They boys paddled 52.1 miles today. That puts them past Tolyatti and well on their way to Samara. West said the dam was very tough to portage but they did not have any trouble at all. He said it was a great portage.
Tomorrow's plan is to stop in Samara for some supplies ie. water, and then keep going. They will be meeting up with Dmitry Paskow who will assist them in getting around town. He will have help in keeping an eye on the boats, if necessary. Once again, Stas from Rybinsk has been instrumental in helping make contacts down river. In addition, Alexander has continued to assist behind the scenes.
Something I didn't know until yesterday...I thought Stas Smirnov (Rybinsk) was friends with Stas (Ulyanovsk) and contacted him to help us. Well, Rybinsk Stas has never met or communicated with Uly Stas until he contacted him via the internet to help us on the expedition. They made many phone calls and emails with each other in order to get our team taken care of. Friendships are being made all over Russia and back to here in the States. Gotta love it!
--Barbara
