The Adventures of Shatoosh and Pashmina: June 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

blog readers reply

29 June 2010 Tuesday

I'm still on Shatoosh, savoring every last minute I can muster. Last minute tweeking of a photo here and there. Some dieheart blog readers are reading as fast as I can post the events. Thank you all for your support and I am pleased you are enjoying our trip
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I hear from Too Tall that he is safe back home in California-"Very good job. A lot of work. A lot of detail. A lot of color. Sounds like the weather, in places, was not for Skol. I am almost recovered. In my Ford, I search the dash board for an indicator of depth and a safe place to park." Oh, Too Tall, you make me laugh so much.
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Hira: Thanks for your great blog! I have followed your trip enviously-- though I do not long to go 14.3 kts in Ms. Betttencourt. John in Augusta A25 #1117
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Thanks so much for sending the blog of your trip down the Snake & Columbia Rivers. I enjoyed reading your comments and the pictures are fantastic. What a neat adventure! Dave 1970 A-25 Ticaboo, Series 2 #575.
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Constance in Colorado:"Wow!!Thank you a zillion times for sharing...I learned so much!!Awe-struck actually. Your good natured blog w/photos did speak to your captain qualities.
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Jill Koch of Beamers Jetboat Tours in Clarkston Wa. "You are an inspiraton to me Hira...I look forward with enthusiasum to the time our paths meet again."
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Nan McGhee commented on your photo album:(Facebook page where all the photos are posted.)
Nan is one of my Scottish cousins.
"Hira ........... didn't Boyd Gilmour live near the Columbia River about 1850? Called one of his sons after it? Looks like a great trip........."
Hira repsonds:Yes Nan, Allan Columbia Gilmour was born on the mouth of the columbia as their ship ran aground in 1850. Mrs. Gilmour was pregnant when they left Scotland/London; they rounded the Horn then sailed to the Sandwich Islands(Hawaii), then to the Columbia River. A voyage lasting > 6 months. As they cruised up the river to Ft Vancouver, Mrs Gilmour's niece-in- law Mrs. Dunsmuir delivered a child, as well. I do not know how they did it. Running aground on the Columbia bar is more than enough to take but then having to deliver a child to boot, is just tooooo much.
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Larry Hirtzel: Fantastic photos Hira!!! Thanks for sharing. I'm a slow reader, but just finished reading your blog about the recent trip for the third time. Great stories and pictures. Just like being there without the wind, waves, and kidney thumping ride. So cool that you checked out all the duck-in places, too. Puget Sound, American and Canadian San Juans and points North will be a piece of cake. You stared the elephant in the eye and the elephant---Blinked.
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Patti Sparks Irvin commented on your photo album
"I've been thinking about you and your trip. Love the photos."
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Hells Canyon Visitor Bureau: "It's nice to hear you had a successful cruise - and that you enjoyed The Snake River. Please do let us know when you return our way - we look forward to it!"
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From Dan on Whiskyjack:
"Great job on the blog. You write with an easy-to-read style, enough detail to keep the reader engaged and wanting more but no so much detail that one gets bored. The overtones of the trip make me think that this was somewhat of a slog. It definitely was not the idyllic, gentle, “glide into the sunset.” I know from experience that the short, steep, confused wind waves, the kind 1formed when the wind blows against the current can be real drudgery. They can also make you tired ‘cause you can never fully relax. You have to be always ready for Mr. Wave’s next punch. However, for a Texas cowgirl, this should be a piece of cake, as it is not unlike the constant motion of riding a horse, don’t you think?"
Hira responds: horse???, more like the brahma bull.
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Carol Warren in Florida writes:

Hira,
So sad to hear the cruise is over....I have enjoyed following along. The photos are beautiful. I like all the detail you give. Guess I need to work on mine[blog] a bit more. So where are you off to now?
Carol & Jim
A 27 Slow Motion
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Carol Bee, Bellingham, Wa...a recent new crew member:
Bravo, Hira! My goodness, what a nerve-wracking, exhausting, beautiful, heroic journey you made! I finished reading the blog just a couple days ago and was mightily impressed again with your writing, the photos, the challenges and your determination to meet them, your technological and nautical prowess, and all the preparation and planning that I know went into creating your success. Having had a tiny taste of being crew on Shatoosh, I have to hand it to Ann too, who obviously endured some rough spots but was so dedicated and finally triumphed in getting the lines right in your last locks! Also really liked your long list of gratitudes--so many wonderful beings, seen and unseen, who helped smooth and enliven your way. Too Tall sounded like a terrific guy--hope I get to meet him someday. I'm sure it was a hard day when he decided to leave, but he was wise to know his limits and not get into trouble by trying to push on.
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Bambi from San Antonio says: I haven't told you how much I enjoyed going down the Snake river with you. Your narrative and pictures makes me feel like I'm right there on the boat with you. You did good.
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Monday, June 28, 2010

