Mile 652.2 - Kangaroo Point

RBD 652.2 Kangaroo Point

Contrary to common river-sense, the river speed noticeably quickens during low water as it approaches Kangaroo Point. Upstream Tows sometimes seem to stand still as they fight their way up, while their downstream counterparts easily fly by. If you are sharing this narrow sluiceway at low water with any upstream tows big rolling waves will surely be erupting in the tow's outwash and creating a river of standing waves on top of a river. If you can handle big waves and water you're in for a roller coaster ride. If not, find an bank-side obstruction and eddy out and await the tow's passage. The large eddies found continually along the edges of the Lower Mississippi River create the perfect place for this maneuver. It's safe and easy to execute. The water within these eddies is surprisingly deep (sometimes fifty feet or more) and so any big waves do not get bigger here, as they would near the shore. However, watch the eddy line, where the eddy rubs against the downstream flow and the waves pile up taller and more chaotically. Be patient and await the tow's passage and the eventual calming of the waters and then continue on. At higher water levels the water speed is still strong but not as agitated as during low. Just past Kangaroo Point there is sometimes a small sandbar formed bank right that makes the perfect place to get out of any northerly or westerly wind, or to make a pit-stop. You won't see this hideaway until you are directly below Mile Marker 652.2, if you want to make a stop here stay bank right and dive into the eddy below the point when you see an opening in the powerful revolving platter of the giant eddy.