Greetings,

Saturday was fantastic.  The weather here in the deep South was superb for the first running of the Battle-On-The-Bayou Canoe and Kayak race, hosted by the City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, South Coast Paddle Sports, and Kayakaholics, and directed by Phatwater first timers Damien Rumery and Nick Kinderman.  I cannot offer enough praise.

The race registered an unbelievable first year tally of 122 boats, and began at 1200, under bright, clear skies, against a ever-so-slight north breeze.  The course for the race runs from the bay at Ocean Springs, inland, up a beautiful stretch of sawgrass flats and tea colored water along Old Fort Bayou, concluding at the public launch beneath the watchful eye of “The Shed” bar-b-que. smokehouse. Believe me when I offer that nothing finer in the way of slow cooked pork, beef and chicken will ever find its way onto your tongue.

I don’t have all the particulars for the race but our total distance for the course ran to something like 9.72 miles, during which M and I chased first place finisher, Elmore Holmes, of Memphis to a time of 1 hour and 25+- minutes.  Elmore swapped the lead with us over and over again as we twisted and turned our way up the bayou, with Elmore blazing his way to a solo finish, in his new Epic V-12 Ski, a Christmas gift from his wife.

For final results and a breakdown of the categories, visit the BOTB web site: www.battleonthebayou.com

Phatwater on the Natchez Gauge, today, is at 38.63′, up six feet from this time a year ago.  Rises are expected as the winter thaw begins to flood the upper Mississippi and push its way down our way.

Here is a new type of boat we expect to see a lot of this coming weekend.

It is an experimental boat, developed by NASA, in Houston.  It is called the Eclairnoe.  It is designed to perform like the standard touring canoe, from which it takes its form, while also providing the needed calories for long distance paddling, such as we hope to encounter on the Buffalo Bayou Regatta, this Saturday.  The Buffalo Bayou Regatta, formerly known as the “Reeking Regatta”, is now in its 38th year.  The race is fifteen miles long and begins in San Felipe, Texas, and ends in downtown Houston.  Below is a UTube Video of what you can expect if you plan to attend this race.  We hope to see you there.  Info about the race is on the web site below the UTube link.

http://www.buffalobayou.org/regattabayou.html

All for now-KB