Against The Current

Friday 6/26/09 Today we continued our journey against the current. We passed by Cape Girardeau, hometown of Rush Limbaugh and continued on upriver to the mouth of the Kaskaskia River. Just upstream about a quarter mile is Kaskaskia Lock which has a floating lock wall on the downstream side of the lock chamber. In addition to being somewhat unique the wall is available to pleasure boaters to tie to for an overnight stay free of charge! There are no amenities and you can only get off the boat and onto the deck of the wall. Since 911 no one is allowed to go ashore which would mean climbing up a ladder and crossing the lock gates to get to shore. Even so, it's a good, secure spot to spend a night. On the way in to the lock I thought I was going to lose Pam. As she was putting out the fenders and lines she let out a scream that could be heard back in Ft. Myers. Seems I forgot to tell her about the Asian Carp that jump out of the water as the boat passes. These fish can jump at least 6' in the air and they pop up like popcorn all around the boat. She thought she was being attacked! Several fish mistimed their jumps and hit the side of the boat. Once we stopped they went back into hiding.

Saturday 6/27/09 We pulled away from Kaskaskia Lock at 6:55 am and immediately ran the gauntlet of Asian Carp. Guess who screamed again?! Once in the Mississippi we were away from the carp. I guess even they can't swim against the current. We continued North to Hoppies Marina/gas dock at Kimmswick, Mo. and took on much needed fuel. If you remember back in November we stayed at Hoppies and found some great pie at the Blue Owl Cafe. Not this time though, we're headin home. Just for comparison in November the run from Hoppies to Green Turtle Bay consumed 177 gallons of diesel. This time we pumped in 328 gallons.

We continued on to St. Louis passing more moored barges than I have ever seen in my life. Fortunately the debris which is usually prominent in the area was minimal. Quite a bit of it was caught in front of the barges like you can see in the picture. We passed through Lock 27 and rose 7' and then on to Mel Price Lock at Alton, Ill. where we had no rise in water level. You can see in the picture that only one gate was opened for us to enter the chamber and at the other end you can see the gate and the water beyond. The upper gate lowers into the lock and you drive over it. Amazing structures! We continued on to Port St. Charles Marina in St. Charles, Mo. for the night.