I will make this simple for you. I used a Waters Dancing Lightning 17 (17" long, 24 1/2" beam) to paddle 2200-kms along the North Saskatchewan River here in Canada. The kayak held enough gear and equipment to keep me going for a maximum of 30-35 days unsupported. The gear included all camping needs, cooking needs, water needs (Sweetwater filter), and emergency equipment including GPS, maps, spare paddle, wilderness first aid kit, kayak repair kit, flares, camera, bear bangers, bear spray, extra ropes...you name it, I probably had it with me...even a kayak cart for portaging around dams. I never had a problem as far as safety went. The loaded kayak handled rough water extremely well and was easy to maneuver when necessary. Any well designed kayak will do this for you. Bear in mind the WD Lightning 17 has lots of storage space front and back. I also tucked my water proof electronics case in the cockpit in front of my feet...there was just enough space for it there. With a loaded kayak you won't get good speed over a sustained period no matter what you do...you just get too tired to care about speed. In the end, you will spend more time maintaining a slow steady pace over a long period of time...that is how you can reduce the number of days that you are on the water.

A few years back I dreamed of paddling the Mississippi...good to hear that someone is looking at making that trip happen. I figure that some day I will indeed do the trip now that my cross-Canada tour is completed. I hope that if you do get this trip a happening, you will take lots of pictures and do one heck of a write-up: I will be watching for it.

Robert N Pruden