Day's 18, 19 & 20

Saturday day 18 started out in New Harmony. The roll over skirt was used for the first time and worked great. The sponge that's being kept below to soak up any excess water is working well. Working harder then Wilson, that's for sure.

Uncle Keith reports that Captain Ned stopped in Hudsonville...not to be confused with Hutsonville. Now it's not that I don't believe my Uncle Keith, I trust him with my life, but I cant find that damn place anywhere on the map. I looked everywhere...even that popular web search engine I mentioned before that sounds like bugle and starts with a G.

Anyway, the cell signal on day 18 was very poor. No major bars could be found...for drinking or talking. You can thank Keith for that little funny, it came straight from the inner family email. He's the only one who talked to Capt. Ned on Saturday.

Sunday day 19 was the beginning of new life for 'Ol Ned. The Captain has left the Wabash and is now on the Ohio River. Captain Ned and I played phone tag several times on Sunday but we never actually spoke. He ended up leaving me a message that said he was in Old Shawneetown, IL. Keith is the lucky one who actually spoke with him Sunday. The captain said the water is clearer but also rougher. Battling the wind a bit, but nothing he cant handle.

Captain Ned's original plan was to stop and set up camp where the "Rainbow's End" moored together with "Prancer" a couple years back. This spot is just south of where the Wabash and Ohio River's meet. I believe this may be the spot where these two boat's met in the water for the first time...but don't quote me on that.

"Prancer" is the name of my Uncle Dave's boat. Uncle Dave built "Prancer" in his back yard in Monroeville, Indiana. "Prancer" is bigger then the "Rainbow's End" but they both share the same thing...the love and determination of a Mott dream.

David M. Mott, Ned and Keith's brother and best friend passed away 2/15/2007. Dave is the father to Larry and Gary.

Okay...quick story...people always try to come up with new & different ways of doing things with the ashes of loved ones. Well...like it or not, these were Dave's wishes and you can damn sure bet we carried them out. Dave wanted to be mixed in with some paint and painted onto "Prancer". David M. Mott's wishes were carried out and he will now forever travel with his nautical dream.

I'll see what I can do about getting the picture of the "Rainbow's End" and "Prancer" together at this point. It's a beautiful picture. We may have to wait until Captain Ned gets home to Tarpon Springs, FL. I can however post a picture of "Prancer" when Larry and Gary had the painting party and painted Dave's ass...shes onto his boat. They did the painting and I showed up for the party.

Back to Captain Ned, the site where the brother's boats were tied together, there was no place to camp. It was under water. As is the camp site where he stayed just a few days ago and was interviewed by Tom Compton, the Hutsonville, IL reporter. I got an email from Tom on Sunday stating that they ran the story on Capt. Ned in their Saturday's paper. Check it out...go to the Robinson Daily News... http://www.robdailynews.com/ . The title of the story is "The Adventures of Captain Ned on the Wabash". It's a good read. Thanks Tom.

Monday day 20 - Unfortunately no one, including JR over at the shipyard in Tarpon Springs has had contact with Captain Ned since Sunday, so we don't actually know where he currently resides. But not to worry, Ned is a "Captain" and knows how to read the water. JR said that when he talked to him, which was just before Ned hit the Ohio River, Ned said once he got onto the Ohio he was going to hold up somewhere, ride out the storms and let the river fall a bit.

I'll bet he's still in Old Shawneetown, IL ripping the lid off of a few "gold tops" the with a Larry style cell signal, saying damn the bad luck. I'll let you know as soon as we hear something.