Atchafalaya

Sunday, July 04, 2004

We got all the buoys hung out. God knows if they're still there or not. We cooked up a sort of modular system so we could toss them over the side without any serious prep; just hook the weights on one end, the buoy on the other, and drop it.
We hung a bunch, then came back later to find a couple of them had drifted upriver. It's a mystery. We dragged them to shallower water.
I don't think the buoys are going to be enough. We've got eight left, but the gap is about a half-mile between each. This part of the Basin is pretty straightforward. Some parts of the Basin are wide, full of trees, easy to get lost. This is mostly a pretty clear channel with cypress on the west and willows on the east. The willows are a sign the Basin is filling in. They're the first trees to spring up on new ground, so you see them in successive layers in places like riverbends or channel mouths where new sediment is piling up.
So this stretch is pretty easy, but there are still a couple of spots where it gets tricky, where several bayous come together. So we're going to get some pole-style markers to add to the buoys. They'll be easier to handle.

James 7:57 AM [+]
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