Date: September 23, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 156 (Holding)
From: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
To: Home in Alabama
Statute Miles: 0.0 SM
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM (Holding)
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Having just completed the "Great Rivers" portion of the Loop, I want to provide some thoughts on this portion of the trip.
Starting in Chicago, IL on the Illinois Waterway and the Chicago River portion of the route at its juncture with Lake Michigan, We traveled a total of 643 miles on the Illinois Waterway, the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Cumberland River. I would not necessarily include the Cumberland as a "Great River" except that it connects the Ohio with the logical termination of the Great River segment at Green Turtle Bay, KY. The Cumberland portion of the Great Rivers is only 30 miles.
The Illinois Waterway portion of the trip made up 336 miles of the total. The Mississippi portion was 217 miles. The Ohio portion was 60 miles, and the Cumberland was 30 miles.
It took us 16 days to cover the distance between Chicago and Green Turtle Bay. We traveled for 13 of those 16 days. We were on the Illinois Waterway for 10 days. It took us 3-1/2 days on the Mississippi and 2-1/2 days on the Ohio and Cumberland. The time on the Ohio and Cumberland included about 6-1/2 hours of Locking time and Lock waiting time at the three locks that we transited on those rivers.
We transited a total of 13 Locks, including 8 on the Illinois Waterway, 2, on the Mississippi, and 3 on the Ohio and Cumberland. We only had one real wait at a Lock on the Illinois, and that was for about an hour and a half. We had essentially no waits at the Mississippi Locks.
We stayed at marinas along the way for all but three nights. We anchored on the Mississippi once and on the Ohio River twice.
The Rivers were essentially just below full pools for the entire trip, but were classified as "falling". The current in the Illinois was not pronounced and did not give us appreciable push. The current in the Mississippi generally gave us a push of between 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 statute mph. We fought the current in the Ohio and to a certain extent the Cumberland. I would estimate that the current effect in the Ohio was worth about 1-1/2 to 2 statute mph, with the most effect being from the confluence with the Mississippi up about 10 miles above this point.
One of the unique things about doing the Great Loop is the diversity of the route. The trip takes one into many different types of waterways, and coming out of the Great Lakes into the "Great Rivers" certainly is one of the most notable waterway changes.
We were very glad to leave the lakes, although Lake Huron was a great experience. The tranquility and predictability of the Illinois Waterway, including the Rivers leaving Chicago, was most welcome after our big water experiences on the Lakes. I like structure and predictability in my life, and at least the upper half of the Rivers provided that in greater measures than the Lakes.
Navigating the Rivers is pretty cut and dried. Stay between the greens and the reds. There is little opportunity for using waypoints and the autopilot in most portions of the Rivers. Depths are more consistent and it is pretty much "what you see is what you get". The current plays a huge role in running these rivers, as it can push you along or go against you in the case of the Ohio. Not since the Hudson River have we had to take current into real account.
Other marine traffic is a big issue on the Great Rivers. While encountering other pleasure boats on the Rivers was rare for us, you had better anticipate commercial traffic in great numbers. It is there and it is real, and these guys are doing this for a living and don't play games. The commercial traffic seems to "tolerate" the pleasure craft but not much else. I liked to "take the offensive" with the towboat captains. Hail them first. Let them know you are there. Give them the opportunity to dictate the terms of engagement with you. Be courteous, and thank them for their cooperation. Know the one and two whistle protocol like the back of your hand! We got to the point where we looked forward to dealing with the tows. When we travelled in a flotilla of several boats, we let the lead boat communicate with the tows and the Locks to avoid redundancy.
The beauty of the Rivers is in the eye of the beholder. Certainly it is different than the big water. Certainly there is some monotony in running the Rivers day after day. But engaging the scenes along the banks and from the tows coming at you gives a rare opportunity to see rural Americana and to reflect on the raw beauty of the Heartland of our country. The beauty of the Rivers for me is all about what makes this country run and work. From the heavy dose of industrial reality on the Illinois to the rural farmland replete with amber waves of grain on the lower Illinois and Mississippi, it is raw beauty that draws me again and again to appreciate these Rivers.
These are working man's rivers. Passing the dozens, of grain elevators on the Great Rivers gives structure to the amount of farming that this country produces. To see the number of barges that are used to move the harvest personifies the hard work of America's farmers. Seeing the coal coming and going in the barges makes one think of the effort given in the upper Ohio River regions to mine that coal and move it on the Great Rivers. The dusty "Rock Piles" that are the quarries along the rivers with their huge piles of crushed product waiting for transport in barges show the results of the hard work by the equipment operators and blasters that toil at their trade. And the watermen that ply these Rivers, like the watermen that we saw in the Chesapeake, are not to be taken for granted. These hard working folks tending lines on the barges, or moving the tows through the locks, or skillfully steering the towboats up and down the Rivers are the backbone of the Heartland transportation system in America.
So, after dealing with structure and predictability, we were thrust back into a bit of the unknown again after leaving Hoppies on the Mississippi River in kimmswick, MO. It was a treat to get to meet Fern at Hoppies. She is a Mississippi River icon. Truthfully, and some other Loopers echoed this, Fern may have put more fear of the unknown into our souls than really helping us be prepared to deal with what we would encounter. The stop at Hoppies did not have a whole lot of value for me.
Below Hoppies and to Green Turtle Bay, you are on your own. I wish we had known more about Wing Dams, and we are really thankful that we met Bob and Patty Mitchell in Alton, who gave us a heads up on how to negotiate these structures. But on the Mississippi below Hoppies, Wing Dams are what will get you the security to spend the night on the hook. Forget the diversion channel and Angelo's, I am convinced that it is much easier to stick your nose in behind a good Wing Dam structure and check it out for an overnight off the channel. There are hundreds of wing dams, and they are very visible, unlike what my perception was before seeing them that they are submerged.
I was disappointed in Little Diversion Channel that everyone raves about. No one tells you that it is in a heavy industrial area of Cape Girardeau, MO with abundant tugs and barges in the vicinity.
The absence of refueling opportunities on the Rivers below Hoppies is real. Kidd's Fuel Dock at Mississippi River MM 51 is the only fueling opportunity available. This is Cape Girardeau, and is 107 miles below Hoppies. He delivers fuel to farmers, contractors, and vessels and is very busy. He wants 24 hours notice and his minimum with our flotilla was 75 gallons. We called him in the morning and he couldn't get us the fuel until the following afternoon. This puts a monkey wrench in your travel plans. Our flotilla bypassed Kidd's and had plenty of fuel to make Green Turtle Bay.
We were not prepared for what we saw on the Ohio. The amount of tow traffic on this River was way more than we anticipated. Cairo was unbelievable with the number of big tows and strings of barges. Thankfully the River is very wide here and that made it easier to navigate around the fleet.
Anchoring on the Ohio was more of a challenge than we thought. Luckily we found a good place out of the channel, but it was more by dumb luck than having expert knowledge.
The Locks on the Ohio are old and decrepit. Lock 52 is probably the worst Lock we have transited on the entire Loop, both in terms of infrastructure, and sadly, attitude. They no more wanted to see four upbound pleasure craft pull up to their Lock than they wanted to see a no notice Army Corps of Engineers IG inspection. We are nonetheless thankful that they sucked it up and put us through, but it was not something I have fond memories of.
Paducah has so much potential as a Looper friendly River town. The small town dock might be a start to attracting boaters to the downtown area if they could get their act together, but alas, on the day that four Looper boats wanted to stay there, it was not to be. There has to be someone in that town with the foresight to develop something for boaters!
Cumberland Towhead was a marvelous experience for us, but finding the anchorage from all the guidebooks was ambiguous at best. No one bothers to point out that there is a very large Cumberland Island and a very small island that is actually the towhead! It took a lot of deductive reasoning to figure this out, but we made it and enjoyed the quiet night up inside the anchorage.
Highlights of the Great Rivers? Cruising through downtown Chicago. Maybe better than coming into New York Harbor! Heritage Harbor Marina. Downtown Ottawa, IL and seeing the Park where the Lincoln-Douglas debate was held. IVY Club in Peoria and the pleasant and welcoming members and staff at the Club. Tying up to the barge at Logsdon Tug Service in Beardstown. This was just a neat experience and the staff could not have been nicer. Grafton Harbor Marina. Alton Marina. Both great places! The Reubling Hotel and Restaurant in Grafton. Bob and Patty Mitchell and their hospitality and information. Mac's Restaurant in Alton. Blue Owl Restaurant in Kimjswick, MO. The Cheese Shop in Ottawa. Cruising into St Louis and seeing the Arch! Meeting Fern Hoppie. Cruising with four other great Looper boats in Always Five O'Clock, Entree', Reunion, and sometimes Journey. It was like a family sharing all the experiences together! The great dock hands who met us at the marinas. Seeing a bald eagle on the Cumberland. Pleasant towboat captains. Getting a pump out when you REALLY need it.
