Hello,
Thanks for all the nice words from all of you. It is a great feeling
to know so many people were worried about me. It is not great you
were worried, but it is great for me to know how many of you care. I
just added an update to my web site which I also enclosed below.


Tuesday September 13, 2005
This update comes from Demopolis Alabama. July 31 marked exactly one
year to the day since this trip began in Cleveland, Ohio. The new
year started out with a great stop in Mobile Al. Bob Wylly helped
set up an MS awareness stop at the dog river marina on the Mobile
bay. Bob's nephew Austin lives on the east side of the bay and Bob
arranged for Austin to come and pick me up and Bob sent Austin a
check so he could take me out to a nice restaurant. The dog river
marina told Bob I could keep my canoe at the marina during my stay.
Because of scheduling conflicts I was unable to meet with local MS
society but did meet with the local T.V station.
After leaving Mobile things started to go down hill fast. During the
first year of paddling I never got sick or had any health problems
other than a few minor nagging injuries and frostbite. A question
people often ask is "have you ever gotten sick on the trip?" The
answer has always been no, but That was all about to change. I was
so happy to be paddling on the Tom Bigbee waterway gone were the
days of big bays, oceans, and tides. The temp is about five to ten
degrees higher inland than on the coast. The humidity is very high
which drives up the heat index to sometimes over 110 degrees. On a
hot day nothing hits the spot like cold lemonade, ice tea, or water.
Paddling in the extreme heat with no way to keep water cold warm
water is all I have to drink. Warm water does not quench thirst like
ice cold water. I always had the same feeling no matter how much
water I drank. To fight the extreme heat I tried paddling at night
and sleeping during the day. Night paddling helped with the heat,
but trying to sleep in the day was difficult in the heat. I always
felt tired and hot. The final straw was when the heat index reached
over 110 degrees it was to hot to sleep so I paddled all day
sweating non stop. Towards evening I started feeling a bit light
headed and then my head started to hurt. This was different pain
then any headache I have ever had. Things just continued to worsen.
My feet felt like they were coming through my head. I knew something
was seriously wrong when I felt like I was going to pass out. Heart
attack, stroke, or a blood clot that reached my heart was all I
could think of. I thought I was dieing. Instinctively I went for
water and realized I had only drank a half gallon of water all day.
I simply forgot to drink enough water and suffered heat exhaustion.
This could of turned out much worse than it did. I drank almost all
the water I had and was able to restock my water supply at a boat
ramp and camped near the boat ramp for the next few days drinking
about four gallons per day. I think my immune system was weakened a
bit because I also over the next few days experienced some mild flu
symptoms. A few times I felt like throwing up, but never did.
Recovering from heat exhaustion. in the south Alabama August heat is
not the ideal place to recover.

