Aug 14th, 1999 Float Trip

Editorial by Dave Kraemer, 
editor of The Ottumwa Courier, 684-4611.

At least a couple of times early Saturday morning I had to excuse myself from the work and go walk around to calm down. Those breathing exercises they teach women in birthing classes come in handy. Waves of stress from the past week, no sleep, long hours, phone calls, worry, details, waivers, water levels, mud, registrations, weather, order and disorder, were finally breaking on the shoals of reality. I nearly cried and vomited at the same time. It was all coming together.

For months a core group of us has been consumed with putting together The Courier's first-ever River Ripple, a canoe float down the Des Moines River from Eddyville to Ottumwa. The idea grew from a meeting in February on how to expand the Swiftwater Festival. A letter to the editor I'd received months earlier had urged making the Des Moines River a state-sanctioned water trail. That and my own love of canoeing and a belief that the river here can and will be a shiny attraction to our neck of the woods came together into a plan to float canoes into Ottumwa on the day of the duck races. It could be a great tourism draw. Get people from other placed to come to Ottumwa. Focus on the river. Build the event. All that was holding me back was, of course, the amount of work it takes to pull it off. But with a guarded blessing from my boss - who had a clue of what we were in for - we set out.

The planning for the float covered months. Route, rentals, publicity, safety, insurance, waivers, property owners, food, shuttles, all had to be arranged for. I owe a huge thank you to the party loyals of our canoe float committee - Rose Schultz, Don Kirkendall, Becky Harkema, Kurt Stevens, Tim Kurtz, Paul Riedel - and especially to my wife, Mary Duerson.

Midway through the effort, we realized we were going to need some help in covering costs, and Cargill and Excel graciously joined in as sponsors. And I have to extend special thanks to the Sheriff's Department and Reserve, and to the Ottumwa Regional Health Center rescue boat squad, for coming along to make our trip safe, and in contributing directly to the effort.

The planning work was steady right up to the last week, when the pace changed markedly. My wife and sons and I paddled the route on the Sunday before. The water was high, as it had been for weeks, and the strong current got us to Ottumwa in record time. It also meant I had to think about pushing up the shuttle times and make extra safety precautions around the bridges, where currents swirled.

At the same time, the Ottumwa Water Works dropped the level of the river at Ottumwa to work on the power plant. Manager Doug Drummey promised the water would be back by Saturday, but the mud banks at our planned take-out were still worrisome. They did, on the other hand, allow me to slog out one morning and chainsaw out a few snags.

Then I realized that the drop in the water was not entirely due to the hydro dam here in Ottumwa. All the way up to Eddyville the water was down. The Army Corps of Engineers had shut off flow from Red Rock. Desperate phone calls confirmed the inevitable. No water left in the lake above minimum draw-down. The only hope was in a squall line crossing Iowa over the next few days. And that was a mixed blessing. It might raise the water some, but would make the landings a greasy mess.

Friday, Kurtz and I ran the river in a small motor boat, running aground several times on sand bars while clouds scudded low across the sky and a light drizzle fell. The water was down five feet on the bank. We pushed back shuttle times to original late afternoon, and worried how to handle the Sheriff's patrol boats. We worked all the way up to 11 p.m. that night, hammering in signs at the landings.

Five hours later I was up and getting coffee together. Dawn broke bright and clear. The Eddyville landing was stunning in the early morning. And then they started coming. One or two at first. Then droves. And then the rental trailers, stacked like torpedoes five high.

They came in all shapes and sizes - beautiful wooden hand-crafted kayaks finer than cabinetry, multi-colored plastic boats from the edges of technology, one little pumpkinseed-shaped craft propelled by a woman accompanied by her dog in it's own doggie life jacket, big aluminum freighters powered by Boy Scouts, and canoes for people who had never canoed before.

We began shooting them into the water about 7:30 a.m. and that's when I was overcome with the sense that it was all working out. The water level was up, so much so we had to change the shuttle times yet again, the sun was out, and more than anything, people were having fun.

I floated into Ottumwa behind the last family sometime after 3 p.m. As they approached the city, they called out to ask about the various steeples, the courthouse, and the sights of our beautiful city. They were from West Des Moines and introduced to our community nearly the same way the first explorers found Native American encampments on the hills where rippling waters meet. It had been a magical day on the water.

A few canoes tipped over. The Sheriff's Patrol was right there to pull them out. A few sunburns were suffered. And the mud bank moved lunch on us to further downstream. But many, many people, three quarters of whom were from out of town, said they'd be back in a heartbeat when we do this again next year. We have a beautiful river here. Now, it's less of a secret.

This can be the start of an effort to make the Des Moines River a state trail. That would help eventually with everything from access issues to water quality.

This also can be something the Ottumwa community can hang its tourism hat on. Two hundred and seventeen people in 115 boats participated in the event. Lots of people found the reenactors at the park, the ducks, the festival, fun and inviting when they landed at the park.

There are many more thank yous to be made. And the usual sort of cleanup from a months-long effort. But it all could not have worked out better on Saturday. It's great when a plan comes together.

Thanks again,
 

DK