Gratitude

I have been posting the cruise for 2 days now and it is all up. I think the photos are incredible, the journey fabulous, but not an easy one. I have been in worse weather with following seas on Shatoosh, but I have never had to stay at the helm for so many hours in such confused head seas. There was no order in them at all, except for the long, gentle rollers which preceded the heavy wind patterns and confused seas. It is always hard to estimate the wind when you are enclosed in a cabin(thank heaven), but I would estimate the larger gusts to be over 25mph and the largest waves perhaps 5-6 ft.at the very most with the average 3-4 fters.
I am grateful for many things and for many people who helped me complete this adventure safely.

1. Thank you Dan on Whiskyjack, who encouraged me to convert my mini net book to a GPS Plotter. It worked really well, after I figured out how to use it. Now, I can't imagine not using it. Thank you for teaching me how to insert charts into my blog using paint. It has added another dimension to the blog.
2. Thank you Hell's Canyon Visitor Bureau for contacting me and pointing me in all the right directions.
I'm sorry that I was unable to meet you in person and now that I won't be driving back up there I won't meet you on the return trip. Perhaps I will return again.
3. Jill Koch at Beamers Jet Boat Tours: for helping give Too Tall a place to park his truck and
Trailer and for providing such a wonderful jet boat tour. I want to return for the full day trip.
4. Jock, the owner of Hells Canyon Marina and RV Resort: Who is the friendly guy who helped in many ways, even staying late one evening so we could have a hot tub and work on our sore muscles and tired bodies.
5. Boyer Marina: first night after locking down. The showers were great and the view spectacular with all the white pelicans flying overhead. I could have stayed another day.
6.. Lyons Ferry and KOA:The best hamburger ever! Thanks for the friendly service and the covered slip.
7. Charbonneau Marina: the slip was great, the sunrise unbelievable.
8. Sacajawea State Park and Interpretive Center The museum was awesome and the marina quaint. I loved every minute.
9. The Walla Walla Yacht Club: Your generous hospitality was timely to say the least. From making coffee, to giving us a tour, offering showers, telling us history and stories, allowing us a free run of the place, giving us buns for our sandwiches and letting Ann and Too Tall have a nap on your couches. Everyone was great, even Ruger who escorted us around the grounds.Thank you a million for dock space to wait out the wind and for me to check my engine. May the winds keep all your sails full.
10. Bob the harbor master at Umatilla: Thanks for all your help, getting us keys, sharing your military history on board the Glass, CG Cutter. Thanks for giving us the slips and for helping Too Tall on his return
11. Thank you Linda, Pam and Dale, Jan and Jim for cooking us such a wonderful dinner while docked in Umatilla. It was another life saver. Linda- thanks for taking us to the grocery store.
12.To all of the 8 Lock Masters: Everyone was so polite and accommodating to us. You men and women are a special breed of folks who provide a very valuable service to commerce, as well as, us Rec Boaters.
13. To Ann and Too Tall. A special note of gratitude for you both. It was fun being with you again and having you join in my adventure. It was a beautiful journey and thank you for being there with me.I loved being with you both.
14. Last, but not least: Tim Kirkpatrick of Norgard-Kirkpatrick Boat Hauling in Scappoose, Oregon
For without him this trip would not have been possible. His expert handling of Shatoosh in hauling her out and launching her in Clarkston, Wa was effortless. He provides a valuable service. Use him on your next trip.
Kirkpatricks.qwestoffice.net
15. I want to thank all those beautiful little docks which appeared out of nowhere to welcome us get out of the wind or wait for a lockage. We always enjoyed our coffee break and nap on them.
16. Boy,oh boy, I am so grateful for Shatoosh and Pashmina. They are the best boats ever. What would I do without them?
17. I am very grateful for all the great beings who watch over me and guide me taking me to a higher level of awareness and consciousness. As a result of being pushed to all new levels and heights, my confidence level
has increased to an all time high and my appreciation of this earth's beauty is unquestionably changed.

