Phatwater on the Natchez Gauge today is 24.3‘, a good bump up from yesterday, with another one coming before the week long fall.

The wildlife on the river is astonishing, ever present, and often unexpected.  Yesterday Melissa and I took the Duet up to the powerline because I wanted to get a more accurate measure at midstream from the Powerline, all the way into the Natchez (Phatwater) landing.  About a mile before we reached the Powerline, on the Mississippi shore, we saw one of the largest alligators I’ve yet seen on the Phatwater.  He was at least 12-13′, most likely a large male, and probably weighed between 600 and 700 lbs.  He was a giant!  We were about fifty yards downstream of him when Melissa spotted him and shouted at me to “look at that giant alligator!”  They can be quite difficult to spot if not moving.  By the time I finally got on him he had lifted off his belly and was crawling toward the water.  He plunged in, a la Tarzan movie, submerged, and we never saw him again.  He was very colorful, what I call a “yellowchin”, with a very pronounced drooping throat swell the color of a squash.   It was a magnificent sight.  I’ve seen other larger gators in the river, but this was the first time I’ve seen one plunge in from the shore.

When we arrived at the powerline Melissa’s GPS had measured our trip up at 5.6 miles, but we had taken a shoreward paddle so I wanted to graph the distance back to Natchez at mid-stream, as much as possible.  We’d had a very pleasant headwind on the trip up, but turning with it and heading a back to Natchez the air became very warm.  There was also an upstream barge making its way to the center of the channel which forced us to alter our path, somewhat, and the arriving distance on the GPS when we reached Natchez was 5.5 miles.  We were also traveling in excess of 10 mph for most of the return trip, although we were not paddling at a high stroke rate due to the heat.  So . . . this is what you have to look forward to in forty days.  High water is likely, fast times are a given, and the record is in danger of costing us another $1000.  All good signs.

Speaking of good signs, here’s a couple of wildlife shots from the weekend, at the foot of Silver Street, just down from the Saloon, taken last Thursday by someone named Sherry, forwarded to us by our Phatwater trophy mug potter, Robert Rasberry.

DeAnne and Patrick Hemmens, with OceanPaddlesports, in Costa Mesa, California, will be here for the Phatwater.  With them they are bringing a new Fenn Mako Elite, which will be for sale.  The Mako Elite is a very fast, very stable surkski, similar to the Mako 6, but with less rocker.  A price hasn’t been mentioned but it will be considerably less than a new boat and there won’t be any shipping cost for anyone interested.

Greg Iles has plans to attend the Phatwater party, and possibly sit in with Barefoot.  Unfortunately he cannot schedule a book signing this same day, but he will be one of our VIP sponsors.  Thanks, Greg.  Anyone wanting an autographed copy of The Devil’s Punchbowl, or any of Greg’s other titles, can pick up copies at Turning Pages, on Franklin Street in Natchez, three blocks from the Phatwater.

All for now,

KB