Waltzing Matilda Gets Stuck; Crew Reduced by a Third

December 6, 2009
“I’ve had better days,” said Nathan reporting in on Sunday, two weeks after the Waltzing Matilda set sail from Van Buren, Arkansas. “I’m stuck in the mud.”
I fully expected Nathan to have reached the Mississippi River by now; instead, he’s at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, about 25 miles southeast of Little Rock. And he’s stuck.
He had gotten off the main river and followed a channel toward the city of Pine Bluff in order to stock up on fuel and groceries. He followed the channel markers, he stayed in the middle of the channel, and Waltzing Matilda’s 3-foot keel came to a stop in two feet of water. What makes it even more frustrating is that he is right in sight of the facility of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, the people who maintain the channel. And amazingly, he said Tyson Corporation barges are able to negotiate the 2-foot depth with no problem. But Nathan is stuck and since it’s 37 degrees there are no pleasure boats out and about who might pull him from the mud. He’s planning to fly sail in a crosswind, hoping that the wind will lift him off. He can go ashore if he has to, since he has a rubber dinghy towed behind the boat.
Also, his only crew member now is Mattie the dog. First Mate Jesse decided thirteen days on the river was enough, so he headed home to Northwest Arkansas. Jesse’s departure was traumatic for Mattie, Nathan said. Otherwise, she’s “quite happy” and was delighted to run on the beach where they camped last night. Mattie is at home on the Waltzing Matilda – too much so as she has developed an “attitude problem.” Mattie likes to lie on Nathan’s river charts and she gets mad when he pushes her off. Nathan says he’s fine with being alone on the boat and is learning to sail Waltzing Matilda singlehandedly.
Diesel fuel consumption has increased due to a line leak and Nathan’s plan was to get something in Pine Bluff to fix the fuel line.
He had me get a weather report for him from the internet, since he’s gotten skeptical of the NOAA weather radio reports he receives. Conditions in Southeast Arkansas and Southwest Mississippi look rainy for the next few days, I told him, with some thunderstorm possibility. As a result, Nathan said he’ll probably stay in the Pine Bluff area for awhile until the weather clears later in the week.
At the moment he has no choice. He’s stuck in the mud.