Lowlights of the Great Rivers? Seeing neat towns with no facilities for boaters, hence said boaters could not stop in neat towns. The ugly odors on the Chicago River outside of downtown Chicago. Old rusting bridges outside Chicago. Flying carp. The Landings at Henry, IL. No marinas below Hoppies. Lock 52. The backup of tow traffic at the Ohio River Locks. Navigating through St Louis. Hoppies Marina. Dealing with whirlpools and standing waves on the Mississippi.
I am very glad to have the Great Rivers behind us. I appreciated our experience on these Rivers. Now, on to the Southern Rivers!
Thanks for Reading!
Monday, September 23, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Friday, September 20: Home Again
Date: September 20, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 156
From: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
To: Home in Alabama
Statute Miles: 0.0 SM
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We woke up to rain this morning at GTB. It soon passed by us, but left overcast skies, warm temperatures, and ultra high humidity.
We loaded the car, trip by trip. Up a ramp, then up some stairs, then into the parking lot. Then back again. I was soaked in no time.
The marina wanted us to move the boat from the transient docks over to a spot on one of the permanent piers. We obliged and were ready to leave GTB by 11:45 or so.
We hit I-24 and drove the 100 or so miles to Nashville, then headed South on I-65 to Birmingham. We were home by 7:00. Not a bad drive at all, considering we hit Birmingham right at 5:00 rush hour. This is our first time back home in almost four months! Not what we anticipated whenwe planned the Loop Trip!
We will be back on the boat in about two weeks, when we will set out for the AGLCA Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama on the Tennessee River. In the next two weeks we will do appointments and make visits to Daphne and Jacksonville. A busy schedule! No rest for the weary. We are holding, then at 156 days on the Loop and 3,984.3 SM of the Loop completed.
I want to do some refections on where we have been and what we have seen on the Loop in the Blog during the next several days. I also will be blogging about activities that we are doing away from the boat, so, stay tuned! Don't leave us!
Thanks for Reading!
Day on the Cruise: 156
From: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
To: Home in Alabama
Statute Miles: 0.0 SM
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We woke up to rain this morning at GTB. It soon passed by us, but left overcast skies, warm temperatures, and ultra high humidity.
We loaded the car, trip by trip. Up a ramp, then up some stairs, then into the parking lot. Then back again. I was soaked in no time.
The marina wanted us to move the boat from the transient docks over to a spot on one of the permanent piers. We obliged and were ready to leave GTB by 11:45 or so.
We hit I-24 and drove the 100 or so miles to Nashville, then headed South on I-65 to Birmingham. We were home by 7:00. Not a bad drive at all, considering we hit Birmingham right at 5:00 rush hour. This is our first time back home in almost four months! Not what we anticipated whenwe planned the Loop Trip!
We will be back on the boat in about two weeks, when we will set out for the AGLCA Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama on the Tennessee River. In the next two weeks we will do appointments and make visits to Daphne and Jacksonville. A busy schedule! No rest for the weary. We are holding, then at 156 days on the Loop and 3,984.3 SM of the Loop completed.
I want to do some refections on where we have been and what we have seen on the Loop in the Blog during the next several days. I also will be blogging about activities that we are doing away from the boat, so, stay tuned! Don't leave us!
Thanks for Reading!
Thursday, September 19: Happy Birthday to Susan
Date: September 19, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 156
From: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
To: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
Statute Miles: 0.0 SM
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We stayed at Green Turtle Bay today. Happy birthday to Susan!
Sleeping in until 8:00 was great. No 5:30 wakeup call today! The service manager from the Green Turtle Boat Works came by at 8:30 and we arranged for an oil and filter change and generator service. The overheating issue and the loud exhaust noise is a concern. I also saw where there is a carbon buildup at the exhaust port on the side of the hull. He thinks it might be an impeller issue and will check it.
I didn't get him to look at the thrusters. I checked the batteries and added some water to the big 8D that powers the thrusters. I am wondering if using the windlass might have de-powered the battery so that the thrusters did not have enough juice. I want to see what a day of charging the batteries on shore power does before I jump into troubleshooting thrusters.
The Enterprise Car Rental folks picked us up at the marina at 11:00 and took us 30 minutes into Paducah to get a rental car. We managed to find our way back to GTB just fine, despite having to take a bunch of back roads.
We have been out of internet range for many days, so I caught up on the blog. I think that I have missed almost a week of postings, so I apologize for the lull in the blog. Thanks to several of you who have emailed us asking if we were OK. The
Mississippi below Alton and the Ohio are in the wild so to speak as far as AT&T is concerned. Also, it is tough to do the blog at the end of a long cruising day like we have had in the past four or five days. Anyway, we are back on track!
Docktails tonight had a huge attendance as more and more Loopers arrive at GTB. We filled the gazebo and spilled into the parking lot. We saw many Loopers, again, who we had not seen in weeks. It was good to see our Canadian friends aboard the two Nimbles whom we had met at Grafton first, then Hoppies. They are from New Brunswick, and we were able to give them info on where we anchored each night after we left Hoppies. They anchored in the "L" wing dam at 77.85 on the Mississippi and really liked it. Some of out flotilla passed this location on to Bob at Alton and he is now putting it into his Looper briefing. It is good to know that our flotilla blazed a trail and found this anchorage!
Al and Charlie from Always Five O'Clock and Susan and I took the rental car after Docktails and found a great catfish place called, appropriately, "Catfish Kitchen", which is about 6-7 miles from GTB. It is a very local fish place and it was great. When you sit down, like a Mexican place brings chips and salsa to the table, they bring bowls of white beans, hush puppies, and slaw. The catfish is filets and was excellent. They refill the white beans, hush puppies, and slaw as fast as you eat it. The hush puppies are like the ones we used to get in North Alabama. You can't stop eating them! We met the owner and he spent a good bit of time with us. Very nice gentleman! Al was amazed at the inexpensive price of the meal and couldn't believe the value! The Catfish Kitchen! It is amazing, just like Patti's was last night.
Tomorrow we will head home. We are really looking forward to it!
Thanks for Reading! "
Day on the Cruise: 156
From: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
To: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
Statute Miles: 0.0 SM
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We stayed at Green Turtle Bay today. Happy birthday to Susan!
 |
| Green Turtle Bay is about 100 road miles from Nashville, and between 500 and 600 water miles from Chicago |
Sleeping in until 8:00 was great. No 5:30 wakeup call today! The service manager from the Green Turtle Boat Works came by at 8:30 and we arranged for an oil and filter change and generator service. The overheating issue and the loud exhaust noise is a concern. I also saw where there is a carbon buildup at the exhaust port on the side of the hull. He thinks it might be an impeller issue and will check it.
I didn't get him to look at the thrusters. I checked the batteries and added some water to the big 8D that powers the thrusters. I am wondering if using the windlass might have de-powered the battery so that the thrusters did not have enough juice. I want to see what a day of charging the batteries on shore power does before I jump into troubleshooting thrusters.
The Enterprise Car Rental folks picked us up at the marina at 11:00 and took us 30 minutes into Paducah to get a rental car. We managed to find our way back to GTB just fine, despite having to take a bunch of back roads.
We have been out of internet range for many days, so I caught up on the blog. I think that I have missed almost a week of postings, so I apologize for the lull in the blog. Thanks to several of you who have emailed us asking if we were OK. The
Mississippi below Alton and the Ohio are in the wild so to speak as far as AT&T is concerned. Also, it is tough to do the blog at the end of a long cruising day like we have had in the past four or five days. Anyway, we are back on track!
Docktails tonight had a huge attendance as more and more Loopers arrive at GTB. We filled the gazebo and spilled into the parking lot. We saw many Loopers, again, who we had not seen in weeks. It was good to see our Canadian friends aboard the two Nimbles whom we had met at Grafton first, then Hoppies. They are from New Brunswick, and we were able to give them info on where we anchored each night after we left Hoppies. They anchored in the "L" wing dam at 77.85 on the Mississippi and really liked it. Some of out flotilla passed this location on to Bob at Alton and he is now putting it into his Looper briefing. It is good to know that our flotilla blazed a trail and found this anchorage!
