The News from St. Louis

So we've been relaxing. After another six weeks on the water it feels nice to be walking around so much. And although we've been warned by many, the encouragement by others to try and go the rest of the way is winning out. It was a hard last week on the water, and we both thought we'd had it, our bodies broken from the cold and sleeping on the hard floor, Hannah having a cold, the wind being relentless. But after thinking over the advice we've gotten from tug boat drivers, ex coast guard officers and rafters, it seems terrible to give up here without even trying the lower river. It's been done before. We just need to be prepared. And here we are preparing.

We are rearranging the boat to accommodate two other crew members, having had some makes us value their presence and getting rid of junk we've stored up seems like a necessity anyway. We've already found more solar panels, and a promise of a little heater. We are looking into buying a bigger outboard, another anchor, and another battery.

We have also set up a paypal account to try and raise funds to get these additional items, and to pay for the gasoline that we will, it seems, be using much more of downriver. The current is faster, time to dodge traffic is less and the amount of traffic increased will surely require more dodging.

Oh and Hannah's mom and grandma came and checked the boat out. Mother approved. Wheee!