"You see and feel and smell things you wouldn't otherwise. It's the novelty of it," he said.

Tour-goers spend nine to 12 hours a day on the water. The longest day of this trip, which is the longest of any offered tour by River Tours, is 220 miles, Vicki Williams said. The group averages three stops a day for food, refueling and relaxation.

A shuttle travels by land to meet riders at scheduled rest stops, maintaining contact with them via radios.

"We specialize in rivers that don't have any facilities," Vicki explained.

The shuttle transports fuel and luggage as well as other supplies because most of the routes have few fueling stations along the way. The food is catered and hotels are arranged in advance. River Tours travels the route two weeks prior to the excursion to make sure landings haven't closed and environmental factors haven't changed, Vicki Williams said.

"There's no guesswork," said Andy Anderson of Charlotte, S.C., who's on his third tour with the company.

The Marina has hosted several jet-ski tour groups in the past, but they've only been tours of three or four people at most, said co-owner Barbara Bigelow of Columbus Marina.

"This many of them at one time is a big first," Bigelow said.

The tour will end back in Demopolis, Ala., Friday. For more information about river tours, visit www.pwctours.com.

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