Al and Charlie from Always Five O'Clock and Susan and I took the rental car after Docktails and found a great catfish place called, appropriately, "Catfish Kitchen", which is about 6-7 miles from GTB. It is a very local fish place and it was great. When you sit down, like a Mexican place brings chips and salsa to the table, they bring bowls of white beans, hush puppies, and slaw. The catfish is filets and was excellent. They refill the white beans, hush puppies, and slaw as fast as you eat it. The hush puppies are like the ones we used to get in North Alabama. You can't stop eating them! We met the owner and he spent a good bit of time with us. Very nice gentleman! Al was amazed at the inexpensive price of the meal and couldn't believe the value! The Catfish Kitchen! It is amazing, just like Patti's was last night.
Tomorrow we will head home. We are really looking forward to it!
Thanks for Reading! "
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wednesday, September 18: Green Turtle Bay: We Are Done With the Great Rivers!
Date: September 18, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 155
From: Anchored on The Ohio River at Cumberland Towhead
To: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
Statute Miles: 34.2 SM
Time: 5.5 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are off the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers and sitting at Green Turtle Bay on Lake Barkley in Kentucky! A huge Milestone!
Last night at docktails all four boat crews gathered our second wind for one last drive to the end zone. It is late in the fourth quarter of this particular game, and we have to score a lock through at Barkley Lock today to get to the end of the game tonight at Green Turtle Bay Marina on Lake Barkley.
GTB is the "Emerald City" that we have been looking for. The "Promised Land". The end of the obnoxious great river section of the loop. One more day of pushing. We have now traveled six long days in a row. We are tired. Our tempers are short. We have had our fill with locks and towboats and fishermen. Can we make it?
Wake up call call again at 5:30. It is all we can do to pull ourselves out of bed. One more run today! We run the generator for 45 minutes to charge the batteries and make coffee. A quick call to Barkley Lock yields no information that is helpful. Yes they have tows up there. No they can't tell us what the wait is. Come up to the Lock and then they will deal. Ok, by damn, we are coming!
Anchors up at 7:00. I am leading again because we are going up the Cumberland River to Barkley and I have the AIS. It is a narrow winding river and not good for passing tows. A good precursor of things to come on the Alabama Rivers.
Just minutes after leaving Cumberland Towhead, we pass two huge mooring cells and are cruising into the Cumberland River. Challenges are identified ahead on the AIS. Three tows in front of us very quickly. Yes this river is narrow and it is very winding. We see the "Lexington" ahead of us and he is in a curve. I call him on channel 13 on the VHF and ask for a pass and he asks that we wait until he is out of the curve. He is pushing hard around the bend with maybe 15 barges in front of him. His wheel wash to the outside of the curve is huge! We want the inside of the curve to avoid his wheel wash. He comes back to me and agrees on a two whistle pass which gives us the inside. I tell him we will see him "on the two" and all four boats get past him just before we get to another curve. Whew!
The other two tows ahead are fleeting tow boats working barge strings on the left descending bank below a big quarry or "Rock Pile" as the towboat captains call them. We pass on the green line away from these boats and all is good.
Up ahead we are watching another upbound tow on the AIS. No luck today, he is also in a series of curves. He is the Killian L. Huger, pushing 15 barges in three strings. I call him on 13 and announce that we are four recreational vessels upbound passing the Quarry and request a pass. I want the one so as to be on the inside of the curve. He complies and even gets off the gas and slows to a crawl so we can pass. All four of us get by him. What a nice gesture! This Captain is a prince! Thank you sir!
Boogety, Boogety, Boogety. We are upbound on the Cumberland headin' to Barkley. Here comes a downbound tow at Dycusburg Bend. Another series of narrow curves in the River. He is the Edwin L. Kennedy, an Ingram Barge Company Towboat with 14 barges on. He has come through Barkley this morning. I want the inside. I call and ask for a one whistle pass and he agrees. I don't see him with my eyes until he is coming around the curve. He wants the four of us hard on the left descending bank. We are not far enough over. He gets anxious and "elevates his demeanor" on the VHF. We get farther over and suddenly we are past one another and all is right with the world again.
The Kennedy will be the last Tow we encounter on the obnoxious great rivers of the Loop. Good riddance. We are headin' to Barkley. Up ahead we saw a bald eagle swoop down across the river in front of our boat. What a beautiful bird with the white head. He went up in a tree on the right descending bank, then watched as we cruised by before going to another tree. The first bald eagle on our trip!
Here comes the I-24 bridge. Under the bridge and we make the call to the Lock just a mile and a half upstream. "This is Motor vessel Blue Moon. We are four recreation vessels upbound requesting a lock through."
And we hold our collective breaths. Blue Moon. Always Five O'Clock. Entree'. Reunion. The AIS shows two big downbound tows waiting on top of the Lock to come down. We also see on the Lock Website that a recreational vessel is on top of the lock waiting to come down. The L. R. Chapman with 15 barges has been "cut up" and is in the second stage of locking up. He is just coming out of the lock on top and has to remake his tow then get out of the way.
Barkley tells us to come on up to the Lock Wall. He will get us through in about an hour. Really? As we approach the Lock, I call and tell Barkley that we are at the bottom of the Lock. He wants to make sure we are all on the wall. We get on the wall. Looks very promising.
In an hour from our call at the I-24 bridge, the lock gates open and a pleasure craft emerges and runs by us. A loud horn and a flashing green light signals us to enter the huge lock chamber, the highest lift we have done on the trip at 56'. We are in the Lock at 11:55. Unbelievable timing. I had mentally prepared for a 6 hour wait and an approach to GTB at O dark thirty. The Lock Gods are with us today!
We quickly rise up to Lake Barkley. The upper doors open and spill the four of us out onto a beautiful sight. My thrusters are not working consistently and my stern bangs the Lock wall several times. We maneuver around the front of the waiting downbound tow. He hasn't given us a lot of room to maneuver, but we get around him and start looking for GTB. Lake Barkley is a beautiful sight. The next Lock is 200 miles up the Tennessee River. It could be a light year away for all I care.
We have been warned about not cutting corners to get into Green Turtle Bay. Fail to follow the entrance channel and you will soon be in rocks. Crunch! We find the marked channel into the resort and motor in. They are expecting the four of us. We have made it! We have conquered the obnoxious great rivers of the Loop. Ah, a pump out! A shower! Fuel! Other Loopers! And at 12:35 PM we are tied up at the GTB dock. Victory!
Docktails tonight was fun. There are a bunch of Loopers here. Loopers that we met months and weeks and days ago. And we all crowded into a pavilion to start sharing our stories while we imbibed. The great rivers are behind us!
We are all heading to the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama on October 14. But we will take different routes to get there. Some will visit Nashville. Some will stay here and tour the area. Some, I imagine will go to Chattanooga and then back to Joe Wheeler. Some will take a break and head home as we will do before we head to the Rendezvous in Blue Moon.
Our little Flotilla headed to Patti's in Grand Rivers for dinner tonight. We had a table for eight at this great regional restaurant that is a "destination" spot. Some had the 2" pork chop. Most of us had the famous pies. It was a wonderful meal.
No 5:30 wakeup call tomorrow. No pulling up an anchor. No locks tomorrow! We will pick up our rental car and get ready for a brief respite from this cruising life.
Thanks for Reading!
Day on the Cruise: 155
From: Anchored on The Ohio River at Cumberland Towhead
To: Green Turtle Bay Resort, Grand Rivers, KY
Statute Miles: 34.2 SM
Time: 5.5 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,984.3 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are off the Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and Cumberland Rivers and sitting at Green Turtle Bay on Lake Barkley in Kentucky! A huge Milestone!
Last night at docktails all four boat crews gathered our second wind for one last drive to the end zone. It is late in the fourth quarter of this particular game, and we have to score a lock through at Barkley Lock today to get to the end of the game tonight at Green Turtle Bay Marina on Lake Barkley.
GTB is the "Emerald City" that we have been looking for. The "Promised Land". The end of the obnoxious great river section of the loop. One more day of pushing. We have now traveled six long days in a row. We are tired. Our tempers are short. We have had our fill with locks and towboats and fishermen. Can we make it?
Wake up call call again at 5:30. It is all we can do to pull ourselves out of bed. One more run today! We run the generator for 45 minutes to charge the batteries and make coffee. A quick call to Barkley Lock yields no information that is helpful. Yes they have tows up there. No they can't tell us what the wait is. Come up to the Lock and then they will deal. Ok, by damn, we are coming!
