Local man will kayak to Mobile as fundraiser
Vail kayaking to Mobile Bay to help disabled veterans
Next Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., Lookout Mountain resident Fred Vail will shove off from the north shore of the Tennessee River under the Market Street Bridge in his 18-foot sea kayak.
Thus he’ll begin a 740-mile trip to Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. He projects it will take six to eight weeks by way of the Tennessee River and the Tombigbee, and it will include passage through 16 sets of locks and camping at night on riverbanks.
The wiry 60-year-old is doing it not only to fulfill a longtime dream but more significantly to raise money and awareness for the nonprofit organization Team River Runner.
TRR teaches adaptive cycling to military veterans with disabilities, and it doesn’t cost them or their families anything. But money for the work has to come from somewhere, and Vail is hoping $100,000 comes from people paying attention to his long paddle. He particularly wants a corporate sponsor to emerge.
Individuals, companies and other organizations can donate to TRR through his website, dawg.life, which also will run an ongoing blog from his trip.
“I shot high with the goal of $100,000, but this trip is not about me, it’s about the organization,” Vail said this week. “To me it’s in honor of veterans who’ve paid the price for this country and for freedom. And 100 percent of what comes in goes straight to TRR.”
He already has paid for the trip, with food and supplies he’ll need already purchased and drop-offs at marinas along the way arranged. And as of Monday $4,000 had been donated for TRR.
Team River Runner has 51 chapters in 31 states with more than 2,100 disabled veterans participating in more than 1,850 paddling activities and more than 500 volunteers, according to Vail, who has been a member of the Chattanooga chapter since its 2013 inception.
He is not a military veteran, but his dad was in the United States Navy and several uncles served in the Navy and various divisions of the Army. A Chattanooga native who graduated from East Ridge High School in 1974 and retired from the Orange Grove Center in 2014, Vail has worked with the city in teaching adaptive kayaking, rock climbing and cycling to people — school-age and up — with physical and emotional abilities for more than 10 years.
Debbie and Jerry Hightower from the Sports, Arts & Recreation of Chattanooga chapter of Disabled Sports USA hold Vail in high regard.
“He’s been one of our water ski volunteers for 15 years at least, and he’s a tandem pilot in our cycling program,” Jerry said. “He’s a very, very hard worker and a really good guy.”
A local veteran and paraplegic, David Cunningham, plans to accompany Vail for the first 34 miles — to Haletown.
Throughout a lifetime of camping, fishing, canoeing, rock climbing and other outdoors activities, Vail never has taken a kayak for more than a day trip, so the journey to the Gulf of Mexico “was a hard sale to my family,” he admitted. But he reminded his wife that he faced more danger during the 15 years he helped with humanitarian aid in South America — and had no phone contact — and he assured her that “we’ll talk every day I have phone service.”
His Stellar S18 Advantage boat — he has another sea kayak plus five white-water kayaks — is named the Lillian Elizabeth for his 8-month-old granddaughter.
“I’ll be carrying three cellphones and enough battery backup to get 40 charges for all three,” Vail explained, “and I’ll be carrying enough food for 20 days and I’ll be resupplied with food every 14-16 days. I’ll have water filters so I can use water out of the river if need be.
“I do have running lights but do not plan on being on the river in the dark. You have to plan for everything that might go wrong, so I also have a rescue link (connection to a satellite) like the military uses. And I’m registered so they’ll know who I am as soon as they get a signal.”
He’ll also have two weather apps tracking him and providing warnings if storms are within two hours of his location.
“The most dangerous part is crossing Mobile Bay,” he said. “I’ve crossed it twice in a yacht, and storms can come up very quickly there.”
The Mobile chapter of TRR is working on a possible ceremony for him at the USS Alabama and an escort across the bay.
“I’ve long had conversations with kayakers: Can you go to the ocean from here? It’s something I’ve thought about for more than 30 years,” Vail said.
The thought became a project six months ago, on his way home from TRR’s weeklong set of motivational speeches and kayak/snorkeling adventures in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Vail was chosen to represent the Chattanooga chapter, and he was deeply inspired to respond to the challenge coin — TRR has one like the five branches of the U.S. military each has — he brought home.
“They challenged me to come back and grow my chapter,” Vail related. “On the flight home I decided to do something to make people aware of Team River Runner. I believe in the program and want more disabled veterans to be able to take part.
“After I decided to make this trip, I studied for four hours a night for over two months — studying expedition kayaking and related topics — and now I’m ready to go.”
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@times freepress.com or 423-757-6291.