would bump into. (BRUNSWICK, MO) 9/18/01 TUESDAY The day began with some drizzle as we pushed off. There is an old Navy boat moored at Brunswick. Used to be an interdiction craft for drug runners off the coasts. It was a hydroplane with very large wings, which could be lowered into the water. It was turbine powered. We find it an amazing sight. Soon we were on the Missouri and as it began to rain hard, we broke out our garbage bags and put them over our tops. The wind blew them into a useless mess behind our backs. Now it got real wet. You know the kind of rain that hurts your face when it hits you. That was what we had. We passed another boat, a fisherman. No one should be out in this. Our boat was filling with water. Fortunately, we had installed a bilge pump at the back of the boat before we left. It made fast work of emptying the water and lightening the load. We would have made no distance if we had to stop to empty the water. Down stream about two hours, we came to the town of Glasgow, MO. We pulled into the bank at the city park and walked to town to get a warm breakfast. We did but we were soaking wet. After eating we went up the street to a coin Laundromat and dried the clothes we were wearing. I would have given almost any price for a real raincoat. One of those yellow outfits with pants and hood. Looked around town but did not find them. Sent a card home at the post office and headed back to the river. Started to rain again. We put up our little awning but the wind and rain just soaked everything. We were trying to keep the camera dry. The only things to come through the storm were those things we had pack in our two dry-bags. As we passed the bluffs near Rocheport, the rain got very heavy. So much so that it flattened out the river. I had brought it on us by saying I thought we might get some sun later that day. Scott mentioned that the storm must have heard me speaking so flippantly. A cloud bust emptied on us for about 30 minutes. Although about 2 in the afternoon we got a break and some dry air. It was wonderful. We came on a small tow coming up stream, about the only other vessel we saw that afternoon. Finally we reached Jefferson City and the hope of a hot meal, hot shower, dry bed and our first hotel. We found it all at the Capitol Plaza. We called home to let everyone know we were well. I called my house, and got the answer phone. My wife and girls were at Walmart. I took a hot shower until I began to fall asleep, which was as soon as I got in. 9/19/01 WEDNESDAY When I call home I feel like telling my wife that we are out here fighting for our lives. Just to hear a little sympathy in her voice. But I usually get that honey-sweet, “Oh really, isn’t that just what you wanted!” At times it seems we do have to struggle to get our little ship safely tucked in at night. And last night was no laughing matter. There was a rock wall just past the bridge with two open places a boat could duck in. There was no ramp. The water was high and we could find no place to beach our boat for the night. Actually the only stationary object we could find was a large tree stuck in shallow water. We tied off to the tree and carried our bags up the little bluff and into town. In the morning, we found the water had risen and our tree and boat were getting ready to leave without us. What’s more, the place on the tree we tied off was now under water. I waded out to the log, climbed on while Scott filmed the salvage attempt. After fighting a brown recluse for a place on the log and cutting a leg, I got the boat undone and moved over to where we could change the prop. I hit the rocks last night when we entered this little pool. All back together and loaded up; we pushed off for Herman. We had bought no fuel since Brunswick, now two days back. Scott is going to fasten the boat's line after docking in Herman When we came to Herman, we had only about a cup of gas left. It was close. We could have paddled I guess. Done that before but I was feeling lazy and liked just steering the boat without having to strain. We walked up the hill and across the tracks, there was a small station two blocks up that sold cigarette lighters and gasoline (seemed an odd combination, who wouldn’t try out the lighter to see if it worked?). As we were filling the cans, I noticed that Scott was still wearing his red lifevest. For that matter, so was I. We presented a fine picture for Herman citizens. Two guys with no car, filling up cans of gas, wearing coats and PFDs at a cigarette-lighter store. This was only 8 days past 9/11 remember. Tie up in Washington Down the Missouri, up the Mississippi (Camp at “3.5 MILE ISLAND”) 9/20/01 THURSDAY We got up at first light and took down the tent, cleaned out the boat. There was very heavy dew from the night and everything was soaked.

Preparing to leave 3.5 mile island and head for the confluence.

We pushed off and traveled toward the confluence with some anxiety. I felt unsure about entering the Mississippi. There were large towboats and we did not handle waves very well in this 15-foot canoe. We even planned to run behind islands or beach if it proved too dangerous. Surprisingly, when we reached the Mississippi, there was not much warning and we just slide out into what looked like a large bay. It was a bright clear morning and we could see large boats across the river, the water was calm. We turned north and held over to the western bank for a ways. Then as we were about to move to the channel, something hit our boat—or it sounded like we where hit. Scott yelled and was jumping up out of the seat. I was driving and it looked like Scott was fighting with something. Then I saw a very large yellow fish flipping around where Scott used to be. I got the video camera and tried to get some of the carnage on tape while Mansker was fighting for his life. The fish was spewing foam and blood and scales all over the front compartment. Finally, with some fear of being barbed or stuck, Scott took hold of the slippery combatant and threw it out of our boat. We were stunned and Scott stinked. We wondered, “why would such a large fish jump into our boat?” It looked like a tuna to us. We talked about what it could be and why it had acted so aggressively. We concluded that it was just a crazed fish that had too much mercury. Alton lock and dam Bay of suicidal fish Lunch at marina at Portage Des Sioux Grafton, go up Illinois River Near Quarry Rd. we passed a beach with nude bathers Old sunken tow that is being refitted Winfield-Batchtown Ferry Russ sitting in the weeds waiting for lock to open, distance is ferry crossing Stuck at lock because of Storm. Lightning strike takes out lock. Dash up river to nearest sand bar for camp. Dark (Misquote Sand Spite) across from Kritesville 9/21/01 Friday Clarksville Hannibal Mark, lunch tour of Watlow Electric Put in at Quincy marina. Nice, stayed at Holiday Inn, eat at Italian Rest. 9/22/01 Sat Fog in morning Stop at La Grange, Mansker’s grandparents lived there Big lock, 11 river miles to reach the Nauvoo landing site. Five miles up from the Lock we hit heavy waves from the wind. First we had on the trip.  at Nauvoo, IL Nauvoo Family Motel, 875 Mullholland, 800 416 4470, two rooms $79, Sat Sun night, 72 hour (3-day) advance to cancel Jeri and Cristi to drive up Sat afternoon, takes 4-5 hours travel time, Check in to rooms that night, next morning plan to meet us at the end of Parley Street at the river. 9/23/01 Sun Wives meet us at the end of Parley Street at the river. Plan to go back to room to clean up (check out 11:00) and load up the boat, visit the Temple, return home. Make tape of trip, send copy to Mansker