Anchors up at 7:00. I am leading again because we are going up the Cumberland River to Barkley and I have the AIS. It is a narrow winding river and not good for passing tows. A good precursor of things to come on the Alabama Rivers.
Just minutes after leaving Cumberland Towhead, we pass two huge mooring cells and are cruising into the Cumberland River. Challenges are identified ahead on the AIS. Three tows in front of us very quickly. Yes this river is narrow and it is very winding. We see the "Lexington" ahead of us and he is in a curve. I call him on channel 13 on the VHF and ask for a pass and he asks that we wait until he is out of the curve. He is pushing hard around the bend with maybe 15 barges in front of him. His wheel wash to the outside of the curve is huge! We want the inside of the curve to avoid his wheel wash. He comes back to me and agrees on a two whistle pass which gives us the inside. I tell him we will see him "on the two" and all four boats get past him just before we get to another curve. Whew!
 |
| Easing up on the Lexington |
 |
| Seeing the Lexington on "the two" |
The other two tows ahead are fleeting tow boats working barge strings on the left descending bank below a big quarry or "Rock Pile" as the towboat captains call them. We pass on the green line away from these boats and all is good.
 |
| One of the "Rock Piles" we passed on the Cumberland |
Up ahead we are watching another upbound tow on the AIS. No luck today, he is also in a series of curves. He is the Killian L. Huger, pushing 15 barges in three strings. I call him on 13 and announce that we are four recreational vessels upbound passing the Quarry and request a pass. I want the one so as to be on the inside of the curve. He complies and even gets off the gas and slows to a crawl so we can pass. All four of us get by him. What a nice gesture! This Captain is a prince! Thank you sir!
Boogety, Boogety, Boogety. We are upbound on the Cumberland headin' to Barkley. Here comes a downbound tow at Dycusburg Bend. Another series of narrow curves in the River. He is the Edwin L. Kennedy, an Ingram Barge Company Towboat with 14 barges on. He has come through Barkley this morning. I want the inside. I call and ask for a one whistle pass and he agrees. I don't see him with my eyes until he is coming around the curve. He wants the four of us hard on the left descending bank. We are not far enough over. He gets anxious and "elevates his demeanor" on the VHF. We get farther over and suddenly we are past one another and all is right with the world again.
The Kennedy will be the last Tow we encounter on the obnoxious great rivers of the Loop. Good riddance. We are headin' to Barkley. Up ahead we saw a bald eagle swoop down across the river in front of our boat. What a beautiful bird with the white head. He went up in a tree on the right descending bank, then watched as we cruised by before going to another tree. The first bald eagle on our trip!
Here comes the I-24 bridge. Under the bridge and we make the call to the Lock just a mile and a half upstream. "This is Motor vessel Blue Moon. We are four recreation vessels upbound requesting a lock through."
And we hold our collective breaths. Blue Moon. Always Five O'Clock. Entree'. Reunion. The AIS shows two big downbound tows waiting on top of the Lock to come down. We also see on the Lock Website that a recreational vessel is on top of the lock waiting to come down. The L. R. Chapman with 15 barges has been "cut up" and is in the second stage of locking up. He is just coming out of the lock on top and has to remake his tow then get out of the way.
Barkley tells us to come on up to the Lock Wall. He will get us through in about an hour. Really? As we approach the Lock, I call and tell Barkley that we are at the bottom of the Lock. He wants to make sure we are all on the wall. We get on the wall. Looks very promising.
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| Hanging on the wall at Barkley Lock waiting for the gates to open |
In an hour from our call at the I-24 bridge, the lock gates open and a pleasure craft emerges and runs by us. A loud horn and a flashing green light signals us to enter the huge lock chamber, the highest lift we have done on the trip at 56'. We are in the Lock at 11:55. Unbelievable timing. I had mentally prepared for a 6 hour wait and an approach to GTB at O dark thirty. The Lock Gods are with us today!
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| In the Lock at Barkley looking at the upper gate doors |
We quickly rise up to Lake Barkley. The upper doors open and spill the four of us out onto a beautiful sight. My thrusters are not working consistently and my stern bangs the Lock wall several times. We maneuver around the front of the waiting downbound tow. He hasn't given us a lot of room to maneuver, but we get around him and start looking for GTB. Lake Barkley is a beautiful sight. The next Lock is 200 miles up the Tennessee River. It could be a light year away for all I care.
We have been warned about not cutting corners to get into Green Turtle Bay. Fail to follow the entrance channel and you will soon be in rocks. Crunch! We find the marked channel into the resort and motor in. They are expecting the four of us. We have made it! We have conquered the obnoxious great rivers of the Loop. Ah, a pump out! A shower! Fuel! Other Loopers! And at 12:35 PM we are tied up at the GTB dock. Victory!
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| Welcome to Green Turtle Bay! |
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| Commonwealth Yacht Club at GTB |
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| Green Turtle Bay |
Docktails tonight was fun. There are a bunch of Loopers here. Loopers that we met months and weeks and days ago. And we all crowded into a pavilion to start sharing our stories while we imbibed. The great rivers are behind us!
We are all heading to the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama on October 14. But we will take different routes to get there. Some will visit Nashville. Some will stay here and tour the area. Some, I imagine will go to Chattanooga and then back to Joe Wheeler. Some will take a break and head home as we will do before we head to the Rendezvous in Blue Moon.
Our little Flotilla headed to Patti's in Grand Rivers for dinner tonight. We had a table for eight at this great regional restaurant that is a "destination" spot. Some had the 2" pork chop. Most of us had the famous pies. It was a wonderful meal.
No 5:30 wakeup call tomorrow. No pulling up an anchor. No locks tomorrow! We will pick up our rental car and get ready for a brief respite from this cruising life.
Thanks for Reading!
Tuesday, September 17: Negotiating Locks 53 and 52, Then a Disappointment at Paducah
Date: September 17, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 154
From: Anchored on The Ohio River
To: Anchored on The Ohio River at Cumberland Towhead
Statute Miles: 44.4 SM
Time: 9.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,950.1 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are are anchored in the Ohio River near Mile 923.5 at the Cumberland Towhead, a popular Anchorage for Loopers. We are right where the Cumberland River flows into the Ohio. We are about 60 miles above Cairo, IL where the Cumberland joins the Mississippi.
We could not get Maggie ashore this morning because of the current and the soft mud at the beach. Wake up call was at 5:30. We were sitting a mile below Lock 53, the first Lock we had to transit today. I called the Lock at 6:40, and they were doing their shift change. At 7:10, they called me back and said to come to the Lock, only to stop us about 5 minutes later because a work barge had gone into the Lock. They were using the small chamber to lock us upstream.
We finally got into the chamber at 8:30. We were locked up and out at 8:50.
Maggie was crying and was uncomfortable after going more than 24 hours without a bathroom break. At 11:25 we had passed Metropolis, IL, home of "Superman", and we located the City boat Ramp per our cruising guide. We ducked into a very small floating dock, got the dog off and back on, and were under way under the I-24 highway bridge at 11:35.
We called the dreaded Lock 52 which was about a mile and a half upstream and requested a locking upbound. We told them we had four recreation vessels all together. This Lock had its small chamber closed for repairs until Monday night at midnight when it reopened. There are over 30 tows waiting to lock through 52 today, both upbound and downbound. We saw the huge tows waiting along the banks at Metropolis. We could see the tows waiting above the Lock on our AIS.
When we called the Lock at 11:35, the Lockmaster said to come up to the Lock and circle until he called us. We did. We could see a smaller downbound tow go into the smaller Lock, and we watched as they lowered him down the 12' at 52. When the tow exited the Lock, the four of us were called into the Lock. We exited the Lock at 2:00, extremely happy that we did not have to wait 6 hours or three days that some of the tows are waiting to lock through 52. We were lucky that there was no small tow waiting to lock upstream when the small tow was locking down in the small chamber. If there had been one, we would have waited longer, as commercial vessels have the priority over pleasure craft in the locks.
I had a hard time in the Lock. My thrusters started working intermittently, and I had a difficult time getting against the wall. We had to tie two lines together at the bow and stern to reach the mooring bits on the top of the wall. Susan did a good job of this. The turbulence in the Lock was strong. These Locks are not set up for pleasure craft! 52 is the worst Lock that we have transited, by far. It is little wonder that the tows back up here!
