Rainy Nights in Kentucky

Thursday 10/29/09     Still sitting at Green Turtle Bay (http://www.greenturtlebay.com/) enjoying the rain. According to the local news it has been the wettest October on record for this area with more still to come. We just might stay another night and enjoy the Commonwealth Yacht Club.....Again!
Fortunately our slip is right next to the marina office with a great view of the fuel dock and harbor which has provided quite a bit of entertainment. The most unfortunate incident came yesterday when a woman tried pulling into the fuel dock (her husband was on the dock) and misjudged the wind and knocked the diesel pump over with the bow pulpit of the boat! Needless to say, the fuel business at GTB came to a halt for a few hours until the pump could be checked out and put back upright. Fortunately there wasn't any spillage of fuel into the water. Estimated cost of repair $4,000.00.

Most of the other entertainment is provided by the variety of boats coming and going from this marina. A couple that caught my eye were a 53' Selene Ocean Trawler named "MoonBeam" which is doing the Great Loop and the other was a boat that we saw at Legacy Harbor last winter. A 55' Fleming named "Brightwater" that just happens to be for sale. Did I mention that the 55 Fleming (pictured above) is one of our favorite boats!
The real excitement came when we took the courtesy van to Wal Mart in Paducah. Always a cultural experience. It just doesn't get any better!

209 Miles in Two Days

Monday 10/26/09     We pulled away from the Kaskaskia Lock around 8am and entered the fast moving, debris filled channel of the Mississippi. Our destination, the Little River Diversion Canal just below Cape Girardeau, Mo. One of only a couple spots between Alton, Il. and Kentucky Lake to get out of the swift moving currents. Once again as it was in June when we came North, the river is only a couple feet below flood stage in Cape Girardeau. The travel was uneventfull but tense due to the amount of debris and we happily pulled off the channel at around 1:30pm to anchor for the evening. Cocktails, cigar, and a nap consumed the rest of the afternoon. Fortunately I avoided playing cribbage, which Pam seems to think I need to learn. AGAIN!
Tuesday 10/27/09     Up early and underway. I expected to hit the channel and find even more debris than before since the river is still rising. Even the Diversion Canal had quite a bit of junk floating down it into the channel. Much to my delight we found very little compared to the previous days. Just to keep us on our toes though it was raining and somewhat foggy limiting visibility to less than a mile. Thank God for radar! The front of a barge doesn't exactly jump out at you because of it's bright colors (rusty brown), but the radar picks them up before the eye can see them.

We continued down river passing this guy about 4 miles above the junction of the Mississippi and the Ohio. If you've ever been through this area on the water you know it is very busy with several horseshoe bends and plenty of current. Again. NUTS!

The junction of the two rivers provided plenty of current and making the turn was cause for keeping a good grip on the wheel and enjoying the ride. Once on the Ohio we passed by Cairo, Il., a very busy port for barge traffic and headed upstream. Our luck was with us as we were able to pass over Locks 53 and 52 (pictured) and continue on to the Cumberland River.

Still raining, we arrived at Barkley Lock and Pam had to get on her foulies and head out on deck to hang fenders and lasso the bollard once in the lock. What a trooper! We rose about 40' and exited the chamber. 10 minutes later we pulled into Green Turtle Bay where we will spend the next couple of days and dry out.

Foster Brooks

Saturday 10/24/09 & Sunday 10/25/09     Some of you may remember Foster Brooks, a comedian from some years back who became famous for his portrayal of a drunkard. For the past few days that's what I've felt like driving the boat. Weaving and bobbing like a drunk, around floating chunks of wood that litter the channel. It's been impossible to keep a straight course for more than 100 feet without jerking the wheel one way or another. The river is still rising which means the debris will keep on coming. The good news is that at 870 rpms which normally pushes us at 10 to 10.5 mph at home, we are now kicking it along at 14.5 to 15 mph. Pam had to put a hat on to keep her hair from being pulled out by the wind!

We've stayed near Louisiana, Mo. the other night and passed through their train bridge the next morning. A neat old structure as so many of them are at 100 plus years of age.

Further down river we passed this grouping of towboats without barges headed North. One pushing two.

The colors have been fantastic though somewhat hard to portray in a photo since most days have been raining or overcast..

This picture of the Alton bridge gives an idea of the river debris if you look close. All you see is the big stuff. The smaller prop benders don't show up in the photo.

Between Alton and St. Louis is a man made canal called the Chain of Rocks Canal, built to provide a safe passage for the river traffic around a series of rapids in the river. The sign at the upper entrance to the canal leaves little doubt as to which way to go. Even I can figure this one out!

We passed through St. Louis. Stopped at Hoppies' for fuel.(the last place for fuel for 250 miles!) and continued on to Kaskaskia Lock just off the Mississippi at mm 117.3 on the Kaskaskia River. They have a floating lock wall that people like us can tie to for the night, free of charge! The best part is it is out of the wicked current of the main channel which provides for a more restfull night of sleep. zzzz

Rainy River

Thursday 10/22/09 & Friday 10/23/09     Rain, Rain, Rain! Both Thursday & Friday we travelled in rain. Not bad travelling except when it's time to lock thru. Get out the foulies, hang the fenders, and hold onto the lines. We caught a break on Friday however when 3 out of 4 locks let us float in the chamber while the water went down which of course means we get to stay inside & dry!

