Overnight Storm; Stranded on the Waltzing Matilda

Wed, 9 Dec 2009
“Terrifying” was about the first out of Nathan’s mouth today when describing the thunderstorm he went through overnight. He’s been anchored in sheltered waters at a park at Moscow, Arkansas, for the last 48 hours. When the storm came, the wind direction shifted 180 degrees and increased from 10 to 40 miles per hour. Nathan had three anchors out and a big cast iron coffee pot lashed halfway down one of the anchor lines to help keep the anchor line horizontal so that the boat’s movement would dig the anchor further into the bottom. Today, the wind keeps him stranded aboard the Waltzing Matilda. If he cuts the boat loose, it’ll blow into shallow water. The wind is also too high for him to take his kayak ashore, so he’s been on his boat for 24 hours.
He describes his journey as “hours and hours of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror.”
Nathan is 52 miles from the Mississippi River and is anxious to get there, although with some trepidation. It’s been difficult to operate a sailboat on the Arkansas River because it’s so narrow. The Mississippi River will be about a third of a mile across when he joins it.
He’s kept busy reading and mending his clothes. He’s making a little lifejacket for Mattie the dog. He’s attaching a hook to it so he can fish Mattie out of the water “when” (not if) she falls overboard.