Two O'clock and we headed upriver to Paducah, KY, about 5 miles above the Lock. We had planned to stay the night at the City dock. No dice. Some type of dragon boat regatta had taken over the floating dock. No room to dock until 8:00 tonight. And we would do what until 8:00?
So, we regrouped and cruised another 11 miles up the Ohio to the confluence of the Cumberland River and the Ohio. We anchored behind the Cumberland Towhead in 10' of water. Nice and calm! No current or wind tonight!
Dennis from "Reunion" came by in his dinghy and took Susan and Maggie ashore. Maggie chased sticks and came back totally wet. She had apparently learned to swim at the ripe age of 4 years! Hard to believe. Will test this back at the Lake!
Tonight we went over to "Almost Five O'Clock" for "Rivertails". Everyone from the "flotilla" was there. We had a great time, because for the past three days, we have been together, but only on the radio. We couldn't talk enough about our experiences.
Tomorrow, we hope we make it to our destination, Green Turtle Bay Marina, KY! We have a 30 mile ride in the morning to Barkley Lock, which is another "bottleneck lock". There are two ways into Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River. Kentucky Lock and Barkley Lock. Kentucky Lock is closed for repairs until September 24. So, all traffic has to use Barkley. Not good!
The good news is that Green Turtle Bay is less than a mile from Barkley, once we get through it. We will leave at 7:00 again in the morning. My expectation is that we can get to GTB before dark! Such is the life on a River Boat!
Thanks for Reading!
Day on the Cruise: 154
From: Anchored on The Ohio River
To: Anchored on The Ohio River at Cumberland Towhead
Statute Miles: 44.4 SM
Time: 9.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,950.1 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are are anchored in the Ohio River near Mile 923.5 at the Cumberland Towhead, a popular Anchorage for Loopers. We are right where the Cumberland River flows into the Ohio. We are about 60 miles above Cairo, IL where the Cumberland joins the Mississippi.
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| We are anchored near the point where the Cumberland River Enters the Ohio River at Smithland, KY |
We could not get Maggie ashore this morning because of the current and the soft mud at the beach. Wake up call was at 5:30. We were sitting a mile below Lock 53, the first Lock we had to transit today. I called the Lock at 6:40, and they were doing their shift change. At 7:10, they called me back and said to come to the Lock, only to stop us about 5 minutes later because a work barge had gone into the Lock. They were using the small chamber to lock us upstream.
We finally got into the chamber at 8:30. We were locked up and out at 8:50.
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| Waiting at Lock 53 on the Ohio River. Pretty Place, isn't it? |
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| Waiting at Lock 53 on the Ohio River. There is a Corps of Engineers Work Boat in the Lock. |
Maggie was crying and was uncomfortable after going more than 24 hours without a bathroom break. At 11:25 we had passed Metropolis, IL, home of "Superman", and we located the City boat Ramp per our cruising guide. We ducked into a very small floating dock, got the dog off and back on, and were under way under the I-24 highway bridge at 11:35.
We called the dreaded Lock 52 which was about a mile and a half upstream and requested a locking upbound. We told them we had four recreation vessels all together. This Lock had its small chamber closed for repairs until Monday night at midnight when it reopened. There are over 30 tows waiting to lock through 52 today, both upbound and downbound. We saw the huge tows waiting along the banks at Metropolis. We could see the tows waiting above the Lock on our AIS.
When we called the Lock at 11:35, the Lockmaster said to come up to the Lock and circle until he called us. We did. We could see a smaller downbound tow go into the smaller Lock, and we watched as they lowered him down the 12' at 52. When the tow exited the Lock, the four of us were called into the Lock. We exited the Lock at 2:00, extremely happy that we did not have to wait 6 hours or three days that some of the tows are waiting to lock through 52. We were lucky that there was no small tow waiting to lock upstream when the small tow was locking down in the small chamber. If there had been one, we would have waited longer, as commercial vessels have the priority over pleasure craft in the locks.
I had a hard time in the Lock. My thrusters started working intermittently, and I had a difficult time getting against the wall. We had to tie two lines together at the bow and stern to reach the mooring bits on the top of the wall. Susan did a good job of this. The turbulence in the Lock was strong. These Locks are not set up for pleasure craft! 52 is the worst Lock that we have transited, by far. It is little wonder that the tows back up here!
Two O'clock and we headed upriver to Paducah, KY, about 5 miles above the Lock. We had planned to stay the night at the City dock. No dice. Some type of dragon boat regatta had taken over the floating dock. No room to dock until 8:00 tonight. And we would do what until 8:00?
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| Big tow at Paducah, Ky today. There are many big tows staged at Paducah waiting to lock through the Bottlenecked Lock 52 |
So, we regrouped and cruised another 11 miles up the Ohio to the confluence of the Cumberland River and the Ohio. We anchored behind the Cumberland Towhead in 10' of water. Nice and calm! No current or wind tonight!
Dennis from "Reunion" came by in his dinghy and took Susan and Maggie ashore. Maggie chased sticks and came back totally wet. She had apparently learned to swim at the ripe age of 4 years! Hard to believe. Will test this back at the Lake!
Tonight we went over to "Almost Five O'Clock" for "Rivertails". Everyone from the "flotilla" was there. We had a great time, because for the past three days, we have been together, but only on the radio. We couldn't talk enough about our experiences.
Tomorrow, we hope we make it to our destination, Green Turtle Bay Marina, KY! We have a 30 mile ride in the morning to Barkley Lock, which is another "bottleneck lock". There are two ways into Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River. Kentucky Lock and Barkley Lock. Kentucky Lock is closed for repairs until September 24. So, all traffic has to use Barkley. Not good!
The good news is that Green Turtle Bay is less than a mile from Barkley, once we get through it. We will leave at 7:00 again in the morning. My expectation is that we can get to GTB before dark! Such is the life on a River Boat!
Thanks for Reading!
Monday, September 16: Out of the Mississippi and Into the Ohio River
Date: September 16, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 153
From: Anchored on The Mississippi River
To: Anchored on The Ohio River
Statute Miles: 99.3 SM
Time: 9.5 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,905.7 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are are anchored in the Ohio River near Mile 965. We are 16 miles from the Mississippi River just upriver from the new Olmstead Lock construction site, and we still don't have internet.
We got Maggie to shore this morning around dawn, then back to the boat for our start up. It rained during the night and was spitting rain this morning. By the time we pulled anchor at 7:00 it was raining pretty good.
This was our first night ever "on the hook" as they say. It went OK. Thankfully there was no wind. We were tucked in behind the wing dams so there was no current. The "L" shape of the wing dam configuration kept the current out of our private harbor. We felt a few barges go by in the night, but the leg of the dam that runs parallel to the channel kept most of the wake out of our anchorage. I had set my anchor alarm and it went off once during the night. I got up and shined a flashlight on the other boats, the wing dam,and the shore,and didn't detect that we had moved into a dangerous area,so I went back to sleep. We did not run the generator last night because I don't think it is cooling properly. We ran it at dinner time to cook and charge the batteries, then turned it off. We ran it for 45 minutes this morning before we left to make coffee and charge the batteries, then shut it down.
Anchoring has about three serious issues. One is getting your anchor to hold when you let it down. The second is not dragging your anchor when you are asleep. The third raising your anchor and not having it get stuck on the bottom. I am very thankful that all three situations were handled satisfactorily on this first ever anchoring expedition for us.
I led the way today because I have the AIS. We again traveled with Always Five O'Clock, Entree' and Reunion. We passed Cape Girardeau, MO at 9:45 and reached the Ohio River at 2:05 after 79.3 miles. The current was fast today giving us a push of about 3-3.5 mph. Good for fuel economy......that is until we got to the Ohio at Cairo, IL.
When I turned up the Ohio, I was pushing to make 7 mph. I powered up and maintained 7 to 7-1/2 mph. My fuel economy went to less than a mile per gallon. Awful! We were aiming for some mooring cells at Ohio MM 766. Our plan was to tie up to these for the night.
The confluence of the Mississippi and the Ohio is very wide. We could see this junction before we passed under the last bridge on the "upper" Mississippi. Below the confluence, it is the "lower" Mississippi. As we approached this last bridge, we got a good look at Angelo's towhead at mile 1.5 of the Mississippi. It looked like could have anchored in or around it OK.
We cruised through Cairo, and this must be the Barge and Towboat capital of the world! More than St. Louis! They were on both sides of the River and in the middle of the River! I loved viewing the huge towboats. Ingram Barge Lines had a big representation here. So did Marquette Transportation, another large barge company.
