Toad Suck Lock and Waltzing Matilda Breaks Anchor

After months of preparation, Nathan began what he hopes to be months at sea with the launching today of his boat, the Waltzing Matilda, at Van Buren.
He and first mate Jesse plan to cast off tomorrow down the Arkansas River, going through their first set of locks just a few miles downstream. The boat will initially be powered by a small diesel engine and an electric trolling motor. In a few days they'll be at Lake Dardanelle in central Arkansas. There, Jesse's girlfriend, an experienced sailor, will come aboard for awhile to give Nathan and Jesse pointers as Waltzing Matilda raises her sails for the first time under Nathan's ownership. After that, Jesse and Nathan will go down the Arkansas River to the Mississippi River, with Jesse staying aboard perhaps as far as New Orleans. Then, Nathan intends to take Waltzing Matilda to sea in the Gulf of Mexico heading toward Florida. He plans a trip to Cuba, then hopes to go up the eastern coast of the U.S. and Canada, hoping by next year to make it to the Landry ancestral village of St. Omer, Quebec.

Through the rivers, Waltzing Matilda will have to go through many locks and avoid giant river barge traffic, often consisting of large number of barges lashed together in front of big diesel-powered towboats. One passed by after sunset while Waltzing Matilda was docked.

Nathan will be calling us each week and using the U.S. Postal Service to update us on his trip. We'll keep you posted.

Waltzing Matilda is about 20 feet in length and was built in Great Britain in 1967.

Nathan and First Mate Jesse should be somewhere near Toad Suck, Arkansas, by now. That's right, there is a Toad Suck and they've got a lock that Nathan, Jesse, their boat, the Waltzing Matilda, and their newest crew member, Mattie the dog, need to go through.

Nathan called yesterday, Monday, and said Mattie had joined the crew. Barbra and I met Mattie Saturday when on a whim we drove to Lake Dardenelle, Arkansas, where Jesse and his girlfriend, Jamie, were teaching Nathan how to operate the Waltzing Matilda under sail. Mattie was a stray dog wandering around the dock. She was a bit scared but really wanted to be friends, so eventually she went aboard the Waltzing Matilda for the adventure of her life.
We joined Nathan, Jesse, and Jamie for a delightful Saturday morning of sailing on the lake. The previous night we brought them a Thanksgiving dinner from Barbra's brother's place where Barbra and I were for Thanksgiving.

Besides sail, Waltzing Matilda has a diesel engine and an electric trolling motor used for maneuvering. The diesel has a bad oil leak and Nathan has ordered a part for shipment to Little Rock where he intends to fix it.

We left Saturday afternoon. After sailing lessons, the Waltzing Matilda went through Lock Number Ten on the Arkansas River and Jamie also headed back to Fayetteville.
The ongoing voyage of the Waltzing Matilda:
December 3 report:
Overnight December 1-2, Nathan felt that he had to learn to run at night, so he took advantage of the full moon and headed down the Arkansas River while Jesse slept. Nathan got nervous when he came upon the lights of a dredging operation. “I didn’t know where to go,” he said. “The lights of the river confused me.” He thought maybe he should sail between the dredging units, but wasn’t sure. He roused Jesse to raise the barge on the radio to ask them where to sail. They said go between the dredging units. Had Nathan gone to either side of them Waltzing Matilda would have gotten tangled in dredging gear.
They went through Toad Suck Lock, where Nathan said the lock operator was a real Arkie: overalled and toothless, with a funky hat (I guess the kind of guy you would expect to be running a lock called Toad Suck).
Upon making Little Rock on December 2 Nathan found there were three railroad drawbridges that were too low to clear a sailboat. He didn’t know how to contact the bridge operator(s) or what the protocol was, so he anchored. But then he had a scare when the anchor gave way and they started drifting in ice and blinding rain. Jesse, in his long johns, came out of the cabin to help. They hit some rocks. They got the diesel engine started and despite 4 miles an hour of current and 20 miles per hour of wind coming at them, they were able to run two miles west of Little Rock using only 25% throttle.
They found a cove and anchored. It was right by a bike trail, so Nathan said “People ride by and stare at us.” Since the only other craft on the river are barges and bass boats, when Nathan and Jesse come along in their old sailboat, Nathan said, “The guys in the locks think it’s awesome – they think it’s great.”
Hanging out at a nearby park, Nathan spent time skateboarding on December 3. Eventually, the barge Victoria came by heading downstream, and the guys radioed the barge to learn the protocol for getting the Little Rock railroad bridges lifted. They got their instructions and hope to depart on the 4th.
Other items:
The oil leak in the diesel engine fixed itself. A cork seal swelled and plugged the leak and they’ve used no oil since Dardenelle.
They ran aground in a cove, but backed off okay because they were going slow when they grounded.
Mattie the dog is not feeling well – hasn’t eaten all day and hasn’t had much water. She got into some sweets and Nathan thinks that may be her problem. Also, while docked, she fell off their dingy, but Nathan heard her splash, so he was able to pull her out of the cold water.
Although it’s only going at 4 miles per hour, Nathan has learned deep respect for the Arkansas River: “That current is a serious, serious force.” Another 120 miles and they’ll be on the Mississippi River. “I can’t wait,” he said.