Today, Jeff and West paddled 61.3 miles. They feel real good about their progress today, although they are tired (of course).
We were hoping to have the Satellite Phones back in their hands by Saratov (tomorrow) but it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Early in the expedition, there was a glitch in the satellite phone service and we had to have new sim cards sent to Moscow. We are now waiting for the phones (which our team had sent to Moscow) to be picked up at the post office, sim cards replaced and then couriered to our boys somewhere on the river. In the meantime, we are using a Russian pre-paid phone. Minutes are very expensive, calling back to the US, and we have had some difficulty adding minutes. We have relied on our contacts in each town to do this for us and then we limit our conversations to just the basics. Throughout the entire expedition, this has been the only "glitch", at this point.
Tommorow they will arrive in Saratov. They may pick up a few supplies, hopefully add more minutes to the phone, and then move on.
--Barbara