Taking Stock

26 June 2010: Saturday

Ann helps figure engine hours in actual time, as my clock on the engine always runs faster than real time. According to my engine hours log book it says we have run 66.5 hours, while computing all the hours the engine ran from the log book it reads 61.25hrs.
Total Mileage: 368nm
Fuel: 29 gallons; averaging 12 miles per gallon and using only .475 gal per hour. Total cost: $104.00
Food : $ 291--Too Tall pitched in money for food as we fed him lunch and dinner. He only ate one MRE
Moorage: $134
Fuel: $104
Trucking shatoosh to Clarkston WA: $1700
Jet Boat Tour $95
Total expenses: $2428

Government Island to Scappoose Moorage

26 June 2010: Saturday

We cast off our lines at 0930hrs and begin the final leg of this great adventure. I give Ann the helm again to steer the range markers into Portland where we pass numerous ships from foreign ports: Hong Kong, Panama, Valleta. We are in big tug country, so we run across the Katherine B for the 3rd time. She was in the locks with us at Lower Granite Dam, then saw her at The Dalles, now here near the mouth of the Willamette River. The Outlaw is tied up and we have seen him before as we came out of the Dalles Dam.

We enter the Willamette River at 1050 and I have Ann slow down so I can disperse holy water at the confluence. We don't get a photo as my battery is low. There are several ships docked on the Willamette hailing from Panama and Valleta.

At 1110 we enter the Multnomah Channel to starboard and continue down to Hadley's Landing and tie up for our last sandwich and apple. We eat and run, arriving at Scappoose Moorage at 1330. Ann treats me to a wonderful Mexican dinner at the local cafe
Days run 23nm
Total 368nm

Rooster Rock to Government Island

25 June 2010: Friday
Today is a special day to celebrate our trip, so I'm fixing french toast for breakfast. As I am cooking I discover a new double duty trick. I place the syrup in the hot water kettle to warm it up. How clever is that?

We re-dock Shatoosh from the lagoon dock to one of the land docks, so we can visit the head. There is an abundance of cotton wood blowing, so I pick up a snowball sized one, along with a stranding of seeds. It is light as a feather but the heat coming off it really something.

We depart the dock and motor over to the edge of the lagoon to show Ann some of the basalt.

We depart Rooster Rock at 1045, and meet the Columbia River at the jetty's edge. We are still under the influence of the Bonneville dam spillway and are making 9,2k at Reed Island and 11.1k as we make a turn to port at Washougal. For the last few days Ann has been able to steer really well using all the ranges, so I let her stay at the helm. We pull into the new dock on Government Island sm 114 which has over a 1,000ft of dock space. Lewis and Clark stayed here but called it Diamond Island. It became government island when the horses at Ft Vancouver were stabled here..Today there will be 2 GI girls staying on GIsland. We arrive 1225, eat a bite of lunch, put the flags back up and continue with some little chores. A boat pulls in and a couple comes over who I haven't run into for 5 years. They have a larger boat now. Jerry and Diane on Hallelujah, so we have a nice chat. Then Hira goes below.......for a nap in the lovely sun.

We finish the evening with a full moon and then to bed.

Days run 12nm

Total 345nm

Hood River to Rooster Rock via the 8th and Final Dam-The Bonneville

24 June 2010: Thursday Happy Birthday Gurumayi
0730 hrs I move the boat over to the fuel dock and Ann goes to the Chevron Station and gets ice. She notifies them that we need fuel as soon as possible. A young man comes running over and I take on 12 gallons at a whopping price of $4.99/gal. I have never seen a price like that.

We have put on our commemorative T shirts I had made

We get a good view of Mt Hood

There are no wind surfers out this morning and the wind is out of the NW again so I hug the Wa shoreline. It is not long before the wind is blowing hard and the waves cause the bell to ring, and ring. I short tack Shatoosh down river and stay as close to shore as I can but there are numerous Indian fishing nets laid out and buoys.

0925 hrs we approach Drano Lake which I want to explore.Little White Salmon River flows into this lake. the name of Drano is from a previous owner in the area.

The chart plotter puts us inside the lake just behind the small point.

Hira changes into cooler clothes and marks chart with notes.