The further north I paddled the friendlier the river bank became.
The lower Mobile river is mainly a delta with no sand bars and the
banks are lined with mud. As you get out of the delta the occasional
sand bar comes juts out and provides a nice place to camp or stop
for an afternoon lunch and swim. The woods lining the banks provide
plenty of wood for campfires. The delta and costal water have very
few woods and campfires are far and few between. Now wooded banks
line both sides of the river and sand bars are a lot more plentiful.
Campfires are a nightly routine.
Hurricane Katrina passed over Florida as a category one hurricane
and I never gave it much thought. However when she hit the gulf and
began to gain strength it became a concern. It became apparent
Katrina was going to become a serious force wherever it hit. I
decided to lock through the first lock on the river near Coffeeville
and find a place to hold up. My choices consisted of woods on the
right bank and woods on the left bank. I wanted to find a high bank
in case of high water. I found a nice high bank with enough clearing
for me to haul my canoe up into the woods and prepare for Katrina. I
pulled off the water about 1:00p.m Sunday afternoon amid beautiful
blue skies and eighty degree temps. All I could think of was how
many people must have died in the past before Doppler radar and the
weather channel. Just like with Hurricane Dennis I noticed there is
absolutely no signs of anything out of the order. It took me a good
2 hours to finish preparations which consisted of finding a spot to
hold up along with hauling my gear and canoe to the spot. The spot I
chose to wait out Katrina was not the most ideal spot, but it was
the best spot considering what I had to work with. My biggest
concern were falling trees and my canoe blowing away. I found a
large tree leaning about sixty degrees this would serve as my "roof"
I tied my canoe about three feet on the opposite side of my roof so
if the tree did fall it would not be on me. Now my roof would
hopefully serve to catch any of the other large trees in the area
from landing on my canoe. The reason I stayed three feet from the
base of my roof tree was in case one of the other trees near by fell
and rode down the sixty degree slope it would land beside my canoe
and not on it. I tied the bow and the stern off tightly to other
trees nearby My canoe was flipped upside down waiting for me to craw
underneath. The thought of rising water prompted me to dig up and
soften up the ground under my canoe. A mental picture of a tree
landing on my canoe and not quite smashing me but trapping me inside
and if the water rose I would drown trapped in my canoe. The odds of
that were slim in none, but still I softened up the dirt under my
canoe just in case I had to dig out. The trees were not real thick
and it had the appearance that selective cutting had taken place,
however the trees were large and I counted 20 trees that could
possibly land on my canoe. That is not to mention the many large
branches above. After setting up for Katrina there was nothing to do
but wait. I gathered wood and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon and
evening. My phone barley picked up a signal off an analog tower. I
called my father and explained my situation. He thought I should of
maybe sought shelter in Coffeeville, but no shelter would let me
bring my canoe and that would have been a problem. Besides at that
point it was to late for me to try and seek shelter even if I wanted
to. I talked with Julie for awhile, she seemed worried. As darkness
fell I built a fire and relaxed by the fire. I took out a pen and
wrote my social security number on my arm and leg with a pen and
went over it with a highlighter. My reason was just in case
something tragic happened where I became separated from my canoe and
ID it would speed up the process of identifying my body. Around
10:00pm it started to rain and continued to rain most of the night
and quit before sunrise. I was listening to the big 870A.M out of
New Orleans when the Hurricane hit New Orleans around 7:00a.m. It
blew the windows out of the studio and they went off the air for
short time until they fired up a generator. I expected the hurricane
to push more into Louisiana instead of swinging east into
Mississippi. I continued to listen to the radio as the hurricane
drew near along with reports of 75MPH plus winds in Mobile. The
anticipation was exciting considering mobile was around 70 miles
south of my location. Finally the wind started to kick up a bit and
then a bit more. I huddled under my canoe waiting. My ear was
literally to the ground and I could hear and feel things almost
moving underground. I suddenly realized what that moving feeling
was. In all my careful planning I failed to take into consideration
if my roof tree was to become uprooted my canoe (with me underneath
it) would also be lifted up with the roots Now my canoe was tied
very tight and something would have to give if suddenly the tree
uprooted. The wind picked up and the sound of trees cracking and
snapping could be heard. I propped the canoe up bit to look out, but
there was not much to see. A branch from above fell and hit my canoe
giving off a very resounding audible thud. I did not like the
feeling of being under the canoe anymore and decided to get out.
Before getting out from under my canoe I rigged up a make shift
harness out of my belt and some rope in case the wind became to
strong to stand I would be able to attach myself to a tree to keep
from blowing away. I found the wind was much stronger six feet above
the ground than six inches. The branch that landed on my canoe was
not near as large as it sounded, but large enough seriously hurt me
if I had not been under the canoe. The view was amazing trees
bending and sweeping around in the wind. I found a tree about 15
yards from my canoe on the bank of the river and secured my harness
to the tree. This tree was leaning way over the opposite direction
of the wind. I kept looking up for falling trees and branches. The
best view was looking across the river to the opposite bank and
seeing the trees bent over. A loud crack brought my attention back
to my immediate surrounding. An aspen tree snapped in half and fell
right before my eyes. There was so much going on all around me it
was hard to take it all in. I started to feel excited and began
yelling. I belted out some whoo hoo's! along with yea,s! All I could
of think of is everything going on around me is live happening right
now and I may never get to be in another hurricane again. I crawled
back to my canoe and grabbed my cell phone. There was no signal on
the phone, but I was able to make some audio recordings. What
surprised me about this storm was how long it lasted and the amount
of wind gusts. The single biggest surprise was no rain with all this
wind. Darkness began to fall and the winds were still going. I
decided to retreat to my canoe because I would not be able to see
any branches falling from above in the darkness. Around midnight the
winds started to die down some and Katrina was on the down swing.

