Raft down the Mississippi

[mons]

Originally Posted by bigriverraft

I recently completed a 1000 mile raft trip on the Mississippi. It is quite doable in a homemade raft. No problems with tows, no problems with current or turbulence. No real problems at all...just a great trip with amazing scenery and kind and generous people all along the way...met a number of other people doing the trip in canoes and rafts. If you want to do a raft trip down the river
research it well and talk to people who have actually done it. All the horror stories I heard were from people who had not done it, while all the encouragement I got was from people who had...the trip down the river was probably less dangerous than the truck ride to launch...just do your homework and pay attention

I just finished the trip from Minneapolis to New Orleans in six weeks total total on a homemade raft. I agree with bigriverraft entirely. We even ran into locals who told us to stop and cut the trip short. I believe the people who try to shoot you down had never got to do it themselves and thus want to believe that it's impossible and/or miserable. Probably so they don't feel like they've been missing out on anything. Anyone who has made the trip is far more rely able than anyone who has not. It is, in fact, the experience of a lifetime.

Anyone with the will can do it. But if you go for it, do your homework. Research research research before you ever get onto the water. Navigation charts are essential as well.

If I were to do it again, I'd avoid night driving at all costs. When we ran at night when we had to. We kept a spotter with a spotlight on the front deck, and kept the marine radio on at all times. There were still a few close calls and just plane shitty times. Try getting lost in the dark with nothing in view but water... Something everyone wants to avoid.

Check out some of our stories at raftthemississippi.com

[ryan112ryan]

I am in the planning phase of my trip right now, I was hoping some folks here could help me out with a question.

I am trying to figure out what size motor to get. There is of course the issue to contend with anything over 10HP makes things more complicated with rules and also costs more.

I was thinking 12 x 16 foot or 16 by 16 foot.

For the larger raft dry weight is 630 lbs (including 30 gallons gas) without gear.


I still don't have a finalized raft design, but here is a work in progress so far.

[djwkd]

Boy, Google Sketchup does rock, don't it? (Least, i guess that's what you used)

[ryan112ryan]

Sure is! It is really amazing and so easy to learn. I was able to hash this boat design in under 15 minutes.

[djwkd]

yeah. I did a mockup of the Vilma B by the floating neutrinos on it.
Unfortunately, i switched to linux and it isn't compatible

[BacShortly]

Your Google design looks like a good start, a y2k rough draft - it will all come together for you - keep at it, do it!

I don't know what rules you refer too, but a 25 hp minimum (and don't pass the inlet) seems logical for the formidable current (we did it with a 40hp).

Some of the rules are basic enough to make good sense.

bacshortly.com

Its an awesome trip (whether you make the inlets or not)...

[djwkd]

I'd love to raft the mississippi some day...Maybe in my gap year...5 years time. lol
Wasn;t someone planning on doing it the summer of 2010?

[bigriverraft]

We had a 9.9 hp on our raft, but as you can see we were on the small side. The 9.9 does allow you to slip in under the registration rules but it was barely adequate for the current down south. That required careful navigation and planning because there was no going back. The current was deceptively powerful and we had to plan way ahead for things...I would think that with something as large as you propose that 25hp or better would be a good idea. The important thing is that you must be able to maneuver. We had the option of rowing if the power failed but that was only good for going left or right, obviously there was no way to row upstream. But regardless of the size of engine you choose, there is no substitute for careful navigation and paying attention. Depend on common sense to keep you safe, not your engine.

[bigriverraft]

here are a few pics to give you a better idea of the size of the raft. I don't know for sure but judging by the displacement I estimated the total weight of the raft to be about 1650 lbs. That included two grown men, food and supplies and the engine. She handled pretty well under power and when the wind was right she was a joy to sail. Rowing was mostly a backup plan and mental as well as physical exercise. We usually rowed an hour apiece everyday, mostly in the mornings before the wind rose. The wind could be fierce. Twice we quit for the day and camped because headwinds made progress futile..you will need to learn how to be on river time...Above St Louis there is plenty of places to get fuel. After St Louis there is much less choice. We picked up a jerry can and carried an extra 5 gallons of fuel but we did not have enough fuel to motor all the way to Memphis so we drifted a lot...which is also a great way to travel..very quiet and peaceful. At time the GPS showed us drifting a 6-7 mph.

[bigriverraft]

bbbbb

[bigriverraft]

haven't quite figured out this picture posting thing. Hopefully this is a pic of the raft taken from the bank

[bigriverraft]

here is another. For more pictures of the raft and a bit of the story, go to
www.zannel.com/bigriverraft

[djwkd]

Hey bigriverraft - looks really cool!
Did you build or buy the raft? And if built, how did you build it?

Thanks!

[djwkd]

Did you buy or build that raft, bigriverraft?

EDIT:
Oops - sorry for duplicate!

[bigriverraft]

The raft consist of two pontoons and a aluminum pipe frame. I had the two pontoons made for me by a company that builds catarafts. I designed and built my own frame and then decked that out with 1/2 inch plywood. The trip on the Mississippi was my 5th raft trip. The other trips were obviously much shorter, they averaged about 150 miles and 7-8 days. After each trip I would modify the raft to take advantage of the lessons learned so when I got on the Mississippi I already had almost 600 miles of experience and a raft that I was confident in. I am not done yet...gotta do another big raft trip somewhere...maybe next summer or summer of 2011...depends on work...