Raft down the Mississippi

thank you so much

What you have taken the time to describe is just what I experienced! To the T! I had the same police interactions and so much attention that I felt bad I didnt "Use that power" for something good. Today, I keep thinking over and over again that right now I could raise some crazy amount of money by cranking up the publicity and donating it to the city of new orleans as me and a crew of people pull into port. I really want to go again someday. THe raft trip got me into sailing, a sport I love! I have so many pictures I should try to get more up.
Actually what is interesting is how many people try this each year. I should go around and get a list together of who's done this that we can still find. I've heard so many crazy stories it blows my mind. In my research phase I even found a photo of a car (like a model t!) with the drive train hooked up to a prop, floating on something, and that's how they went!! All the way to NOLA. What is even crazier (to me) is the people that canoe or kayak it! I went through some areas where I just held my breath and hoped my motor would push through. Places where I felt true fear like I didnt even know I could feel. Fear like I hadnt felt, at one point I was curled up in a ball on the floor of it thinking I was going to get hit by lightning taht was striking all over the place and here's me in a soaking wet raft 15 feet taller than anything around me for hundreds of yards! Yup...someday!!

 

Photo of George Raft

Look at how nice she rode in the water!

 

we weren't tiny midgets in 1972

I have no idea why my picture of my raft is so small and rafter's is so big, but just to clear up possible confusion, we weren't tiny little midgets, we were regular sized people.

 

Cheers to those who live their dreams!

Man, I'm sorry I found this thread a year too late. Over the fourth of July last year, 2006, two other guys and myself, plus 1 dog, built and floated our raft almost a hundred miles down the Sacramento River from Princeton to Knights Landing. This was a trip I'd been kicking around for years, and very seriously for the year leading up. I think we got drunk enough on the Fourth the year before to decide to do it and make it stick. We made a modular raft of 4' x 6' heavy duty pallets (for shipping axles), chunks of 2x4 to tie them together, floated on 55 gal blue plastic barrels from the soda plant. The whole thing was about 92 square feet, broke in half as we launched it, and freakin' ROCKED! I still have queasy moments remembering how easy it would have been to have died out there (Snag City) but wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
Back then, I searched a lot for people's stories of similar trips but didn't find too much. Rafter, You're a stud! I encourage anyone to go do whatever it is they dream about. Go Now, and go Cheap!
Anyone wanting details on construction or things Not to do, lemme know. N8

 

The guy in the picture was my buddy Mark

I will try to get a picture up of me, so it doesnt seem like I'm putting someone elses pic up!! haha I just realized that. I only have three scanned pictures out of a hundred or so, so I'll see what we've got here...
Nate

 

After the Trip and a shave with my ride back home



The is Derek on the left and myself at the Acme oyster shop in NOLA after the trip. I went and bought some new clothes and shaved and we hit the town!! He rented a Toyota Camry and drove from Duluth to Donaldsonville, LA non stop, picked me up and we partied in New Orleans for a couple nights and drove 24 hours straight back home that night because I had to work 5 hours after I got home. Whew! Talk about cutting it close.

This is a funny picture because I didnt mean for it to be so dramatic but it is what it is. It was such a nice sun set and I never get to grow a beard so I wanted a picture of it! ahah. So, that's that.

 

For what its worth. Read a lot more books , have a lot more beer and wait for this foolish feeling to pass.

 

Just click on the picture and it enlarges!

 

I disaggree with you,but agree with woodbutcher.You need to do a lot of reasearch and compare that to your raft plan,but the floating neutrinos did the same thing,down the missisippi (im not from america so i cant spell it-thats my excuse LOL) Go on www.floatingneutrinos.com and go on the raft page (not raft building) and click on the vilma B.thats the one that went down.

from what ive heard,you probably will need an engine on the missisipii-but any calmer rivers i would say don't bother-you would be wasting your money,but on the missisipii it coul;d be the difference between life and death!

 

Mi -double s -i double s -double p-i MISSISSIPPI. No I didnt look it up I knew it.

And I agree with that bloke what said you must be out of your tree to go bouncing down the dangerous river in a raft.

Probably the same people that lay down in the middle of the road on the white line. They say its a rush --yeah if you live.

What do they call that?

 

the lying in the middle of the road-idiocy,the thing in the raft down the misissippi (i spelt it right i think!)-following your dreams,but its extremely dangerous.If you research into it for AT LEAST 6 months,its pretty safe!

 

Tempting Idea...

I love the idea of traveling down the M_I_Crooked Letter_Crooked letter_I_Crooked Letter_Crooked Letter_I_Hump Back_Hump Back_I

I've been tossing around the idea too, for some time now... in a boat though, not a raft.

I've not read every single post here on this thread but, have to agree with everybody who stress' saftey and research. One can indeed loose his or her life on that river. In some places that river is so deep that it can hide entire trees (large ones) in it's current and send one of these things straight up through your hull or raft. Now this sort of thing might not happen every day... but it happens ! That's a neat little raft you have there Rafter...> http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q115/charliethepug_bucket/?action=view&current=raft3rdflr.jpg but, I'd hate to think of a 75' long tree trunk with a diameter of 2 or 3 feet plunging up through the middle of my raft and taking out my beer cooler in one hit ! Just imagine this for a moment (never mind the beer cooler)... The tree trunk doesn't just plow up & thru the bottom of your raft but, instead is possibly pulled back down by an under current... and you raft is stuck on this 2 or 3 foot diameter log.... and going under with it

Many have rafted this river I'm sure. I, myself, might even do it someday but, one should do his research and be aware (VERY AWARE) of the dangers involved.
At the very least... consider what the absolute worst thing that could happen might be and ask yourself..."can I deal with this ?"

 

Miss-iss-ippi

 

Lets get her right its M I S S I S S I PP in your I

We will never forget neither will Mrs. Cobb should have seen her face in 1963.

 

Mississippi?