We got through Cairo and headed upriver. We passed several grain elevators that were loading grain onto barges. This far South, it looks like the harvest has begun.
We arrived at the aforementioned mooring cells at 4:15. The cells were very high and had mooring bits on the River side of them. There were four of them located at a boat ramp just downriver from the construction site of the new Olmstead Lock and Dam. We thought that we could tie up to the cells on the back side but there were no mooring bits on the back. Two tows warned us not to moor here because big barges come in at night and use these mooring cells.
We tried to anchor downstream from the mooring cells. We could not get good holding. I then decided to go upriver past the new dam construction and near Lock and Dam 53. I found a place with good holding just above the new dam construction and about a mile below Lock and Dam 53. We are in the strong current flowing over the dam, but out of the channel. The current is too strong to take Maggie to shore. The shoreline is very muddy also. Maggie has to persevere for the night.
Dinner was on board. Tomorrow we will go through two "bottleneck" Locks and hopefully get to Paducah, KY. Delays at these two Locks have been extreme over the past couple of weeks. At Lock 52, there are over 40 tows waiting to lock through. We are just four "recreational vessels" as the Corps of Engineers calls us with the lowest priority. Who knows what the morrow holds. We will be grinding tomorrow and hoping we get treated right at 53 and 52. This is not fun!
Thanks for Reading!
Day on the Cruise: 153
From: Anchored on The Mississippi River
To: Anchored on The Ohio River
Statute Miles: 99.3 SM
Time: 9.5 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,905.7 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are are anchored in the Ohio River near Mile 965. We are 16 miles from the Mississippi River just upriver from the new Olmstead Lock construction site, and we still don't have internet.
We got Maggie to shore this morning around dawn, then back to the boat for our start up. It rained during the night and was spitting rain this morning. By the time we pulled anchor at 7:00 it was raining pretty good.
This was our first night ever "on the hook" as they say. It went OK. Thankfully there was no wind. We were tucked in behind the wing dams so there was no current. The "L" shape of the wing dam configuration kept the current out of our private harbor. We felt a few barges go by in the night, but the leg of the dam that runs parallel to the channel kept most of the wake out of our anchorage. I had set my anchor alarm and it went off once during the night. I got up and shined a flashlight on the other boats, the wing dam,and the shore,and didn't detect that we had moved into a dangerous area,so I went back to sleep. We did not run the generator last night because I don't think it is cooling properly. We ran it at dinner time to cook and charge the batteries, then turned it off. We ran it for 45 minutes this morning before we left to make coffee and charge the batteries, then shut it down.
Anchoring has about three serious issues. One is getting your anchor to hold when you let it down. The second is not dragging your anchor when you are asleep. The third raising your anchor and not having it get stuck on the bottom. I am very thankful that all three situations were handled satisfactorily on this first ever anchoring expedition for us.
I led the way today because I have the AIS. We again traveled with Always Five O'Clock, Entree' and Reunion. We passed Cape Girardeau, MO at 9:45 and reached the Ohio River at 2:05 after 79.3 miles. The current was fast today giving us a push of about 3-3.5 mph. Good for fuel economy......that is until we got to the Ohio at Cairo, IL.
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| Flood Wall Mural at Cape Girardeau, MO |
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| Whirlpools in the River Today |
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| Last Bridge on the Upper Mississippi River |
When I turned up the Ohio, I was pushing to make 7 mph. I powered up and maintained 7 to 7-1/2 mph. My fuel economy went to less than a mile per gallon. Awful! We were aiming for some mooring cells at Ohio MM 766. Our plan was to tie up to these for the night.
The confluence of the Mississippi and the Ohio is very wide. We could see this junction before we passed under the last bridge on the "upper" Mississippi. Below the confluence, it is the "lower" Mississippi. As we approached this last bridge, we got a good look at Angelo's towhead at mile 1.5 of the Mississippi. It looked like could have anchored in or around it OK.
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| Angelo's Towhead at Mile 1.5 |
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| Looking at the Ohio River |
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| Looking downriver at the "lower" Mississippi |
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| Looking up the Ohio as we turn out of the Mississippi |
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| Looking back up the Mississippi from which we have just exited. |
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| Looking up the Ohio River as we leave the Mississippi |
We cruised through Cairo, and this must be the Barge and Towboat capital of the world! More than St. Louis! They were on both sides of the River and in the middle of the River! I loved viewing the huge towboats. Ingram Barge Lines had a big representation here. So did Marquette Transportation, another large barge company.
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| Barges Tied Off in the Middle of the Ohio River at Cairo, IL |
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| Shoreline at Cairo, IL |
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| Tows being assembled at Cairo, IL |
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| Barges in the River at Cairo |
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| Barges in the River at Cairo |
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| Looking upriver at Cairo |
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| Big Tow against the Bank at Cairo, IL |
We got through Cairo and headed upriver. We passed several grain elevators that were loading grain onto barges. This far South, it looks like the harvest has begun.
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| Loading Grain into Barges Near Cairo, IL |
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| Loading Grain at an Elevator Near Cairo, IL |
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| This barge is not sunken. Grain is being loaded into the barge. A tug moves it ahead and behind to fill evenly. |
We arrived at the aforementioned mooring cells at 4:15. The cells were very high and had mooring bits on the River side of them. There were four of them located at a boat ramp just downriver from the construction site of the new Olmstead Lock and Dam. We thought that we could tie up to the cells on the back side but there were no mooring bits on the back. Two tows warned us not to moor here because big barges come in at night and use these mooring cells.
We tried to anchor downstream from the mooring cells. We could not get good holding. I then decided to go upriver past the new dam construction and near Lock and Dam 53. I found a place with good holding just above the new dam construction and about a mile below Lock and Dam 53. We are in the strong current flowing over the dam, but out of the channel. The current is too strong to take Maggie to shore. The shoreline is very muddy also. Maggie has to persevere for the night.
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| Our Anchorage just Upstream of the New Olmstead Lock and Dam still Under Construction |
Dinner was on board. Tomorrow we will go through two "bottleneck" Locks and hopefully get to Paducah, KY. Delays at these two Locks have been extreme over the past couple of weeks. At Lock 52, there are over 40 tows waiting to lock through. We are just four "recreational vessels" as the Corps of Engineers calls us with the lowest priority. Who knows what the morrow holds. We will be grinding tomorrow and hoping we get treated right at 53 and 52. This is not fun!
Thanks for Reading!
Sunday, September 15: We Anchor Out for the First Time on the Loop
Date: September 15, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 152
From: Hoppies Marina, Kimmswick, MO
To: Anchored on The Mississippi River at MM 77.85
Statute Miles: 81.2 SM
Time: 7.33 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,806.4 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are are anchored in the Mississippi River near Mile 78. We are 78 miles from the Ohio River, and don't have internet.
Our departure today was at 7:05. After a 5:00 wakeup call, we were already tired when we hit the river. We did top off our water before we left. We will be anchoring out for at least the next three nights in God knows where.
No locks today, just winding river, tow boats, dangerous currents and eddy's and a long day. The two bad places that Fern warned us about have strong currents, whirlpools, and confused water. They are both in sharp turns in the river where the width narrows. Do not pass a tow in these areas! This is the mantra in these parts! The Gospel according to Fern!
The first turn one was OK. We got bumped around some. Lots of whirlpools! No tows. The second one was rough also, especially the whirlpools. And we came up on the back of a tow! Surprise, surprise. I had been tracking him on my AIS and had calculated that we would catch him (we were both downbound). Sure enough we did. I elected to slow down and follow him. He took us right to our anchorage for the night!
After clearing the second dangerous curve, we started looking for the anchorage that had been suggested to us. We had the GPS coordinates, but less than two miles before reaching this place, we came upon three areas of wing dams on the left descending bank. The middle one was two dams forming an "L" shape. It was a protected harbor. I volunteered to go into the place and check it out.
I went downstream below a red buoy and then turned and came back up against the current. I ducked into the "L" and went into the harbor very slowly. The water was calm, no current, and was generally 18-30' deep. This looks like a place where they might have dug rock out for the wing dams. Like a quarry. I put my anchor out and it held, so the other three boats came in and also anchored.
Bill from "Entree' " came over with his dingy and took Maggie to shore. This was much appreciated. Later, we put our dinghy in and put the outboard engine on it. We ferried Maggie ashore just before dark. The beach was very muddy near the water, but it was a good place to walk the dog.
