Greetings,

On August 17th, Cliff, Max, Boy Roy and myself will load the mule and begin our 1305 mile or 2100 km drive for Bemidji, Minnesota to officially kick off the Old Man River Project.

Our drive is long but it is only half the amount of the total distance we must travel by water. We have a canoe to pick up in Huntsville and then it is off to Sault Ste Marie before crossing into America for the final 808 miles or 1300 kms. I reckon towing ANNIE will slow down our driving speed slightly but if all goes to plan we should reach Bemidji by nightfall on the 18th. If however, we do not get there until the 19th, no big deal.

The rest of the team will arrive by bus. Sarah, Kyle and Riggy are busing it from Buffalo to Minneapolis/St.Paul. Magnus, fresh with jet leg after his long journey from Melbourne, Australia will rendezvous with the three at the bus terminal in the Twin Cities. On August 20th, just before 2 p.m. the four will arrive by bus in Bemidji and the Old Man River Project team will be united for the first time. The next day at 10 a.m. the seven of us will board ANNIE and push off into the waters of Lake Bemidji destined for the Gulf of Mexico.

We are starting at the northern most point of the Mississippi River. The river starts 100 km prior to Bemidji at Lake Itasca, at which point the Mississippi is a mere stream. If we had canoes or kayaks we could start here, but ANNIE is a boat of impressive proportions and for the first 100 km, ANNIE is literally wider than the Mississippi River. Hence the reason for starting on Lake Bemidji.

Our total river journey is 2400 miles or 4000 km.

Today I am off to Midland with Cliff to train with Gord Laco, my Marine Consultant. Cliff and I will sleep in his sailboat and tomorrow we will take ANNIE onto Geogrian Bay and practice sailing. Kyle will be connecting with us tomorrow too. Back here, Riggy, Sarah and Boy Roy will be working on the oars, oars that should have been done a week ago… Our boat is 98.5% complete but we still have work to do, most notably, installing the rudder.

There has been plenty of adversity to date and things will only get more challenging in the future. For me, I just want to get on the water. I have no problem with dealing with endless adversity out there, but I will admit that it has been VERY challenging keeping this project on track. The most frustrating part has been the failed promises/agreements with getting the ANNIE done. This has been my biggest challenge to date – including going substantially over budget.

With that said, there have been countless people who have been absolutely incredible and without their support, ideas, energy, gear and even cash flow, this project would not be possible. I know I must take the good with the bad and I must always keep perspective when dealing with these challenges.

Anyways, time to get back to work – just one week to go!