boating the entire length of the Red River

I wanted to do this when I was in college, But do it in a Canoe


Edit. Only wanted to go to Shreveport though.

On the pontoon

who's going to bring your trailer to Simmesport to pull you out?

Given my white knuckle trips with Alx in his bass boat, I doubt it would take more than a week, though not sure you could get fuel on the river in enough spots to really accomplish this. In fact, i'm not aware of any location from Shreveport down where there is a fuel pump on the river or accessible without pulling the boat out of the water.

The Red River starts in far NW Texas/SW Oklahoma and is no more than a few inches to a few feet deep for much of its upper course. You'd need a canoe and be prepared to portage at times. Texoma is only about the halfway point.

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Something like Faxis' sailboat or something like that where you can get up and walk around, stretch your legs

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LOL! I was actually the first and probably only sailboat to ever lock through #5. Sailing on Red River is NOT enjoyable. It's work and it's dangerous as hell because you are constantly having to sail trim to get maximum speed when working with the current, and you've got no room to maneuver. We had to tack through a low water dam above Cash Point heading south and thought we were fine till we had to actually tack and discovered that while we were making great speed across the ground, we weren't making enough across the rudder for it to bite. Almost smashed it into a bunch of rocks before we got her turned. and going upriver is even more dangerous because you've normally got southerlies funneling up but you have to stay close to the channel so it's even more intense. Screw up and you accidentally jibe. I actually had my boom in the water at one point around the Jimmy Davis Bridge with no control.

Do NOT recommend. But we sure got some looks.

It's a great ride. No noise other than water. But it takes forever. From the lock to Stoner Ave boat launch was something like 12 hours sailing north. I think if I was serious about going south from here on the river I'd probably keep the sails down and just use the motor to maneuver every now and then and drift the rest of the time.

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great loop

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wow interesting stuff on wiki. Looks like a fun trip when you retire.

I think i would choose the Tennessee river / tom bigbee route over continuing down the mississippi through NO way.

Whats the line coming down western Alabama from Illinois to the gulf?