Holy Crap!!

An hour or so after Lady KK pulled out we cast off the lines and headed to St. Charles, about 20 miles north of us. Immediately after passing Alton Marina it is quite evident where the original Lock & Dam 26 was located. I remember my Dad telling of waiting for hours in his houseboat that he had just purchased in Arkansas and then getting lucky by locking through with a towboat. Delays at 26 could stretch into days at that time because of only one 600' chamber and all the tow traffic. The new Mel Price lock has a 1500' chamber as well as a 600' chamber which helps eliminate most of the wait.

Part of the old lock 26 wall.

Across the river a little part of the dam that was left in place.

Above Alton the bluffs rise up on the Illinois side of the river and run up to Grafton where the Illinois joins the Mississippi.

Scenic bluffs above Alton.

The channel takes you past Our Lady of the Rivers monument.

Beyond the sandbar lies the Illinois River and Grafton Marina. (mm 218 umr)

A couple of miles up the Mississippi we turned into Dardenne Slough and into Port Charles Harbor Marina where Tourist had a date with the local Cummins mechanic for a valve adjustment. Little did I know that this would become the crappiest stop of our journey.

The side by side entrances of Polestar (right) and Port Charles Harbor (left).

Back in Green Turtle Bay I had purchased new duckbill valves to rectify a problem with the master head. The pump was running intermittently on it's own without being triggered by flushing and the bowl was still holding water. Since the pump and valves are located just in front of the starboard engine my plan was to let the motor cool and wait until after the Cummins guy had completed his job. Certainly didn't want him gagging in the engine room!

Well once the engine work was done and the mechanic had gone it was my turn to go to work.  I flushed fresh water though the lines and pump and put on my rubber gloves before I dove into the bilge. There are 4 of these valves per head that need replacing. 2 are easy and 2 not so easy due to location.

What a new duckbill valve looks like. I'll spare you a picture of a used valve!

Well as I was saying I went into the bilge to replace the valves. Once I wrapped myself around the front of the engine I saw that I had another problem. The top of the pump bellows was wet. Crap! That means that there is a hole in it and that it was probably the problem. Why didn't I see this earlier? GTB had 2 of the bellows on the shelves in the ships store but did I buy one??? NO!

Out of the bilge I come and up to the parts department at Port Charles Harbor. Of course they didn't have one in stock. Next I called the local West Marine. Nope! So back to the boat and the internet where I found as many as I needed and ordered one to be delivered in 2 days. The forecast was for storms anyway for the next couple of days so sitting idle wasn't an issue.

New bellows which I ordered from Seacoast Services.

Since I was mentally prepared to tackle this crappy job I decided to remove the whole pump assembly and bring it out on the dock where I could take it apart. Clean it. Install the new duckbill valves and be ready to install the bellows when it arrived. I plugged the hoses and climbed out of the engine room.
Everything was proceeding very well until I failed to notice an o-ring on the top half of the pump assembly. I saw it fly off when I hit it with the pressure from the water hose and of course it landed right in the river! (insert cuss words!) After a short break I finished the cleaning, Installed the new valves and went to the internet.

The disassembled pump with the new bellows just waiting for an o-ring!

Of course by this time it was too late to get it in the same shipment as the bellows so we added another day to our stay at PCH.

The saving grace to the whole day was after I got cleaned up Pam and I walked next door to the Duck Club Yacht Club for dinner. We sat at the bar and following a few libations I had one of the best steaks I've ever had outside of Gene & Georgetti's in Chicago.

Friendly Place next to PCH.

Our view of Tourist as we walked back.

Since we had some time to kill we decided the next day to use the courtesy van and drive into St. Charles for lunch and supplies. Downtown St. Charles along the Missouri River has been restored in grand fashion with shops and restaurants galore.

Part of the restored downtown St. Charles including the brick streets.

Finally all the parts arrived and the pump went back together. Now to get back in the bilge and connect the hoses. When I opened the hatch I knew we had trouble. Pew! I took a deep breath and went in. I wasn't prepared for what I found. The bilge under the prop shaft was full of brown, crappy water and more. So was the trough that runs along the outboard side of the engine as was the center sump area in the front of the compartment. Oh shit! All the while that I'm in the thick of it Pam's in the cockpit making gagging sounds but being a trooper and not leaving me to suffocate!

