Enough misinformation has been rattled down the quiet boulevards of Natchez over the past week that it occurs to me I have a responsibility to the community to offer this address. The Phatwater Kayak Challenge was canceled on Sept. 23, following a conversation between myself and the acting head of the Mississippi Game & Fish Commission’s law enforcement hierarchy which took place on this same afternoon. After enduring his verbal abuse for the better part of two minutes, in which rhetorical accusations, misstatements and denials flew from his station, involving the misconduct on the part wildlife agents under his command during last year’s Phatwater Kayak Challenge, on Oct. 12, 2013, I concluded nothing positive would eventuate from the call, and bid him a good day.

Knowing he and his soldiers of the fin and scale have the potential to cause us even more problems this year, I took the high road and put a halt to that potential.

As for the City of Natchez, the Board Of Aldermen and alderwoman, Mayor Brown, and the good women and men who direct the Natchez Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, I could not possibly have been more pleased with the way things were proceeding. I have received nothing but positive feedback and expectations from these offices. It is a pity, under the circumstances, that we can no longer see things through. However, the lack of cooperation and coordination I was to have expected coming from the Mississippi Game & Fish Commission on Oct. 11 would have put the safety of all Phatwater Kayak Challenge participants in an untenable, precarious situation, and I was not willing to go to this extreme. Furthermore, the declaration by the head of the G&F that he would not cooperate with the management of the Phatwater Kayak Challenge, XIII, on Oct. 11, would have put me in violation of our Marine Event Permit as well as our liability insurance policy. You be the judge. I conclude I did the correct thing by terminating the event. My decision to do so had nothing to do with the City of Natchez.

In time, we may decide to resurrect the Phatwater. I would like to see records broken. Who knows what the future may hold?

 

Keith Benoist is the founder/director of the Phatwater Kayak Challenge and a is Natchez resident.