Progress report
August 11 to August 17
Early Monday we arrived at Ted's to cut new side stays (wires
that hold the mast up) and a pigtail extension for the forestay. At 11 a.m. the news crew from
channel 5 (ABC affiliate) arrived and filmed for about an hour. Ted had already had a phone
interview with WEOL radio which was broadcast several times later in the day. Channel 5
carried their broadcast at 6:45.
We went to the home of Arlene's brother Chris to check email, and we
met Jeff who graciously donated time and materials to create t-shirts embossed with
Mission Cure ALS 2003 for Ted, Arlene and me.
Tuesday we finished creating plexiglass splash guards that attach beside the
paddlewheels to help contain the spray that flies off when we pedal at higher speeds. Arlene's mom and
sister applied stick on letters spelling out ALS PADDLER to the splash guards. Chris brought us a more comfortable
seat to replace our plastic lawn chair seat.
Ali, the reporter for Fox, spent a couple of hours filming us working on the boat. He is
hoping to join us for a couple of days after our launch to complete his story. He has been spending his off duty time
on our story, and we really appreciate his attention. Many donations are being received due to all the publicity
we are getting.
Wednesday morning Brad, a reporter for The Chronicle Telegram, interviewed Ted, Arlene
and me for an hour. At noon John Paul Jones brought a brand new hand-held marine radio to us. It is a very expensive
top of the line model, and we are greatly appreciative.
Again, I am caught up with the progress reports. When we are on the river my time
will be scarce to do updates, so the reports will be brief.
Close up of mechanisms
Thursday CBS arrved a Ted's and did a live interview with Ted. We gathered gear and
disassembled the boat. That afternoon we endured the Northeastern blackout for 5 hours. Friday we packed the dry bags.
Saturday morning we drove to Fairmont, WV and assembled the boat at Wood's boat house. We will launch tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Bye for now.
Sunday... Off to Wood's Boat house at 8 a.m. We launched at 10 with Chris and Ted's son Jim
following in their motorized canoe. A few miles down they put the Fox TV reporter, Ali, into the canoe to film us as we
paddled our paddlewheeler. Soon they left us, and we continued to Prickett's bay park, home of Prickett's fort. We were
greeted by Arlene, Ali and hordes of hungry ducks and geese. These first ten miles awoke long unstressed leg muscles, so we
quickly set up our tent on the boat and attempted to sleep in our uncomfortable berths. The geese and ducks had a different
sleeping schedule that lasted till midnight with honking, splashing and mass takeoffs that sounded as if a bear had jumped
into the water. Suddenly a large beast crawled under the tent lifting the floor between Ted and me. I flailed wildly at
the unknown hump and then awoke in a sweat, relieved from the dream. All was quiet. The wild fowl had finally left.
Noisy neighbors at Fort Prickett
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