Apparently even though the master head was out of service the guest head was not and must have created enough pressure when it was used to force the crap out of the hose for the master. Now what?

Fortunately we carry a small shop vac on Tourist and it was soon put in service. After the vac filled I would dump it into a larger bucket and when that was filled it was Pam's job to dispose of it! Quite funny actually. Slowly we got the crap sucked up and the area rinsed with fresh water and bleach.
The pump went back in place and worked just like it was supposed to. The only casualty was my nose. I still have faint whiffs of crap!

 Time to get out of Dodge. The view from Tourist as we finally left Port Charles Harbor.

Mississippi River Here We Come!

Our stay at Green Turtle was a good one as it always is. So much so that for a few moments we thought about stopping right here for the summer. But then I saw the river levels on the Mississippi dropping and our thoughts of staying quickly vanished.
My gauge for going or staying put is Cape Girardeau, Mo. Flood stage is 32'. I like to see a decreasing trend of river stages before we depart. Usually that doesn't mean much less current but it normally will mean less debris in the water. The forecast stage for Sunday was 28'. That's 4' lower than when we arrived at GTB. Time to go!
(I also check the St. Louis stage and others as well as try to keep track of the weather around the Missouri, Illinois, and Upper Mississippi Rivers for any significant rainfall that could effect our travel.)

Normally we travel alone however this time we would have a companion. Pam met Larry in the laundry at GTB who stated that they had been waiting for 2 weeks for the Mississippi to recede. When I met him he asked if we would like a buddy boat. M/V Lady KK is a 54' Viking motoryacht with a couple of big hp MAN engines. Keeping up to Tourist would be no problem for them.
We discussed travel plans and stop overs as well as picking a time of 5 a.m. for departure.

The sun was just peeking over the docks as we pulled out of GTB.

When heading north from GTB my first choice is to use the Kentucky Lock on the Tennessee River because it cuts roughly 20 miles off the days travel. The unfortunate side of that is that most of the tow traffic uses it also. Such was the case this morning with an estimated back up of 3 hours. Barkley Lock here we come!

As we pulled into the channel I heard a tow announcing that he was entering the Cumberland River from the Barkley Canal and would be heading downstream. The same way we're going. I quickly called the lock and had the door slammed shut on our early departure. Not because of the towboat but because of dense fog in the river valley below. No lockages for anyone until it lifted.

Beautiful sunrise over Lake Barkley. What fog?

As we waited the fog crept over the lock. So that's what he's talking about.

Lady KK floating above Barkley Lock.

The fog finally lifted and we were allowed into the lock for the 50' ride down. We lucked out since there was an up bound tow waiting just below the lock.
We had decided to travel downstream at our usual rpm's that gives us trawler speed and conserves fuel and then hit it if we need to when we turn up the Mississippi.

Lady KK following us down the Cumberland.

There is some industry along this stretch of the river.

The last leg of the Cumberland with the Ohio beyond the two cells.

This is what the junction looks like on our plotter. Our icon can be seen coming from the lower left side of the screen. The navigable junction is at the tip of the island which appears at the upper part of the screen. In actuality it is the downstream side of the island.

About where the icon appears on the above screen shot is where the water started turning to a muddy brown as the two rivers started to intermingle.

You can kind of see the different colors of the two rivers.

Just downstream from the junction we passed the old Harrah's Casino boat that used to be docked along the Ohio at Metropolis, Illinois.

Continuing downstream we cruised past downtown Paducah, Ky. Even though the river was up it still can get much higher as evidenced by the floodwall built atop the levee.

Not long after passing Paducah we arrived at our first lock on the Ohio. Lock 52. One of the busiest locks on any navigable U.S. waterway. Lucky for us the wicket was down and we drove right over it. The picture shows the Corps of Engineers boat hosing the mud off the top of the lock wall since it had just reappeared when the river started to recede.