Looking up Drano Lake

We exit Drano Lake at 0950 hrs and go under the train trestle just as a train zooms over us.

The winds continues to pick up and the waves build. Our ship's bell is ringing constantly and I loose track of the consecutive numbers; 4 for certain and maybe 6. I'm standing at the helm, right hand on the throttle and left on the helm. My body is wedged on the starboard side and I'm leaning forward a much as I can to see through the spray and wiper areas. These fishing nets appear out of the blue, so being vigilant is necessary.

At 1130 hrs we are at Cascade locks. These locks originally helped people go over the cascade falls, which gave Lewis and Clark a hard time. When Bonneville was built Cascade locks were covered with water, along with the falls.Today there is a marina and an old Stern wheeler which takes tourists out.

The water is flattening out but our speed is now up to 10.9k We pass under the Bridge of the Gods which spans 555 feet across the narrow gorge. The Portland Jet boat Outrageous passes us going up to Cascade and respectfully slows down not to create a big wake for us. I wave to him and his boat has several tourists on board.

I call the Bonneville Lock Master and alert him for a 1230 lockage.He suggests we tie up and wait at Cascade, but I'm downriver of that and not interested tying up with this current, so head down into a well protected area that a small island blocks the wind. Hwy 84 is to port. The Bonneville Dam and lock is unique in that there are several sections and the spillway is between Bradford island and Cascade island and the lock is between the Oregon shore and Robins island. We are holding steady behind Bradford island and where Eagle creek enters.

The lock master sees me through his binoculars and calls me up. He says that he will lower the back gates and let me in early so that I can tie up on bollard number 8(which is on the port side) and the last bollard in the lock. This way he says I can get out of the wind. He sounds like an older grandfather type and is really easy going. Another boon. How fortunate we are.

I have been coaching and re coaching Ann at each lock and dam on how to tie the lines up. This is the last lock and she has been hoping, as well as I, that she can get it right on the first go-round. This morning upon waking she peers out of the aft cabin with a sheepish grin on her face, telling me she has gotten the line sequence correct. I ask how she has figured out her method and she goes into a very complicated, for me, method to remember. What ever works....We are about to see.. When we get deep into the locks I always lose the gps signal and it continues to beep until we exit. Well, after all these locks, I figure Ann loses her signal as well, and can't remember what to do. At 1200 the back gates go down and we are cleared to enter. Slowly I proceed to number 8 bollard and slow down putting Ann directly next to the bollard. She slips the white mid-ship line over the bollard(which is a different configuration than all the other lock bollards) and cleats it to the boat. Then she takes the forward blue line attaching it to the bollard and then places the aft blue line to the bollard. Hurray, hurray she has gotten it right!!!! I'm ecstatic, when I call the lockmaster that we are SECURE. I give Ann the high sign and she is grinning and laughing. I pass her half of an apple and a granola bar for an award( lunch) while we are waiting. Some tourists look over the edge and peer down on us and ask Ann what we are doing. She says we are waiting to lock down and they, of course, are clueless as to what that means. She explains like a seasoned lock veteran!

The chart plotter has us positioned right in front of the gate.

We are in the lock for an hour total time with a 30 minute very slow ride down, stopping at various levels. Shatoosh, Pashmina and Hira are champing at the bit as this will be a wild, fast ride out of the gates. I feel like a jockey about to win the Triple Crown. The gate opens at 1300 hrs and Beacon Rock in directly ahead. When we pass Beacon Rock I will close my cruising loop. Lewis and Clark called it Beaten Rock. There are head winds ahead and minutes after we hit the spillway water our speed escalates to 14.3 k

This is my all time fastest speed in a slow boat.

As we turn to port and follow the Columbia gorge down a Rainbow appears.

It is upside down like a smiley face. How auspicious, is that?

My inner smile is matching my outer smile.

SPACEWEATHER.COM has a beautiful picture of an upside-down rainbow. To quote: “The technical name for this phenomenon is circumzenithal arc or "CZA" for short--and it's no rainbow. CZAs are formed by sunlight shining through plate-shaped ice crystals in high clouds.”

Beacon Rock is off to starboard.

It is 1330 hrs and we are zipping down river, there is a slight upriver breeze and it is a little bumpy, but nothing to complain about. We have just finished running the Snake River and are on the downhill run to the beginning of the Gorge at Cape Horn. Funny, this can be a bad weather point, but today it will be sunny and I feel it is the best portion of the Columbia river for beauty. The large Multnomah Falls are to port, but we are bypassing it, heading straight for Cape Horn.

