There is no diesel at KYC but arrangements can be made to have a truck deliver right to the boats. However they want to make it worth their while to come and so we were solicited to join in on the fuel truck request.
Needless to say the truck didn't show until around 10 a.m. Long after Pam & I would have normally departed. The other boat was fueled first and then shot off up the river. We were finally done and departed around 11 a.m. The fuel was cheap but we really didn't need it. We were just helping out a fellow boater who I'm not sure really appreciated it.
Anyway we pulled out into Lake Keokuk and continued our trek towards home.
At the top of Lake Keokuk the river narrows to go through Ft. Madison, Iowa.
The low farm lands turned into bluffs as we neared Burlington, Iowa where we found that the 100 plus year old train bridge had finally been replaced.
Our revised goal for the day was to get above Lock 17 which was scheduled to be closed for repairs the very next day. We had a minimal wait at Lock 18 above Burlington and cruised on passing Oquaka, Illinois where the predicted rains finally caught up to us.
The rain came down in sheets for roughly a half hour and then moved away before we arrived at Lock 17.
While in the lock I checked with the attendant about the off channel water depth above the lock. He claimed that he fished those waters frequently and we should have no problem if we chose to anchor there.
He was right. We travelled about a mile and a half and pulled off channel towards the shores of Turkey Island across from Bay Island Light mm.438.7.
If you look at this location on the river chart you may think we were crazy anchoring that close to the channel. Looks are deceiving. We were close to the island in 13' of water and well off the sailing line. For good measure I checked with a down bound tow to make sure we wouldn't be in their way.
We had some rain during the night but the brunt of the storm stayed south of us making for a good nights sleep.
Once morning came we had 20 miles until our next lock at Muscatine, Iowa. Pam's high school stomping grounds.
The river between Muscatine and Davenport is largely used for industry with many barge fleeting areas along the route. Tourist paddled through with no trouble and soon approached the Crescent RR Bridge connecting Davenport, Iowa with Rock Island, Illinois.
Just above the RR bridge is Lock 15 which used their auxiliary chamber to lock us up. A good thing although they failed to let us know in advance catching us a little off guard and causing me to lower the vhf antenna at the last minute in order to squeeze under the bridge right at the entrance to the lock.
Above the lock we met the river cleanup barge heading downstream loaded with trash that it and volunteers have cleaned from the river banks. This is an interesting story that started with a young man named Chad Pregracke who got tired of waiting for the government to clean up the rivers and took it upon himself to do it by starting Living Land and Waters. Check out this success story at;
(www.livinglandandwaters.org).
10 miles above Lock 15 is Lock 14 at which we had a short wait before passing through. Another mile and we were going under I-80 which spans the U.S. from New York City to San Francisco.
Just above I-80 lies Port Byron, Illinois. As we passed we spotted this statue of a rider (Will B. Rolling) on an old time bicycle. It was put there to promote bicycling in the Port Byron area. There is also a similar statue (Bill Bikin) in Sparta, Wis. The two communities are hoping to get a bike ride between the two communities off the ground this fall.
With many homes and docks along the river we moved along at a slow speed until we ventured off the channel into a sand pit above Cordova, Ill.
We slept so well that we never noticed the tug pushing 2 sand barges slide past us and tie them off to the shore in front of us. I knew that that was a possibility and anchored so as not to impede their work.
Back on the channel we were in Clinton, Iowa in no time and waiting at another RR bridge. The delay was just long enough to cause us to arrive at Lock 13 as they were turning the chamber around to take a southbound tow in. Time for a 2 hour rest.
You can see the excursion boat near the lock wall. The pecking order on the river puts the excursion boat ahead of the towboat unless they arrive too late at the dance. That was the case for the Twilight in spite of his subtle pleas to let him get in before the barge.
Once the tow exited the lock it was our turn. We waited for the Twilight to enter and get secured before we followed. Up and out we went following the Twilight up the channel.
It wasn't long until we were nearing Savanna, our planned stop for the night.
We anchored off channel across from the entrance to the small marina. We had made plans to meet family members Barb & Bill at our favorite pizza joint. Manny's! All we had to do was dinghy over.
All was going well until I tried starting the dinghy motor. Pull, pull, pull until my arm was ready to fall off. I was getting frustrated even though I had a hunch it wouldn't start on the first pull. After all it hadn't been run since Florida. While I was pondering what to do next Pam suggested I spray some of that "stuff" into the motor. Fortunately I have become fluent in the Pamanese language and knew immediately that she meant carburetor cleaner.
While floating in the dinghy I took the cover off being careful not to drop any screws and began spraying the "stuff" into the carburetors. I gave it a minute and began to pull. It took a few pulls but it eventually began to sputter and then run. I took it for a test run leaving instructions with Pam to call the local tug on the vhf and ask if they could pick me up should the motor conk out. Fortunately all went well and we made it back and forth from town.
Not only did we get some of our favorite pizza, we kidnapped Barb and brought her back to the boat with us.
Again a pleasant nights sleep for me. The girls stayed up a little longer. Ok. A lot longer!
Just above our anchorage they are building a new bridge to replace the old narrow bridge that has a grated deck that you can see through when driving across it. It's about time.
Anchor up and underway I guided Tourist upstream while the girls carried on with their conversation from the night before. Before long we were in Bellevue, Iowa and approaching Lock 12, our last lock of the trip.
Above Bellevue a few miles is Chestnut Mountain Resort. A year round facility visible from the river.
We travelled a few miles beyond and anchored in a favorite spot. In an effort for me to not be outnumbered I took the dinghy into the dock at Chestnut to pick up Bill who was waiting when I arrived.
We had a good night and breakfast before transferring our guests back to shore.
Later that day we were joined by Kim & Lu on Vagabond for the night. It was the first time we had rafted with another boat since the summer of 2009. Fortunately we still remembered how to do it.
Our last day of travel was a good one filled with the excitement of getting home and the wonderment of when we will travel again.
Unfortunately for us Mid-Town Marina where we had previously kept Tourist didn't have a slip available so we ended up at Frentress Lake Marina. Our arrival was a CF for a number of reasons. While the marina got it's act together we took Tourist to Mid-Town for a few days where they had a temporarily vacant slip before returning to Frentress.
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