After being beached in Vicksburg for nearly two months, three rafters, who journeyed more than 1,000 miles down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers only to be stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard for safety purposes, continued their voyage Monday afternoon.

James Burkart, 24, Libby Hendon, 24, and Laura Mattingly, 25, who met while attending the University of California-Santa Cruz, set sail once again at about 2:15 after receiving an inspection and approval from the U.S. Coast Guard 45 minutes earlier.

“We’re by no means in a hurry to get out of Vicksburg,” Burkart said. “Vicksburg and the people here have been nothing but wonderful. It’s just that we’ve been here almost as long as we’ve been on the water. Plus we’d like to complete the voyage before the weather gets terribly cold.”

Their river journey began July 21, from Burkart and Hendon’s hometown of Kansas City, Mo., but was terminated Sept. 15 by boarding officers from the Coast Guard about 15 miles north of Vicksburg. The raft, bicycle-powered and made of household and commercial refuse, was ordered off the water on the grounds it lacked proper registration. Chief Warrant Officer Doug Chapman, who performed Monday’s inspection, said the letter terminating the voyage, issued by the commander of the New Orleans-based 8th District, Rear Adm. Joel R. Whitehead, indicated the raft needed improvements regarding its steering, propulsion and sagging bow to continue its voyage.

In order to meet those requirements, the three rafters added large oars, nose cones and a third rudder. The parts were donated by local residents and businesses and the construction took place at the Carriage House Apartments, 1215 East Ave., where owners Bill and Nancy Libbey had allowed it to be parked.

“All of the improvements we asked of them have been made,” said Chapman, who described the raft as one of the most unusual watercraft he’s seen.

And now the voyage continues.

The rafters had anticipated a departure Oct. 20, when Chapman, along with three other Coast Guard personnel, came to Vicksburg to inspect the vessel, but failed to give the raft their blessing. After watching the raft maneuver that day in the Yazoo River Diversion Canal at City Front, Chapman, who has 26 years’ experience with the Coast Guard and on the water, said he didn’t feel it could safely navigate the busy lower Mississippi, which is filled with 1,000-foot barges. He said he feared the raft could pose a hazard to the rafters and others without a more robust propulsion and steering system. Chapman’s declaration of unseaworthiness came at about 4 p.m., after nearly 8 hours of packing and prepping the raft.

During the rafters’ stay in Vicksburg, their compromise with the Coast Guard has been orchestrated in part by Vicksburg attorney Kelly Loyacono, who has provided free legal advice for the rafters, he said, because he admired their spirit of adventure. Loyacano filed legal briefs in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Sept. 27 asking that a judge order Whitehead to appear before a federal judge to show cause for giving the order to Coast Guard officials to pull the vessel off the river. In a letter of response to Loyacono, Whitehead said he issued the order to terminate the voyage under federal laws dealing with water-borne recreational craft deemed unsafe. Whitehead cites it as having an “unsuitable design and configuration” for the lower Mississippi River.

In court filings, the rafters argued Whitehead was not qualified to make the judgment because his determination was based on the reports of the boarding officials. Also, they note the timing of the order, which was made Sept. 21, six days after the three rafters first encountered Coast Guard officers.

Burkart, Hendon and Mattingly were on the river as part of a project titled “Release Yourself onto the Water until it Tastes of Salt.” Burkart, who is spearheading the project, said its goal was to experience the river through its people and locals. About a half-dozen strangers joined them on their excursion at various times in the nearly two months they floated toward Vicksburg.

Before their local encounter with the Coast Guard, the rafters said they had experienced 14 other encounters with law enforcement, which included police, fire, sheriff, state conservation, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Homeland Security. However, all previous encounters resulted in a go ahead.

After the halt of the journey, the raft sat securely tied by the side of the river until it was retrieved Sept. 28, and then taken to the Carriage House Apartments.

During their 51 days off the river, the rafters were housed by a variety of Vicksburg residents, primarily Ross Andrews, a 30-year-old lumber inspector at Anderson-Tully who met the three travelers downtown the night they were pulled off the river. Also, Hendon and Mattingly worked as substitute teachers for the Vicksburg Warren School District during their stay.

And although they are excited to continue their journey, the rafters said it’s not easy saying goodbye.

“Vicksburg has been wonderful and we’ll definitely miss it,” Mattingly said. “I cannot say that I’ve been overly pleased with the Coast Guard for the past 50 days, but I have enjoyed my time in Vicksburg.

“And I plan to come back,” she added. “I’m not sure I could live without coming back to Vicksburg and seeing these great people again.”