A closer look

Looking at the end of Cape Horn from the stern.

We turn our bow towards Rooster Rock State Park and Crown Point.

Hira is a happy skipper tied up in Rooster Rock and Ann is a happy crew.

After docking 1505 hrs we begin to remove locking lines and fenders, take the extra tie-downs off Pashmina, clean up the carpets with a whisk broom, and replace all the old bandaids on the boat bites(Ann has 4).

I check the wind site for what the winds did today at Hood River and Bonneville:

You can see that at Hood River from 8-10 am the winds were between 9 and 5 mph with gusts from 21 to13mph.

While at the Bonneville dam from 12-2pm the wind speeds were 8-12mph with gusts from 18-22mph.

We have a nice dinner and a wonderful sunset to view.

Days run 38 nm

Total 333nm

Philippi Park John Day River to Hood River: 2 Dam Day & 2 Grounding Day

23 June 2010 Wednesday

One last trip to the restroom reveals a sweet morning picture: We cast our lines off at 0730 hrs and gently move through the 6 ft shoaling at the entrance and true to V-8 Hot dog the river gets deep again and we see more wind generators atop the grassy hills.

We pass a trio of early morning fisher people who had camped on the point next to the marina last night.

They were in a confluence of a small creek and the shallow water was boiling with fish rolling. About 40 white pelicans were there as well. Later, on the return trip we stopped to talk with them. The fish were carp spawning and the catfish and the pelicans like to eat the fish. They were catfish fisherman.

We venture further up river going slow and I am watching the depth sounder like an eagle watches a salmon.

I need to look at the insert on this river as it is not in my computer. I leaning over to see what this island is ahead of us and where it is on the mileage markers. Just then I feel us come to a slow halt and then bump as the deepest part of the boat hits a mud bank. I am in reverse in a nano second, but it takes some power to get off. I try to turn over to starboard and see grass and hit again. I'm gunning it until I am clear of the whole mess and turn to port and high tail it down river. I check the water filter and there is a little grass and I have clean water going into the engine. We are at the 10 mile mark at the island.

I engage in a conversation with Ann about what we would do if I couldn't get off with the engine. I'd put Pashmina in the water and float back down to the fishermen and have them give me a pull off with their big engine. With that said, they had weighed anchor and was heading up our way to fish higher up the river. They said they hit a rock the day before farther up.

We have explored enough for one morning and we need to get to the John Day Dam by 0930 for the lockage.

We are standing by at 0918 and Mt Hood is glorious. Ann used to work at Timberline lodge and skied there for many years. For some reason we have to wait for the lock to be ready and don't enter until about 1000hrs.

We are secure at 1010 hrs.

The John Day Dam is the deepest lockage at 105 feet.

The lock door opens high enough for us to exit at 1043 hrs.

We pass Miller Island at 1135 and view the hundreds of gulls and pelicans. The shores are very rocky so I stay off.

These basalt columns have have a wavy pattern in them.

Several more interesting basalt cliffs.

We begin to see some evergreens in the cliffs as we get closer to the gorge.

We pass our first upriver cruising yacht which is about a 45 footer at 1251 hrs. He would have gone through The Dalles Lock at the 1200 lockage. We are settling in and making good time down river but will have to lay over somewhere to wait for the 1530 lockage. I can't find anything on the chart.We poke our nose into a tiny crevice just above the dam but I'm not in the mood to anchor in such close quarters, plus there are Indian fishing buoys that I don't care to get tangled up in. We get closer to the Dalles dam and with the binocs I can see a nice dock that we can tie up to just next to the lock staging area. Another boon for us. I call the lock master at 1315 hrs and notify him of our intention to tie up and wait for the 1530 lockage. We tie up and notice a toilet on shore which we will use and rest up a bit. In 10 minutes the lock master calls us and says there is a downriver tug and barge wanting to lock up and since he has to dump the water for him we might as well ride the dumping water down. Another boon. What luck we are having--grace in always flowing with the river. We miss our toilet trip and rest but it is well worth the chance for an early lockage. We untie and enter the lock at 1340 and are secure in 5 minutes. At 1405 we are out of the lock zooming along at 10.2 k where we pass the upriver Tug-The Outlaw.

