build a raft to float down the mississippi

[Mike S]

im looking for people interested in designing, building and floating a raft down a good portion of the mississippi river this summer. im hoping it will be 4 people and maybe up to a month long adventure. this is of course flexible im just looking for people interested in something similar.

mike s.

[chris]

yeah actually....are you from kc? cause i know a group of people doing it

[JP Pendell]

I am from KC... and this is something I have been looking into as well. Do you know who is going from KC?
JP Pendell - [e-mail]

[alex b]

Mike S wrote:

im looking for people interested in designing, building and floating a raft down a good portion of the mississippi river this summer. im hoping it will be 4 people and maybe up to a month long adventure. this is of course flexible im just looking for people interested in something similar.
mike s.

hey mike, i'm interested in a journey similar. I think I'm shooting for a solo journey, but I'm interested in trading research and preparation info. email is my first name,email = alex,pbayer at gmail dot c()m with no comma

[Breeze Mahoney]

I did not know other people wanted to o this... does anyone know the legality of this... ShawnCmahoney(at)gmail.com

[Huck]

Me and 2 other people from my high school class are actually building a raft and taking it from Indiana all the way to the Gulf of Mexico this summer and planning on documenting it.

[Jerry Scovel]

I intend to build a homestead raft on the Mississippi using barrels, it will have undershot water wheels to produce energy from the river. I am looking for like minded folks that want to get off the grid and live on the river. I have all the tools required and a place to build the rafts near the river in Osco Illinois.

[mr ghost]

Jerry Scovel wrote:

I intend to build a homestead raft on the Mississippi using barrels, it will have undershot water wheels to produce energy from the river. I am looking for like minded folks that want to get off the grid and live on the river. I have all the tools required and a place to build the rafts near the river in Osco Illinois.

i would lov to leave the grid im prepared and will be willing to pull my weight!!!! [e-mail]

[mr ghost]

does the fact that the mississippi flows backwards affect the float??? i have a jon boat and intend on floating from the tennessee river to the mississippi and down to the gulf!!!!

[Jerry Scovel]

Mr. Ghost,

I would be happy to have you come up and help. Chad Pregracke of living
lands and waters has agreed to supply most of the building materials and I
will be building some homestead rafts for homeless veterans in return. Chad
will be bringing a bargeload of materials up the river this august (date
will be determined by river level). You will need an old pickup truck and a
travel trailer, let me know if you are interested.

Jerry.

[BacShortly]

I am planning a trip either of the nex two summers, next (09) preferrably. I am considering Loiusville (or Cincinnatti) to New Orleans.

Pontoon, anyone interested

Bacshortly@wordpress blog

[Jason]

I'm a student from the University of Kentucky planning to build a raft with another guy in my fraternity and travel from Minneapolis to New Orleans. If anyone has any tips let me know! We're blogging about the building process, so take a look if you're interested. It's just in its early stages now though.

http://agomoz.blogspot.com/

[Jason]

Hey, I know I already posted below but I wanted to reply to you individually since we're probably thinking about doing fairly similar things. If you want to get in touch let me know and we might be able to swap some ideas around. Hope to hear from you.
http://agomoz.blogspot.com/

[rethink]

Ummm I grew by the Mississippi and I don't care how careful and experienced you are it is dangerous.Many people have died.Now I wish you well and I am in no way trying to dog on you for floating down it.But you
might want to talk to some people who have worked on it.It is not something to play with.Something else to keep in mind alot of illegal stuff passes from one side to the other. Stay aware of seemingly nice people you encounter.

[Grandlarseny38]

Okay, so a friend and I are also planning a trip down the Mississippi from somewhere in Illinois to the Gulf. I had no idea there were so many people interested in doing this! We are thinking of setting out sometime probably in the 3rd week of May 2009. One thing we are wondering about is legality issues. Are there any legal concerns we should know about before we start planning and building the raft? Will we be able to get through the locks with our raft? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I wish everyone who is planning on embarking on a trip like this the best of luck! Maybe we'll see each other out there!

[BacShortly]

http://bacshortly.wordpress.com/

Hope to catch up with you guys somewhere on the river - o9

keep in touch

[BacShortly]

I did it! 31 days living on an improvised 20' pontoon from Minnesota to New Orleans (and beyond to Biloxi).

read how - bacshortly.com

great trip, you can do it.

[Hannah]

BacShortly wrote:

I did it! 31 days living on an improvised 20' pontoon from Minnesota to New Orleans (and beyond to Biloxi).
read how - bacshortly.com
great trip, you can do it.

my dh and i just read almost every word of your adventure! thanks so much for sharing it! we are thinking of some sort of trip like it, and are collecting stories.

[Gee Whiz]

it's like rush hour on the Mississippi River! Sounds like you'll have plenty of company!

[CDB]

Make sure your "raft" is light enough to drag up and around all the locks and levies. Also be sure that it is stable enough withstand the wakes of all the large barges. Then, don't forget, you can get really sick if you intend on eating any fish you might catch. It's one big, strong, fast-moving, extremely polluted, dangerous river. Have fun.