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Meredith Spencer, The Vicksburg Post
Four months since they shipped off from Kansas City on a raft made of recycled materials, a small band of local artists is back on the Mississippi River. A run-in with the Coast Guard beached the group's travels for nearly seven weeks.
Jamie Burkart and Libby Hendon, both Kansas City natives and students at the University of California-Santa Cruz, embarked on a journey they titled “Release Yourself Onto the Water Until It Tastes of Salt” this past summer. The idea was to experience the mighty Missouri and Mississippi rivers by traveling from Kansas City to the Gulf of Mexico. To that end, they spent weeks fashioning a raft made of recycled materials they found around the metro. On July 21, Burkart, Hendon and a handful of other California artists departed Kaw Point on their one-of-a-kind craft (read about the start of their adventures here).
They had their share of brushes with authorities, though. After traveling more than 1,000 miles, they were ordered off the river on September 15 by Coast Guard officials fearful for the craft’s river-worthiness (click here for the full account).
They became local celebrities in the small town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, where feds halted their travels. According to a report from The Vicksburg Post, the group stayed with Andrew Ross, a young lumber inspector they met their first night in the city. Hendon and Laura Mattingly, a Santa Cruz resident and one of the rafting trio, reportedly worked as substitute teachers while the small crew made repairs to the raft in the parking lot of a local apartment complex. The group also garnered the assistance of a local lawyer Kelly Loyacono to help broker an agreement with the Coast Guard.
They didn’t succeed on their first attempt. On October 20, the crew tried to set sail after a first round of modifications. According to the Post, the crew spent eight hours loading and prepping the vessel before police escorted the raft to the riverfront. There, a crowd watched as the Rev. Chan Osborn de Anaya, of Christ Episcopal Church, blessed the river farers and asked God to keep them safe on their continued journey.
But the Coast Guard delayed their departure. The crew had repaired the sagging bow, but Chief Warrant Officer Doug Chapman still had concerns about the raft’s propulsion and steering. The raft is powered with two stationary bikes and maneuvered with homemade rudders fashioned from discarded road signs. Chapman told the crew members that they needed the ability to react more quickly on one of the most dangerous and highly trafficked stretches of the Mississippi River.
The artists went back to the drawing board, collecting materials from residents and businesses in town. With those donated items, they added several large oars, nose cones and a third rudder. That was enough to get the go-ahead from the feds.
“We wanted them to be able to continue their voyage down the Mississippi River, but we wanted them to be safe transiting,” Chief Petty Officer Mike O’Berry said in this statement, which was released November 5 by the Coast Guard.
Having appeased the Coast Guard, the crew departed Vicksburg on Monday, hoping to make it to the Gulf -- to taste salt -- before temperatures dropped further. Burkart could not be reached on his cell phone, but his vision for the journey and his account of the crew's run-in with the Coast Guard can be found on his MySpace page. -- Carolyn Szczepanski
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Carolyn,
I have been "googling" the name Jamie Burkart as part of my life since you and I first brainstormed about what might be a way to respond to the very first send-off "party" Aou and I attended. You did not know I was his mother and I did not know you were a journalist. I was so touched by the way you stayed, staving off other responsibilities until you finally had to leave and then later returned to see what happened. I believe you are still in my palm pilot as Zarolyn because my 10 yr old entered you in so I could keep you up with the news.
ANNE
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