Day 86

Up and paddling before the sun again today. The river grows wider and more busy with each passing mile. The shore on both banks is a nearly constant line of fleeted barges two to four rows deep. Smaller work tugs move about in a frenzy of activity piecing together the large barges for travel back up river. The chemical and petroleum plants no longer hide back from the banks but instead push right up to the rivers edge. Large ocean going freighters line the docks taking on coal and grain. Ships unable to load lay at anchor just off the main travel lanes of the river waiting their turn. Small work and supply boats cross cross the open areas carrying the crews and the food that makes everything possible. I try to paddle between the fleeted barges and the ships near the channels edge. The space is generally a couple of hundred yards wide. By paddling down the middle I try to give everyone space to work, be seen and stay out of the way. I keep the VHF radio scanning at all times, it in an information pipeline and entertainment. The pilots talk about work, women, football, food and everything in between. I can hear them as they spot me and it seems everyone knows I am coming long before I arrive. The constant movement keeps my head spinning and my mind distracted from the heat. There is one subject that keeps coming to my mind. Most people who claim to paddle the river skip the last 303 miles and exit through the Atchafalaya River. They say it is still a Source to Sea of the river because some of the water fro the Mississippi river is diverted that direction. Pushed for a better reasoning they use the excuse that Baton Rouge and New Orleans sections of the river are too dangerous and there is nothing good to see. I think these people are being deceptive or at the least disingenuous. Saying I did a Source to Sea implies you paddled from the river from start to the finish.  Asked how Baton Rouge or New Orleans were they will say they didn't pass through them, as if they were unaware they skipped 303 miles. Others say it is a matter of opinion I say it is a matter of scientific fact, we know beyond a doubt where the river starts and ends, your opinion may be otherwise but it doesn't change the facts. Enough about that. I finished the day on a small sand bar and pitched the tent under some willows. I had three cranes of a type I have never seen before that hung around the shade of the sand bar keeping a close eye on me and the gator that was lurking just off shore.