They were aware that "the river decides" when, as a group of four paddlers, they attempted to travel the entirety of the mighty Mississippi the fastest over the last 17 days.
On a harrowing overnight Thursday, within 150 miles of finishing at the Gulf of Mexico, the decision was made.
"The Mississippi said, 'All right, you guys, you're done," said team leader Scott Miller of Minneapolis.
Miller and his team had to abandon their adventure north of New Orleans in 30-mph wind gusts and water that swamped their canoe. They were rescued by their support boat, a houseboat, that struggled itself in the conditions to get everyone safely to shore, Miller said Friday morning.
Miller, 45, said the team was pushing through bad conditions for hours in the river channel, jockeying with barge traffic and other anchored obstacles in a heavily industrial part of the river. "Our margins for error dwindled quickly," he added, as water started filling the canoe and team members disagreed on the best approach in eroding conditions.
Paddler Perry Whitaker, in the bow, finally made the call to the safety vessel. When the paddlers came alongside the boat, they bounced in the waves and struggled to keep their grip on the listing boat and their stricken canoe, Miller said, sounding still a bit dazed by what they'd experienced. They eventually leaped into the support boat, and the canoe was lost.
The situation was so bad that the support crew and the rescued paddlers settled for refuge on a remote stretch of shore, where they had to ride the night out alone, Miller said, who recounted the scene from his hotel in the French Quarter.
Miller's other team members, all elite long-distance paddlers, are Adam Macht of Ely, Minn., Joel Ford of Maryland, and Whitaker of St. Louis.