When it became daylight I went out to check the damage and was
surprised just how many trees were uprooted and snapped in half. Not
exactly sure what the wind got up to, but it was the strongest winds
I have ever experienced, although I never needed to use my makeshift
harness to stand up.
I realized I did not have enough food to make it the to Demopolis
which was about 100 miles away so back down to Coffeeville through
the lock again and about a mile walk to get food. The lock master
had informed me the river was going to be rising over the next
couple of days due to all the rain from Katrina and informed me it
would be better to wait it out a few days before moving on. He was
right the water did rise much more than I expected prompting me to
move to higher ground.
After the water stopped rising I made the 100 mile paddle to
Demopolis which took seven days. There was not one day when I did
not hear the crack of a tree snapping in the mild winds. Some of the
trees were literally stressed to the point a 10 mph wind is enough
to bring them down. Things are so quiet on the river miles from any
roads or houses.
Demopolis has turned out to be a great town. This is the first town
of any size since leaving Mobile, AL. The people are friendly and
the town has many historic sights. The Library has a great staff of
people and they offer free wireless internet access. I will spend
another few days catching up on e-mails and updating my web site
which includes getting some pictures online. This last stretch of
travels has been the longest stretch without internet and phone
services.
Here is a recent news paper article

Latecki canoeing 30,000 miles to raise awareness
By Andriena Baldwin / Demopolis Times writer
September 13, 2005 Tuesday
DEMOPOLIS- Most people host meetings or hand out pamphlets in order
to raise awareness of a certain subject whether it be domestic
violence or breast

cancer, but John Latecki Jr. has taken things to the next level.
Latecki's sister was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, MS, more
than seven years ago and he has made it his duty to inform the
country of the disease.

There is just one thing that makes his travels special. His mode of
transportation is a canoe.

"I thought about horse riding or kayaking, but I had experienced
canoeing before," Latecki said. "It's slow travel and a good way to
see the country."

The 28 year old began to plan his trip four years ago and set sail,
without a sail, July 31, 2004.

His trip began in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio and yesterday
Latecki stopped in Demopolis for a break.

"Demopolis is nicer than I thought. I walked around downtown and
there are a lot of historical sites," he said. "It's bigger than I
thought and the people are nice. I guess it's the southern
hospitality."

Latecki said he is enjoying his stay at the Demopolis Yacht Basin
and has met many helpful people in the city.

In the past year, he's traveled the waters of Lake Erie, the Hudson
River and Key Largo, but he plans to continue his life on the water
for the next three to four years, adding bad weather and necessary
stops into the equation.

"I've gone 3,912 miles to be exact," he said. "I have to go out west
and I am going to try to go up to Vermont."

He hopes to travel 30,000 not just to increase MS awareness but also
to hold the record for the longest solo canoe trip.

"I already have it, but I am going to wait until I am finished to
turn in my information."

When he stops Latecki stocks his food and water supplies, charges
his cellular phone, attempts to find an Internet source and helps
local MS groups and organizations.

"Finding food and a place to wash my clothes are hard things now,"
he said. "Just getting food and water have become the most difficult
things I have to do."

Finding the necessities may have been the hardest, but Latecki
admits the scariest was braving the winds of Katrina in the woods
outside of Coffeeville.

"I tied my boat down and crawled underneath it," he said. "I could
hear the trees falling all around me and a big one fell onto my
boat. Well, it was big enough to make a loud sound."

Because this is only Latecki's second canoe trip, the first lasting
a mere three months, he admits his entire family was worried about
him in the beginning.

"They are happy about it now," he said. "My sister is extremely
proud now."

Whenever Latecki feels like quitting, he thinks about his sister,
Julie McAfee, who is twelve years older than he.

"She's like a mom to me. She taught me how to read and how to tie my
shoes. She's my inspiration because she has had a real positive
attitude through it all," he said. "Whenever I feel like quitting, I
just look at her name on the side of my boat, rub my hands over it
and that's what keeps me going."

Latecki said he made the commitment to canoe cross-country because
he wanted people to see how serious he was about the situation.

"I want to help promote awareness," he said. "I want to motivate
people to learn about it and a lot of people have been inspired by
what I do."

You can track Latecki's travels at www.fightingms.org.