Of course all the rain causes everything sitting along a stream bank to flow out into the main channel of the river creating an obstacle course for Tourist. At one point below Lock 20 I swear you could walk across the river on the debris, it was so thick.

One of the interesting sights we passed on Thursday was the remains of the Kiethsburg, Illinois RR Bridge. I can remember watching the news back in the early '80s and seeing them explode a section of the bridge and drop it into the river. Last night I learned the rest of that story. It seems the original bridge was built in the 1880's and later replaced with a new bridge in 1909. Over the years it was owned by several different railroads the last being the C & NW which closed the line in 1971. On June 30, 1981 some of the local kids decided that the bridge would be a good spot to set off their fireworks. Well one of the shells landed in the bridge tenders shack catching it on fire. The fire in the shack started the grease on the bridge mechanism on fire which caused the lift span to fail and drop into the river blocking the main channel and stopping navigation. The section I saw on the news was the section next to the fallen section which was removed to make a wider navigation channel.

Shortly before we arrived at our Friday night destination we passed this guy in a kayak with sail and outrigger all bundled up against the elements. Can you say NUTS!

What Next!

Wednesday 10/21/09      Our travels today took us south through Clinton, Ia., the Quad Cities, and ended up anchoring just below Lock #16 at Muscatine, Ia. A bit of excitement at Lock #13 (which caused a delay for us) when the mule broke and nearly fell into the river. No it's not a four legged mule. A mule is a lare cleat on rollers mounted on a piece of rail that runs along the wall leading into each lock chamber. It's function is to pull the first section of barges out of the chamber so that the water can be raised or lowered to enable the second section and the towboat to enter the chamber and be brought to the same level as the first section. Many commercial tows on the Upper Mississippi are nearly 1200 feet long while the lock chambers are only 600 feet in length thus the need to lock through in sections. Once they fished the broken mule back up on the wall the towboat cleared out and in we went. Sorry. No pictures.

Pam found a new form of entertainment although in this case it's seasonal. Here in the upper Midwest come harvest time we are invaded by Asian Beetles which look just like a Lady Bug. The big difference is that when crushed they emit a putrid odor, leave an orange stain, and they occasionally pinch you. They love the heat of the sun such as is magnified by the eisenglass of our flybridge. Anyway Pam decided to take an almost empty water bottle and scrape them into it and then quickly put the cap back on. By the end of the day she had quite a collection. Every so often she would shake the bottle and rattle the dead bugs around inside it. I'm not sure if it was a warning to the bugs not to come around her or if it had a hidden meaning for me? Only time will tell. Meanwhile I'm sleeping with one eye open!

Headin' South

Tuesday 10/20/09     53 degrees and overcast. Not a bad day to start the first leg of our journey south.

We pulled out of MidTown Marina around 8:30 am and headed downstream. Only 579 miles until the Ohio!

The first point of interest we passed was Julien Dubuque's Grave. A stone tower on a bluff overlooking the river just south of Dubuque. In 1788 Julien Dubuque started the settlement which later bore his name. (http://www.cityofdubuque.org/) In addition to the historical significance of the site it has also been a favorite parking spot for the young and restless of the Dubuque area. At least that's what Pam told me!

Our travel continued through Lock #12 at Bellevue, Iowa and on to Savanna, Illinois. Somewhere between the two we met the riverboat Twilight (http://www.riverboattwilight.com/) a passenger vessel that travels between LeClaire and Dubuque, Iowa. An attractive boat to look at but one of the hardest boats on the river to pass in a courteous fashion due to its' speed of travel.

We also spotted several eagles along the way today like this guy keeping vigil over the channel.

Our day concluded at Island City Harbor in Sabula, Iowa where we topped off the fuel tanks and switched props (because of a vibration) which of course required pulling the boat out of the water. Once back in the water we took advantage of the mild weather by having cocktails on the dock.

What are We Doing in Illinois?

This past Saturday it snowed and got down to 24 degrees! Brrrrr! Time to head south.

Actually we have been busy getting Tourist ready for the journey back to Florida. Oil change, fuel filters, sea water impellers, Haul out for bottom cleaning and new zincs. You get the picture. Meanwhile Pam has been fretting over what shoes to take and which to leave home. As for me flip flops and deck shoes should suffice.

The plan is to head out on or near the 20th and work our way to Columbus, Ms. where we will leave the boat until the first week of January. Why Columbus? Because they have an airport. It's only an 800 mile drive from home. They have covered slips for the boat. The temps are usually above freezing. And because Tourist will be sitting in fresh water instead of salt water. If it were up to me we'd keep going straight to Florida and let the relatives come to us for the Holidays. What's not to like about warm weather?