Matt's Last Day

Matt finished strong at 5:55pm. He was pleased to finish before dark.

His kids jumped for joy as he approached.

After a huge meal at a Chinese buffet, and prayers with the kids, he went right to sleep.

Here is a picture of him poling within sight of the end and a few of the sights on and around the river.

We'll have more information for you tomorrow.

Congratulations Matt!

Days Four and Five

Matt made good distance on Thursday in spite of not starting until about 5pm. He kept at it until after 11pm.

He has found it very difficult to pole in the dark. He needs to stay near the shore because the river at this point is too deep in the middle for his poles to reach. So when he encounters trees and other obstructions, he has to go out into the deep to avoid them.

He said he sometimes feels like Snow White when she was lost in the forest and the trees kept trying to grab and hold onto her. Matt is battling similar trees.

Rather than camping on the raft as he started, he now sets up his tent on the bank. His raft is too wet and cold to sleep on. The last two mornings he has woken to ice on his tent and on the deck of the raft. This is very unusual for the area—even in February. In the mornings he wears a woolen poncho. His gloves are too wet to wear so his hands are sporting painful blisters and worn skin.

His original pole started breaking down, so he cut two new bamboo poles. The shorter one is perfect except for the length. The taller one is too thin, so it has begun to bend like a fiberglass vaulting pole. Bamboo is a weed here. You can’t kill it and it grows and multiplies rapidly.

Matt has seen three automobile carcasses in the water. The wildlife he has seen include: Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Cormorants (in huge flocks), an opossum, several beavers, a few snakes, but no gators.

With the winding of the river Matt has been able to set up his canopy to act as a sail at times. It is especially helpful when he has to cross the river and his poles are too short to touch bottom.

Tonight he stopped at a well-lit dock with hopes to camp beside it. He approached the family and discovered that he knew some of them. They fed him catfish and shrimp and opened their garage so he could come in any time he needed to use their bathroom.

The area he is camping tonight (Friday) is called Melrose. It was originally settled and is still primarily populated by Creoles. These are mixtures of African and Native American slaves and their French and/or Spanish owners. Often the owners would have several children by their slave women. Due to disease in the middle 1700s, many of the European slave owners married their slave because of the lack of marriageable women in the area.

Some of the Creoles became prominent citizens—holding public office and owning very successful businesses. The culture of the area is very much influenced by this wonderful group.

Matt is fairly close to his original desired camping spot for Friday night. Barring some unusual challenge, he’ll reach the end by late afternoon on Saturday.

Day Three

After the intense winds of the last two days and some storms last night (which killed more than 50 people in nearby state), Matt chose to spend the night at home instead of out on the raft. He and Julie went out for a short dinner, and then Matt went to bed exhausted.

He was back on the water by 7am today. He made it in time for a phone interview with a local radio program. I (his dad) was able to hear the interview in the car as I returned to their house.

The poling went well today. The weather changed drastically. Instead of temperatures topping out at 80 degrees, today’s high was 65. After two overcast days, he was able to enjoy cloudless sunny skies.

He marveled as a huge flock of cormorants silently flew past him. The only sound was the wind on their beating wings. He has seen a couple of swimming snakes, but no gators.

People along the river stop what they’re doing and talk with him. Obviously, the newspapers, radio and television interviews have sparked people’s interest. They seem to watch for him, and then call for their family to see him. Matt feels a little funny when he sees that he’s being videotaped by spectators.

Nancy James, her sister and boyfriend waited for him today. They had packed a lunch for him and visited him while he rested at their dock. People like them really give him energy. Their picture is above.

Matt’s been thinking about the contrasts of his adventure—and the differences between the actual event and what he had anticipated.

First, he observes that his pace is one of a bygone era. Travel was slow in those days, and so was communication. It took days to get word from one state to another. But in this project, the slower travel is like that of older days, but the communication using a digital camera, video camera, digital audio recorder, a blog, YouTube, and a cell phone is very much in the present. In seconds, information about his trek reaches a worldwide audience.

Second, he expected a week of peace and solitude—a time to experience nature uninterruptedly—a time of quiet contemplation. Instead, he ordered a pizza to be delivered to him on the lake. He has made arrangements for and will conduct a funeral. He has had numerous newspaper, radio and television interviews. And he has had numerous contacts from people on the shore.

Matt could have chosen to focus his efforts on making this a solitary experience. He could have closed off communications and planned an after-event presentation. He could have delegated the funeral work and stayed on the river. But he chose the unselfish path. He has included family and friends. He has allowed the people of his city to remember their own early adventures, whether actually experienced ones or not. He has chosen to honor his religious and church commitments and care for his deceased friend and his family.

By making these choices, Matt has lifted and inspired many.

Hopes and Fears for the Project

I have many hopes for the project, and they mostly stem from the origins of it.
For one, life is incredibly busy: all forms of communication must be satisfied; there are all sorts of media and other distractions. I hope for six days of quiet contemplation—six days to regroup, refocus, and really focus on the essentials. That’s really important to me with this project. It’s a little selfish, just get out there and enjoy some quiet, some physical work, and some peace.

I also want to draw attention to the historical sense of the Cane—that it was navigated very slowly. “Slow” is a very essential element of this project. That is an element that people continually try to dissuade me. “You could hide a little trolling motor on the back. Nobody would see it. It wouldn’t be noisy.” But the slow pace of the travel is an important thread that winds through this project.

Also, I see it as an artistic practice. I see the raft as the vehicle for the art. If you make art with welding or painting, then the torch and the brushes become the vehicles for the art. The outcome isn’t a visual piece of art—in the long run it’s what we call a happening or an event. I see myself out there on the river as a visual element. Every time I’m spotted, I think people will feel it’s kind of a romantic sight—this guy out there quietly and slowly poling his way down the river. It’s kind of like the gondolas of Italy or Huck Finn and Jim floating down the Mississippi.

Matt’s Pre-launch Fears
· Cold rain.
· It’s been instilled in me a fear that snakes may climb onto the raft.
· Alligators
· Headwinds the whole way
· Lightning
· The main fear is not accomplishing the project