Missouri River Adventure with "Scout".
Jim Thompson of Boise, Idaho and Joe Humphreys of Amelia, VA left Fort Benton, MT on June 1 and arrived at Cooper's Landing, MO on July 1. Jim and Joe are going to the Gulf of Mexico. They are going by 16 foot Sea Ark aluminum Jon boat with a 25 hp Yamaha four stroke motor, carrying 6 six gallon gas cans. Their range is about 240 current aided miles. Jim and Joe are 63 years old with arthritic knees (one each), so anyone can do this. Trip highlights so far are all the helpful and friendly river people we've met.

WAYNE
WILLKOMM

“SeaCamper”

   I'm Wayne Willkomm, a river rat from the upper Mississippi river valley at Glen Haven,Wisconsin on my first trip down the Missouri River. My trip started on 7/29 at Mile 879 just below the Ft. Randall dam in my folding 12 foot dinghy with a 9.8 Hp motor. It worked very well in negotiating and running the shallow water sections from Ft. Randall to Running Water, SD and from there down to the west end of Lewis and Clark Lake.
    When I reached that large lake in the little dinghy, the light wind conditions made for a beautiful run down to the campground / marina at the east end. To paraphrase Hemmingway, the luck, she was running good, and so did I , all the way down the open lake. The next day, I ran the section below the Gavins Point Dam all the way down to the Sioux City Marina in the little dinghy. The legs around the James river and Mulberry Bend were as interesting as the upper sections at Niobara and Running Water. You really need to know how to read water to run these sections.
   At Sioux City, I folded up the little boat, put it up on the Seacamper houseboat, and launched the SeaCamper for the legs from Sioux City to the Cottonwood Marina (now called the Riverpark Marina) north of Blair, Nebraska, from there to the Sandpiper Cove at Omaha, from there to Brownville, Nebraska to tie behind the dock of the Spirit of Brownville, from there to the Sunset Grill at St. Joseph, Mo, from there to the Missouri River Boat Association at Parkville, from there to choke a tree at Brunswick four miles up the Grand River, and from there to Cooper's Landing.
   Tomorrow, I plan to run on down to Washington, MO to touch base with Jay Lemaire. From there, I will be going on down to the mouth of the Missouri, down through Lock 27 on the Mississippi to the little town of Kimmswick, where after a day or so of socializing, friends will take me to Lambert field , so I can fly back to Sioux City and pick up my tow vehicle and trailer. Then, I can get back home to prepare for a month and a half boat adventure among the Apostle Islands out on Lake Superior in early fall.
   It has really been enjoyable running the Missouri; I am a Lewis and Clark admirer, but not a fanatic. What I have wanted to do is learn about the Missouri and meet fellow river rats like myself. The Missouri river folks have been great and really good to me.
   I would heartily recommend a boat trip on the Missouri to anyone. Just use common sense, plan ahead, check for local knowledge, and know your limits.
   Good Luck and Steady Winds,   — Wayne