While at “Tall Stacks”, a Riverboat Festival in Cincinnati, OH, I met both Captains of the Chattanooga Star, Mike and Pete Hosemann. They told me about their operation with “Rivertrek” aboard the passenger vessel “Chattanooga Star” and said that they would love to have volunteer help to assist them with this nonprofit organization. They teach “awareness” of our river systems and try not to give an opinion; but, try to make people aware of the rivers, to get them get involved and let them form their own opinions. They do this by taking school kids on a journey and hope to educate them about our rivers and estuaries at an early age, which as Captain Mike says, “Is essential to our future”.
How could a Boat Captain turn down an offer like this! To learn more about the waters he has been traveling on for many years, what an experience!
I found out about small towns when I met the boat at Wewahitchka, FL. on the Apalachicola River. Our guest aboard for the day, Marilyn, was the local “Riverkeeper”. She told us about what the US Army Corps of Engineers had done by pumping sand into and out of the river. She explained how, in her mind, the Corps and others have damaged the river.
My learning experience started immediately. I learned that the Apalachicola River system drains about 2600 square miles of land surface area and the estuary drains another 208 square miles. It gets water from the Flint & Chipola Rivers. The Chipola, spring fed, runs into the Apalachicola below the Jim Woodruff Dam which lets the river run 106 miles unobstructed into the Gulf of Mexico near Apalachicola, FL. This vital estuary and other estuaries along the way are important not only to the public for recreation, drinking water, farming, boating, fishing; but, also the private sector that is building houses at the waters edge. Who has this right to this important water source? I don’t have an answer, but there are a lot of people who live and travel in this area that effect this vast estuary. They all need to be made aware of what they do to influence this system. " Apalachicola is a Hitchiti Indian word meaning 'people on the other side.' More than 80% of the state's oyster crop (10% of the nation's total) is cultivated in Apalachicola's more than 6,000 acres of oyster beds." I hope someone looks after the tasty oysters and shrimp crop that also need this clean water to survive in the Gulf around the Apalachicola River.
With Captain Mike and deckhand Tim, we traveled 40 miles down river to the town of Apalachicola, FL. We spent the night there and I had a chance to check on those famous Gulf oysters. After eating about 3 dozen I proclaimed that so far the water must be ok!
We moved the next morning and approached the area around Panama City where the locals depend on tourists. They also need clean water for recreation, fishing, drinking, and don’t forget the oysters. All this water makes you aware of the many wetlands that are important also as a spawning ground and nurseries for our commercial fish and shellfish.
Then, along the shores of Ft. Walton Beach where the beautiful white sand attracts tourists, developers want to put high rise buildings on this thin, fragile Barrier Island. Thanks to the Government, part of this Barrier Island is now a preserve and no more building will be permitted. This should help preserve several miles of beach and Barrier Island that is left untouched. Moving on, we cross about 15 miles of Pensacola Bay and enter the Escambia River, another important area that drains about 3800 sq. miles of surface area and is in all about 186 miles long.
Just as I am getting really involved, I had to leave at the Escambia River, leaving Capt. Mike and Tim with boat maintenance. Another crew change and Capt. Pete is back, and with him, the return of the school kids, riding aboard the “Chattanooga Star” down the local rivers and estuaries.
This short trip has made me aware of how many things could effect the water. It also made me go to the Internet and investigate information about our estuaries and how I could help protect them. We have got to keep eating those great Gulf oysters & shrimp!
I can’t wait to get back aboard the “Chattanooga Star” later this Spring for a trip with the school kids when they get their first trip along on of the small rivers and estuaries to which “Rivertrek” travels. A news article aboard the boat says it all “The Rivers are our past, and they are also our future”.
Thanks “Rivertrek” for taking me aboard and making me aware!