We were making good time cruising at 12 mph since we were going with the current and in no time we were passing Metropolis, Ill. and the replica of Fort Massac pictured above.

Our next lock was lock 53 which will be replaced by the new Ohlmstead Lock which is under construction. Again we passed over the dam and were given instructions as to how we should proceed through the upcoming construction area.

Ohlmstead Lock. We passed to the left of all of this.

Coming into Cairo, Ill. This is a huge barge transferring point for goods coming from the Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Upper & Lower Mississippi rivers. Certainly not a place to be asleep at the wheel.

Still on the Ohio. If we go straight ahead we'll end up in New Orleans. To the right just past the barge on the right is the start of the Upper Mississippi.

We came around the point on our right and had our speed cut from 12 to 6 mph when we hit the current of the Mississippi!

Still with 40 plus miles to go for the day it wasn't long before we kicked up the speed to get us there while it was still daylight.

This really is water and not a farmers field.

Not long after we increased speed I spotted our first submarining buoy. It was a red that just left a slight trail in the water after it submerged. Keep watching the trail and up it struggles again only to submerge once more. Why it doesn't give up like so many of it's comrades and just float off into a debris pile is beyond me.

The current below St. Louis is fast. Logs and other debris comes at you just as fast requiring a sharp lookout at all times. We were lucky. It was as I had hoped it would be since it was receding and presented very few obstacles for us to dodge.
Tow traffic was average with both north and southbound traffic. And some of these tows are 36 and even 42 barges in size. Trying to pass one in the same direction takes about as much time as driving through Chicago!

As wide as the river is below St. Louis there are some narrow spots in the channel that require contacting the tow for instructions as to how and where he wants you to meet or pass him. They appreciate a call on vhf channel 13.

We kept our speed up and made it to the Little River Diversion Canal mm 48.8, just below Cape Girardeau, Mo. before dark.

Diversion Canal. Not very scenic but a nice respite from the swift waters of the big river.

Lady KK anchored in the canal with the American Pillar towboat passing just outside pushing 36 barges.

Following a peaceful night of rest we push on passing Cape Girardeau.

The mighty Miss. Looks harmless doesn't it?

During high water Mother Nature will park your boat for you!

Peaceful setting along the Missouri shore.

Wing Dam. Watch out for these guys. Not all are marked and most are below the surface!

5 barges wide headed south at Chester, Ill.

The Illinois Governor's Mansion (aka. Menard State Penitentiary) at Chester, Ill.

Our days travels halted at the Kaskaskia River mm 117.3 where we turned in and tied up on the backside of the floating lock wall at Kaskaskia Lock.

The lock allows overnighting but does not allow going ashore beyond the lock wall since 9/11.

Another good nights sleep in calm waters and we were on our way.

Some of the debris left over from high water. Check out the number of buoys in the pile.

Dancing waters.

Is this a ski jump or a slide into a swimming pool?

Occasionally you can find a good used tire swimming past.

Oh Oh! The fuel gauge needs attention.

We made it to Hoppie's. That's me and Larry with Fern (seated). This place is a must stop if traveling this way and Fern is known far and wide for her knowledge of the river in this area. We pumped a little over 300 gallons of diesel into our 500 gallon tank. Plenty of reserve.

Hoppie's as we continue our journey north.

More evidence of the power of the river.

Our welcome to St. Louis!

We worked our way through the fleeting area on the south side of town to be rewarded with this view of the Arch.

Lock 27. Our first lock on the Mississippi. The gate in front of us lowers to allow passage.

Chain of Rocks Canal built to allow passage around the huge rapids in the river.

Above the canal is Wood River and a large repair area for the towboats.

We travelled through The Mel Price Lock (#26) and into the Alton, Ill. marina located just beyond the above bridge. The wildest part of the river now behind us.

Once in the marina it took awhile to sort out some dock power issues but the staff worked tirelessly to make sure we were taken care of.

The next morning we said goodbye to Lady KK. They were headed up the Illinois River and on to Sturgeon Bay, Wis. We pulled out and headed to St. Charles, Mo. for an appointment with a Cummins mechanic for some routine maintenance.