Dinner was on board tonight. There is a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow we will go about 95 miles to an anchorage on the Ohio River. We hope to tie up to some mooring cells near the Olmstead Lock which is under construction.
Thanks for Reading!
Day on the Cruise: 152
From: Hoppies Marina, Kimmswick, MO
To: Anchored on The Mississippi River at MM 77.85
Statute Miles: 81.2 SM
Time: 7.33 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,806.4 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
Tonight we are are anchored in the Mississippi River near Mile 78. We are 78 miles from the Ohio River, and don't have internet.
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| Where we are anchored along the River behind a wing dam tonight |
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| Anchored about 110 Miles South of St Louis |
Our departure today was at 7:05. After a 5:00 wakeup call, we were already tired when we hit the river. We did top off our water before we left. We will be anchoring out for at least the next three nights in God knows where.
No locks today, just winding river, tow boats, dangerous currents and eddy's and a long day. The two bad places that Fern warned us about have strong currents, whirlpools, and confused water. They are both in sharp turns in the river where the width narrows. Do not pass a tow in these areas! This is the mantra in these parts! The Gospel according to Fern!
The first turn one was OK. We got bumped around some. Lots of whirlpools! No tows. The second one was rough also, especially the whirlpools. And we came up on the back of a tow! Surprise, surprise. I had been tracking him on my AIS and had calculated that we would catch him (we were both downbound). Sure enough we did. I elected to slow down and follow him. He took us right to our anchorage for the night!
After clearing the second dangerous curve, we started looking for the anchorage that had been suggested to us. We had the GPS coordinates, but less than two miles before reaching this place, we came upon three areas of wing dams on the left descending bank. The middle one was two dams forming an "L" shape. It was a protected harbor. I volunteered to go into the place and check it out.
I went downstream below a red buoy and then turned and came back up against the current. I ducked into the "L" and went into the harbor very slowly. The water was calm, no current, and was generally 18-30' deep. This looks like a place where they might have dug rock out for the wing dams. Like a quarry. I put my anchor out and it held, so the other three boats came in and also anchored.
Bill from "Entree' " came over with his dingy and took Maggie to shore. This was much appreciated. Later, we put our dinghy in and put the outboard engine on it. We ferried Maggie ashore just before dark. The beach was very muddy near the water, but it was a good place to walk the dog.
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| Susan and Maggie going ashore at our Mississippi River Anchorage |
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| Bill from Entree' and Susan and Maggie |
Dinner was on board tonight. There is a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow we will go about 95 miles to an anchorage on the Ohio River. We hope to tie up to some mooring cells near the Olmstead Lock which is under construction.
Thanks for Reading!
Saturday, September 14: We Finally Be Rollin' On The River!!
Date: September 14, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 151
From: Alton Marina, Alton, IL
To: Hoppies Marina, Kimmswick, MO
Statute Miles: 44.3 SM
Time: 5.33 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,725.2 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We are at the famous Hoppies Marina in Kimmswick, MO tonight. We are about 25 miles South of St Louis.
Today was a very interesting day on the River. We are finally "Rollin' on the River"....Yee Haw!!
"Left a good job in the city,
Workin' for The Man ev'ry night and day,
And I never lost one minute of sleepin',
Worryin' 'bout the way things might have been.
Big wheel keep on turnin',
Proud Mary keep on burnin',
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river."
We left Alton Marina at 7:00, but first we tried to get a pump out. No dock hands until 8:00. Scratch the pump out! Hope we can make it for 5 days.
Three of the four boats in our flotilla came out into the River. "Reunion" had a problem backing out of their slip. They had filled their water tanks and this added enough weight to lower the boat in the water so that they hung up on the under water strut that connects the two finger piers on either side of the covered slip. The night manager of the marina (why couldn't he have given us a pump out?) came out and did something to get them unstuck. Wait, I thought Friday the 13th was yesterday?
Once we were all together in the Mississippi, it was less than two miles to Mel Price Lock and Dam. They put us into the main chamber without waiting and lowered us down. On to the next Lock fifteen miles down river.
Things started happening fast after clearing Mel Price. The Missouri River entered the Mississippi on our right side. We got a big push from the current coming out of the Missouri. Right on the left side of the Mississippi, a big tow was coming out of a canal leading to the Chain of Rocks Lock or Lock 27. The Mississippi curves right here and there are a number of rapids and rocks, so there is an 8 mile canal leading to the Lock.
We entered the canal from the River, after almost missing the turn because of the big tow coming out. (Thanks Al on "Almost 5 O'Clock", for the heads up!) The current was very turbulent and we were spinning back and forth, then calm water in the canal. We actually went through whirlpools here.
The canal is very narrow. We passed an upbound tow and before we passed, we stopped and let him clear a work barge under a bridge being built. After we passed the barge, here comes another tow upbound. This time, a downbound tow is stopped in the canal. No room for the upbound to pass the downbound and us in there also, so we stop and wait for the upbound to clear.
Ok, finally clear the traffic and enter the second lock. They drop us down and we leave the lock. Right after exiting the lock, we have to pass a huge tow coming up the canal from the river. We go around a bend, and bang! There is downtown St Louis. A nice skyline with a gizzillion bridges across the river and barges and tows everywhere. The targets on my AIS were more numerous than New York Harbor.
We also left the canal and re-entered the Mississippi River. The current was like white water with standing waves. I have no idea how this happens but it twisted and turned our boat like a top. Shortly we were through the turbulence and coasting down the river with a 2.5-3.5 mph bump due to the current.
Seeing the Arch on the waterfront was spectacular. So much industrial in St Louis! Barges everywhere. Even big gangs of barges anchored in the middle of the river!
"Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis,
Pumped a lot of 'pane down in New Orleans,
But I never saw the good side of the city,
'Til I hitched a ride on a river boat queen.
Big wheel keep on turnin',
Proud Mary keep on burnin',
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river."
Cruising through St Louis, you see the "good side of the city". The Arch. The levees. The bridges. The waterfront. The tows and barges. But no marinas, and no place to stop and see the other side of the city.
We made it through the city and continued down the Mississippi. Our destination was Hoppies Marina that is the last marina until we reach Green Turtle Bay in Kentucky. Needless to say, it is an important stop for topping off fuel and water.
Hoppies is famous for its owner, Fern Hoppie. She is the "Queen of the River". She knows everything about the river and gives a mandatory briefing on river conditions each afternoon at 4:30. She has owned the marina with her husband for over 40 years.
Keeping a sharp look out for Hoppies, we continued down stream. Soon we saw three old barges on the right descending bank and some boats tied up. This is Hoppies. Always Five O'Clock went in and got fuel, then we docked and topped off. The current was extreme. We had to go past Hoppies then turn back up into the current and tie up. When I was waiting to go in for fuel, I was idling going into the current, and it was actually pushing me downstream with the gear shift engaged. Very strong.
We got fuel, tied up for the night on the barge,and made plans for lunch. We also met Fern who fueled us up and helped us tie for the night. She is quite the river lady.
"If you come down to the river,
Bet you gonna find some people who live.
You don't have to worry 'cause you have no money,
People on the river are happy to give.
Big wheel keep on turnin',
Proud Mary keep on burnin',
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river."
Enough rollin' on the river for this nice Saturday. We were huun-gray!
Kimmswick is a small town. We walked into town from the barges and found the famous Blue Owl Restaurant. This restaurant was recommended by other loopers. It is famous for its pie. Of course Fern encouraged us to go try it out.
We were not prepared for what we saw. It seemed like all of St Louis had come down to the Blue Owl. There were people everywhere. We had made a reservation and they seated the 8 of us from the four boats. Our lunch was excellent and the pies were all they were advertised to be. What a great meal, complete with Bloody Mary's.
At 4:30, we convened under a shed on the barges for Fern to hold court. She did not disappoint. She gave us a run down on the river conditions; the lock situation on the Ohio River; how to deal with eddy's and strong currents in two or three dangerous bends in the river; how to deal with tows; where to stay (anchor) and where not to anchor; the Tennessee and Tombigbee Waterway, and on and on. We were there for almost two hours and then, "poof", she was gone. Got into her golf cart and rode off the barge back to her house.
Well, we were certainly confused. Our plans need to be altered because a few places that we might have anchored are no longer in play due to silting and low water level. It is very hard to visualize the places she described when you have never been down the river into these areas.