We decide to bypass the Dalles marina and head for Hood river marina. We adjust our ETA to Hood River at 1630hrs. The wind is picking up and it is beginning to get bumpy. We are in the Columbia River gorge from here on down. The river narrows, the winds pick up and make it difficult for everyone but the wind surfers and the sail boarders. This is the location for all the international championships. We arrive at the Hood River marina at 1624hrs and can see hundreds of wind surfers off in the distance. I'm told they don't arrive until they have 13 mph winds. We have made 7 k against the wind and waves and with the current on our stern we have had a long but exciting day. 2 dams and 2 groundings and Shatoosh is just chugging along.

We tieup at the fuel dock and call the local station to come, but the attendent had to go home sick. There won't be another opportunity until 0945 in the morning. Wow, that alters our plans, as I wanted to get a dawn jump-start on the gorge. We pump out the head. and find a place on the guest dock. the marina is filled with sailboats and we get to see the evening races take place. Ann and I cross the road and have dinner at McDonalds and splurge on a chocolate dipped ice cream for dessert. We go into theShell station and speak with the manager who we had talked to on the phone. She tells us the Chevron station across the street also covers the fuel dock. We go there and find that his fuel man will be there at 0800 hrs. This is better for us.

days run 50nm

total: 295nm

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Crow Butte to John Day River and Philippi Park.

22 June 2010 Tuesday

0524 hrs: Everyone is up early and ready to go as the sun rises. I give Too Tall a big hug and bless his journey up river to Umatilla, where he hopes to get a rental car and get to Clarkston and pick up his truck and trailer.

I thank him and tell him how much we will miss his delightful humor, his inquisitive mind, his kindness and thoughtfullness in assisting us in shallow waters and docking in windy marinas. Next year, when I call and want to know what his cruising plans are, I hope he will tell me about a larger boat he owns and that he will join me in the north country of Puget Sound and Vancouver Island area.

We jointly depart the marina with the sun rising over the mountain top and in no time he is around the corner and out of sight. Ann and I continue down river hugging the Wa. Shoreline. We see wind generators off on the Oregon mountain tops. We are averaging over 7 k with some wind and 1 bell waves occationally, but we need to press on to get Arlington to our stern before the wind hits us again.

By 0735 Roosevelt is on our stern and I don’t bother checking out the Arlington marina on the Oregon side.

We have cleared last week’s winner of “wind hell holes on the columbia.” See below for 10 June 2010 for Roosevelt wind.

In another hour we slow down to pass Chapman Creek which has an interesting Basalt cliff entrance and a small lagoon. Normally I would investigate this but farther down is a larger lagoon that I want to check out.

At sm 230 and 0920 we enter the tree lined basalt walled entrance to Rock Creek..

What a beautiful lagoon and we motor to the back edge. This would be a great anchorage. We take a little break, drink some water and drift a while. I put some shorts on and remove my long sleeved shirt.

Exiting Rock Creek

We move on at 1000 and have 1 foot waves and less than 3 k of wind from the NW. We cross over to the Oregon side and run along the shore looking at all the cliffs of basalt. Too Tall calls and updates his upriver travels: HE HAS ARRIVED AT UMATILLA, BUT RAN AGROUND ON A GRAVEL SHOAL.Having such long legs, he just stepped out of the boat and shoved her off the bar. He stated the hardest part was having the sun in his eyes going up river all morning. He isn't able to get a car in Umatilla and has to go to Pasco Wa on thur pick up the car and then turn it in in Lewiston Id.

At 1115 we enter the John Day River and get a wonderful view of Mt Hood .

Just inside is Lepage State Park, named after private Lepage of the Corps of Discovery. We continue up the river to Philippi Park arriving at 1200. We take a nice shower and a fisherman states he saw a large rattler in the grass so we are careful where we walk.

I watched a large buck run across the entire plateau not long after our arrival.

the park is an oasis in the desert hills

A water ski boat pulls in and the guy comes over wanting to know how we discovered his park. I tell its River talk from friends. He offers us a V-8 hot dog, but we had just eaten our durable turkey sandwich. A V-8 hot dog is cooked on his V-8 engine and he tells us he has raised all his kids on V-8 hot dogs. He also shares that in spite of the 6 ft water at the entrance to the park there is 10 ft of water to about 10 miles. Even if you run aground he says, it’s all mud, so just back off. Words of wisdom that will be helpful.