Who wants to float down the Mississippi this summer?

[janktoaster]

SUN POISONING SUCKS

 

[Matt Derrick]

haha well damn, i didn't really expect such a huge response from this thread.

yes, this is something i want to do, and have always wanted to do for years, but after mulling it over for a while, i don't think it's something i can do this year.

i've been moving around way too much this year, and taking on way more than i am capable of, and it's been kinda screwing me up in a lot of different ways. so that said, i'm going to stick it out this summer in austin and make sure the stp book im working on gets finished asap.

now, that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep discussing this, since i think it has huge potential as an StP sponsored project, it just might have to wait until next spring?

for example, the talk about having a motor is something i hadn't really thought too much about, but i think is going to be a very necessary item. being able to dodge water traffic and other hazards is going to take something more than sticks to push into the water.

i've said the same about having a motor on a sailboat. especially if you're not an experience sailor, a motor is pretty much a must.

now with that said, a decent outboard isn't cheap, and now you have to consider fuel costs. i don't think you would have to be using the motor constantly (maybe 20-30% of the time?) so it wouldn't be a huge amount of money, but it's something to consider.

the second thing is where to build/setup the barge at? i don't personally know anyone in minneapolis (the most likely starting location) so i'm not sure how to handle that.

on the subject of barge design, i really like the pictures i linked to on the first post, it seems simple enough but would keep rain off and provide enough space to have a decent kitchen and space to sleep. i also think that mosquito nets are going to be pretty important if you want to be able to have a decent night's sleep.

but yeah, i think we should keep this discussion going and see if we can make something come out of it.

 

[Kim Chee]

As great of an idea this is (I'd help)!

...still hopin' for an ocean worthy pirate ship with cannon.

 

[MolotovMocktail]

now with that said, a decent outboard isn't cheap, and now you have to consider fuel costs. i don't think you would have to be using the motor constantly (maybe 20-30% of the time?) so it wouldn't be a huge amount of money, but it's something to consider.

Maybe we could look into a biodiesel conversion?

 

[Matt Derrick]

hmm i don't know of any diesel outboard motors. not any cheap ones anyways. i don't think gas would be ridiculously expensive... maybe 500 bucks for the whole trip? i'm not quite sure how to calculate that.

 

[jaws]

count me in, I'm a good craftsman.

 

[creature]

interesting...