We had a big meeting on Always Five O'Clock before we went to bed and decided to go 82 miles tomorrow to an anchorage behind a wing dam. These wing dams are very prevalent on the Mississippi. They are in essence jetties constructed of large rip rap or surge stone. They protrude out from the river banks perpendicular to the river channel. They divert water toward the center of the river to make it flow faster. The silt in the slower moving water stays near the wing dams and drops out to stay out of the channel. There are thousands of these wing dams and they are all above water now because the river is low. If you can find a way in behind a wing dam and it is not too shallow, it makes a protected place to anchor along the river over night.
Our anchorage tomorrow will be where another boat ahead of us is anchored tonight, so we have current information on the place. We are concerned about the water depths because the river can drop overnight. If we are anchored in too shallow water, and the river drops, we could be stuck behind the wing dam. Not good!
Monday we will complete the Mississippi and go about 15 miles up the Ohio to an anchorage that Fern recommended below Lock and Dam 53. The next four nights will be a challenge because we won't have a marina. Ugh!
Thanks for Reading!
Day on the Cruise: 151
From: Alton Marina, Alton, IL
To: Hoppies Marina, Kimmswick, MO
Statute Miles: 44.3 SM
Time: 5.33 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,725.2 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We are at the famous Hoppies Marina in Kimmswick, MO tonight. We are about 25 miles South of St Louis.
 |
| On the Mississippi South of St. Louis |
Today was a very interesting day on the River. We are finally "Rollin' on the River"....Yee Haw!!
"Left a good job in the city,
Workin' for The Man ev'ry night and day,
And I never lost one minute of sleepin',
Worryin' 'bout the way things might have been.
Big wheel keep on turnin',
Proud Mary keep on burnin',
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river."
We left Alton Marina at 7:00, but first we tried to get a pump out. No dock hands until 8:00. Scratch the pump out! Hope we can make it for 5 days.
 |
| Blue Moon at Alton Early Saturday Morning |
 |
| Leaving Alton, Looking North |
 |
| Alton Marina to the North Under the Bridge |
 |
| Casino Boats along the River in Alton |
Once we were all together in the Mississippi, it was less than two miles to Mel Price Lock and Dam. They put us into the main chamber without waiting and lowered us down. On to the next Lock fifteen miles down river.
 |
| Entree' in the Mel Price Lock |
 |
| Always Five O'Clock in the Mel Price Lock |
 |
| Reunion in the Mel Price Lock |
Things started happening fast after clearing Mel Price. The Missouri River entered the Mississippi on our right side. We got a big push from the current coming out of the Missouri. Right on the left side of the Mississippi, a big tow was coming out of a canal leading to the Chain of Rocks Lock or Lock 27. The Mississippi curves right here and there are a number of rapids and rocks, so there is an 8 mile canal leading to the Lock.
We entered the canal from the River, after almost missing the turn because of the big tow coming out. (Thanks Al on "Almost 5 O'Clock", for the heads up!) The current was very turbulent and we were spinning back and forth, then calm water in the canal. We actually went through whirlpools here.
The canal is very narrow. We passed an upbound tow and before we passed, we stopped and let him clear a work barge under a bridge being built. After we passed the barge, here comes another tow upbound. This time, a downbound tow is stopped in the canal. No room for the upbound to pass the downbound and us in there also, so we stop and wait for the upbound to clear.
 |
| Bridge Under Construction on Chain of Rocks Canal. Very Narrow Waterway! |
 |
| Bridge across Chain of Rocks Canal |
 |
| Upbound Tow Passing a Stopped Downbound Tow. NO Room for US!! |
Ok, finally clear the traffic and enter the second lock. They drop us down and we leave the lock. Right after exiting the lock, we have to pass a huge tow coming up the canal from the river. We go around a bend, and bang! There is downtown St Louis. A nice skyline with a gizzillion bridges across the river and barges and tows everywhere. The targets on my AIS were more numerous than New York Harbor.
 |
| St Louis Skyline. Note the Rough Water as We Come Back Into the Mississippi From Chain of Rocks Canal |
 |
| The "Arch" |
We also left the canal and re-entered the Mississippi River. The current was like white water with standing waves. I have no idea how this happens but it twisted and turned our boat like a top. Shortly we were through the turbulence and coasting down the river with a 2.5-3.5 mph bump due to the current.
Seeing the Arch on the waterfront was spectacular. So much industrial in St Louis! Barges everywhere. Even big gangs of barges anchored in the middle of the river!
"Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis,
Pumped a lot of 'pane down in New Orleans,
But I never saw the good side of the city,
'Til I hitched a ride on a river boat queen.
Big wheel keep on turnin',
Proud Mary keep on burnin',
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river."
Cruising through St Louis, you see the "good side of the city". The Arch. The levees. The bridges. The waterfront. The tows and barges. But no marinas, and no place to stop and see the other side of the city.
We made it through the city and continued down the Mississippi. Our destination was Hoppies Marina that is the last marina until we reach Green Turtle Bay in Kentucky. Needless to say, it is an important stop for topping off fuel and water.
Hoppies is famous for its owner, Fern Hoppie. She is the "Queen of the River". She knows everything about the river and gives a mandatory briefing on river conditions each afternoon at 4:30. She has owned the marina with her husband for over 40 years.
Keeping a sharp look out for Hoppies, we continued down stream. Soon we saw three old barges on the right descending bank and some boats tied up. This is Hoppies. Always Five O'Clock went in and got fuel, then we docked and topped off. The current was extreme. We had to go past Hoppies then turn back up into the current and tie up. When I was waiting to go in for fuel, I was idling going into the current, and it was actually pushing me downstream with the gear shift engaged. Very strong.
 |
| Here it is: Hoppies Marina!! Impressive! |
 |
| Hoppies Marina |
 |
| Hoppies |
We got fuel, tied up for the night on the barge,and made plans for lunch. We also met Fern who fueled us up and helped us tie for the night. She is quite the river lady.
"If you come down to the river,
Bet you gonna find some people who live.
You don't have to worry 'cause you have no money,
People on the river are happy to give.
Big wheel keep on turnin',
Proud Mary keep on burnin',
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river."
Enough rollin' on the river for this nice Saturday. We were huun-gray!
Kimmswick is a small town. We walked into town from the barges and found the famous Blue Owl Restaurant. This restaurant was recommended by other loopers. It is famous for its pie. Of course Fern encouraged us to go try it out.
 |
| Walking up the ramp from the "Barges at Hoppies" |
 |
| Blue Moon at Hoppies, Saturday Afternoon |
We were not prepared for what we saw. It seemed like all of St Louis had come down to the Blue Owl. There were people everywhere. We had made a reservation and they seated the 8 of us from the four boats. Our lunch was excellent and the pies were all they were advertised to be. What a great meal, complete with Bloody Mary's.
At 4:30, we convened under a shed on the barges for Fern to hold court. She did not disappoint. She gave us a run down on the river conditions; the lock situation on the Ohio River; how to deal with eddy's and strong currents in two or three dangerous bends in the river; how to deal with tows; where to stay (anchor) and where not to anchor; the Tennessee and Tombigbee Waterway, and on and on. We were there for almost two hours and then, "poof", she was gone. Got into her golf cart and rode off the barge back to her house.
Well, we were certainly confused. Our plans need to be altered because a few places that we might have anchored are no longer in play due to silting and low water level. It is very hard to visualize the places she described when you have never been down the river into these areas.
We had a big meeting on Always Five O'Clock before we went to bed and decided to go 82 miles tomorrow to an anchorage behind a wing dam. These wing dams are very prevalent on the Mississippi. They are in essence jetties constructed of large rip rap or surge stone. They protrude out from the river banks perpendicular to the river channel. They divert water toward the center of the river to make it flow faster. The silt in the slower moving water stays near the wing dams and drops out to stay out of the channel. There are thousands of these wing dams and they are all above water now because the river is low. If you can find a way in behind a wing dam and it is not too shallow, it makes a protected place to anchor along the river over night.
 |
| Wing Dam on the Mississippi |
 |
| Wing Dam on the River Showing Current Going Downstream |
 |
| Wing Dams on the Mississippi |
Our anchorage tomorrow will be where another boat ahead of us is anchored tonight, so we have current information on the place. We are concerned about the water depths because the river can drop overnight. If we are anchored in too shallow water, and the river drops, we could be stuck behind the wing dam. Not good!
Monday we will complete the Mississippi and go about 15 miles up the Ohio to an anchorage that Fern recommended below Lock and Dam 53. The next four nights will be a challenge because we won't have a marina. Ugh!
Thanks for Reading!
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