Envisioning a ninety-day adventure, Thompson’s Station residents Trapper and Mandy Haskins embarked on a daring quest in the summer of 2002 – to row the entire length of the Mississippi River, from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Trapper jokes, “Our ninety-day journey took sixteen years!”
Trapper's journey began long before their departure, during his time as a boat-building apprentice in Rockland, Maine. While immersed in the age-old craft of plank-on-frame boat construction, Trapper read about a Mississippi River yawl—an 18-foot rowboat fitted with a sail. He poured his heart and soul into building the rowboat, and a year and a half later, the Oxbow was ready to brave the waters of the Mississippi.
Their voyage began smoothly, but the challenges of dodging industrial traffic around Baton Rouge took a toll on their spirits and the once-thrilling adventure began to lose its luster. Trapper and Mandy reluctantly pulled their boat ashore in New Orleans, a mere one hundred miles shy of their goal.
Despite outwardly accepting their journey's end, Trapper felt a gnawing sense of incompleteness. “As I entered my 40s, I was desperate to reclaim the adventurer within, so I made the decision to finish the journey I set out all those years ago.” Trapper, Mandy, and their two children breathed new life into Oxbow’s weathered wood, reigniting Trapper’s faded dream.
“In 2018, in the exact spot we stopped years earlier, the Oxbow was once again afloat on the Mississippi but this time with our children on board,” Trapper explains. Each stroke of the oars brought them closer to their destination, but more importantly, closer to each other. Filled with tales of adventure, resilience, and unexpected challenges, Crooked Old River, details Haskins sixteen-year journey to the Gulf.
Available at Amazon.com or for signed copies, visit TrapperHaskins.com