Mississippi River mishap nearly deadly

[toltecs]

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Mississippi River mishap nearly deadly
Pals' trip of a lifetime takes dangerous turn
By Jody Callahan (Contact)
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The four canoeists didn't know it, but a small mistake Wednesday morning would nearly cost them their lives.

A few miles upriver from Memphis, the high school friends from Milwaukee loaded their gear into a pair of canoes, then pushed into the Mississippi River, continuing a journey they began more than 400 miles and 17 days ago.

But on this morning, the load in one canoe wasn't balanced just right, making the craft unsteady. And the wind was gusting as much as 25 mph, creating high, choppy waves.

At about 10a.m., that combination turned dangerous when a wave capsized one canoe, dumping David Homan and Al Carroll, both 21, into the always unpredictable river.

Spotting their friends in the water, Walter Brummund, 21, and Joe Steigerwald, 22, turned the second canoe to help, but ran into trouble themselves.

"We capsized twice and managed to turn the canoe over and bail it out twice and get back in," said Brummund, who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. "We came up on a barge. They picked us up, and we told them what had happened."

The barge crew called the Coast Guard, which then alerted civilian and law enforcement agencies that there was trouble on the water.

The Coast Guard launched its 25-foot rescue boat with three people aboard, scanning the river and its banks for the missing canoeists.

They were joined by a Memphis Police helicopter while three nearby sheriff's departments -- two in Arkansas, one in Tennessee -- launched their boats.

"We had a pretty extensive search-and-rescue operation going on," Coast Guard Lt. Leon McClain said.

Finally, two officers in the helicopter spotted Holman and Carroll on the bank, two hours after they spilled into the river and six miles from where the canoe capsized.

"We probably swam for at least an hour and a half, two hours, to get to shore. It was ridiculous. The waves and the wind combined made it very hard to go anywhere," said Holman, a student at Wisconsin. "It was frightening."

The Mississippi County (Ark.) Sheriff's Department picked them up and took them to Osceola, where they were reunited with Brummund and Steigerwald.

Thanks in part to their life jackets, no one was seriously hurt. The rescue personnel on the water even managed to snag the men's $3,000 canoes and some of their gear.

But given the water conditions, the incident could easily have turned deadly.

"It's pretty dangerous. We've got high water right now. The current's moving swift," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Alec Newtown, who has spent three years on the river.

"There's a lot of debris in the river. There's undertows. It's swift moving. It's pretty unsafe. We've had numerous people die from being in the river."

Homan seemed aware of the group's good fortune.

"It definitely could have been worse," he said. "I now have a greater respect for the mighty Mississippi."

Now, the friends have to decide if they want to continue to New Orleans, more than 600 twisting and turning miles down the Mississippi.

Brummund hasn't quite made up his mind.

"I think we are going to try to continue," he said. "We're still thinking about it. But obviously, (Wednesday) was a re-evaluation."

Despite his hours in the water, though, Homan wasn't ready to give up.

"I have every intention of continuing on," he said, before adding, "but I'm not going to be canoeing in any more wind."

[rcowen]

That's crazy! It's a miracle that they're alright.

There's no way that i'd be out in that river on a canoe.

[Cowper]

In cooler weather, this story could easily have a different ending. I'd also say it is good the barge saw them - I'm thinking that swimming in the Big Muddy with barges would be a good way to end up as fish bait. Kudo's to the barge captain for paying attention and not thinking they were just some more river debris.

Sounds like these guys did enough things right to prevent a disaster, like wearing PFD's. This also makes me glad I'm about to go help with Rec School. There is no water so easy, that a little bit of information can't make you safer. Not that the "easy" part really fits for the Mississippi at flood with high winds, but my point is the same because sometimes trips start out easy, and then conditions change unexpectedly...

There's no way that i'd be out in that river on a canoe.

Might be a good day for a sea kayak, and makes a good case in point for why rolling could be a good skill to have even for folks who don't want to do WW...

[Jason O]

A friend and I floated the Mississippi last summer and had a blast. He was in a canoe and I was in my tarpon 120. It was low water though. Huge sand bars.

[potterspoint434]

I paddle the Mississippi River several times a year and understand how wild it is. I do several races a year on it and its a blast looking down at you GPS
and see your doing 11 mph.
The whirlpools,whitewater and the giant barge waves are pretty wild.
I`m glad they had on their pfd`s and it all turned out ok

[seark]

The Mississippi is never an "easy" river. It can be beautiful and a lot of fun. But whitewater folks shouldn't be deceived by the lack of gradient and rocks. Recommend "Rising Tide" by John Barry - the first part of the book gives a wonderful characterization of the river's ever shifting soft bottom which creates all kinds of below surface turbulance even at normal and low levels.

[RandyJ]

Would sure like to do that trip some day, top to bottom, but like Cowper says, I like the idea of a rec boat that can be rolled. Too many things that can happen out there. FYI, you can get some brief surfs off the wake of a barge/tugboat in a playboat. The barge cap'n may not appreciate you doing it, though. :shock:

[Crane]

In the Flat Water Clinic, which may happen again in August, we target instruction to folks who paddle on lakes and slower water. One of the first discussions is about the three w's... wind, waves and weather... as the primary dangers on open water. The Mississippi River has many characteristics similar to flat water, but complicates the situation by being moving and huge. Those folks should not have been on the water that day. A little instruction could have given them information about what to avoid... That's why the ACC's instruction program is such an important part of our mission.

[potterspoint434]

wind,waves and weather I think you need to add barges.
The last time I did the Bluz Cruz in Vicksburg ,the barge waves were about 4-5 ft tall with a strong current that made for a wild ride. They last for about a half mile after one passes

[Crane]

Uh... that would come under "waves"... right?

[potterspoint434]

So maybe extra waves or special waves or how about walls of water
is that better
I still like barges