Ollie's 2023 & 2025 Itineraries: He Made it!!!

 

 

 

Dams

August 2023 Ollie skied 475 miles and went through 12 dams. 2025's trip was 510 miles but he only had to pass through 7 dams. It’s called “locking” through because barges, boats & Ollie’s Jet Ski enter a “lock” (a large chamber that "locks" on both ends) where they lower the water to match the level on the other side  then open the doors for Ollie to pass through. The Army Corps of Engineers runs the dams. They're great people with strict safety rules.

​

Speaking of Barges

Barges stay in the Barge Channel, marked by red & green buoys. Ollie rides close to shore, far from the channel. Ollie's Chase Crew uses phones & GPS to track Ollie’s location. There are mile markers, like on freeways shown on the map below. They indicate how far West you are of where the Ohio river starts in Pittsburgh at Mile Marker 1. He started where he left off at the Cincinnati Public Landing (mile marker 470), all the way to the end where the Ohio meets the Mississippi (mile marker 981). That's 510 miles!

​

Safety First. Always

We have the latest safety gear: life vests, Paddles, anchor, 2 cell phones and GPS locator so the chase vehicle is always just minutes away. All boat ramps were mapped in case we needed to get off the river due to weather. Ollie was connected to Michael and Michael was connected to the Jet Ski with a safety strap on his wrist. Michael hasn’t fallen off the Jet Ski in 10 years, but if he did, Ollie would fall off too, the Jet Ski would stop and they'd climb back on. Safety First. But there were Zero falls the whole trip.

​

This was the 2025 trip: Day 1 Wednesday August 13th

Wednesday morning, as shown on the map below, Ollie left Cincinnati. 😊 He covered as many miles as possible with stops at local marinas, etc to meet people, sign “pawtagraphs” and pose for pictures. It was hot.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Day 2 Thursday August 14th

He locked through the Louisville dam and Jet Skied between dams, stopped to meet people, signed “pawtagraphs” and did pictures also media interviews. He always had a shady spot for naps on the Jet Ski and extra water because it was Hot! He also spent time with his mommy when he was on shore.

​

Day 3 Friday August 15th

He covered about 100 or more miles in pretty smooth waters, at an average speed of 15-20 miles an hour. He stopped for interviews, pawtagraghs, pictures, Naps and time with mom! Dad kept him nice and cool.

​

Day 4 Saturday August 16th

He “Kept it green on the bottom & blue on top.” and covered a lot of miles. After his last dam on Sunday, he will have locked through 7 dams with a total water drop of nearly 200 feet since Cincinnati. That's how much water the dams hold back. The river averages 25 feet deep. Without dams, we'd call it the Ohio Creek! Barge travel would be impossible. As usual, he made stops for “Meat and Greets”, pictures, interviews, and Naps!​

​

Day 6 Sunday August 17th

Ollie locked through his last 2 dams and skied the last 65 miles and arrived in Wickcliff Ky on the Mississippi River to finish his adventure, all 510 miles!

​​

We humbly express our gratitude for all the help and all the good this trip will do. 

​

Ollie's mom & dad and Ollie The Do Good Dog say thank you so much to ALL those who donated, volunteered, sponsored and participated.

​

Most Sincerely,

Ollie, Cammy and Michael.....And we'll back with new projects for 2026!