Moving Down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers

 

Sunday, September 6, 2009 through Thursday, September 10th

 

Reluctantly, we left the civilization in Grafton, IL for our journey down the Mississippi.  We ended up covering 218 miles in 3 days.   After the first 60 miles, our first overnight on Sunday was at Hoppies, in Kimmswick, MO, an old barge that is renowned with “Loopers” as a colorful stop.  Hoppie is the last descendant from a family of “Light Keepers” who would shine lanterns along the shore of the Mississippi so the river traffic wouldn’t run aground in the dark and fog.  Fern, Hoppie’s wife, gave us navigational tips for the next few days ahead of us.

 

On Monday, we had a short trip of 40 miles to the Kaskaskia Lock and Dam.  We got permission to tie up along the wall and that was a good stop.  Danny from “Potest Fieri” brought his dinghy over to take us ashore so Louie could take care of business.

 

On Tuesday, we traveled our longest distance in one day – 117 miles.  The Mississippi had a 4+ knot current in our favor!  I took a picture of the chart plotter showing our speed at 11.3 knots (around 13.5 miles an hour).  We thought we were going to need our seatbelts!  We anchored in “Angelo’s Towhead”, near Cairo, IL.  We were at the end of the Mississippi and at the mouth of the Ohio River.  If you look closely at the picture, you will see that 3 states and two rivers all converge in this small area.  We had a nice night at the anchorage and it became obvious that Danny is now Louie’s new best friend.  After “holding it” for 12 hours, once again Danny “rescued” Louie when he pulled up with his dinghy.

 

Wednesday was a stressful day for me.  We chugged up the Ohio River for 46 miles, going against the current.  We could hardly go 6 mph and then had to speed up (a relative term) to make it through the lock in the afternoon.  The lockmaster was determined to lock through all the pleasure boats in between the towboats that he had stacked up.  So there were 4 trawlers and 4 small fishing boats floating in this lock trying to stay away from each other while the lockmaster brought the water level up 10 feet.  It seemed to take forever.

 

One of major contributors to my stress level was that there was only one anchorage that we could reach that night, and the cruising guide said that it might be low on water.  The water level on the rivers fluctuates by the hour, the lockmaster told us.  Oh joy!  Well, it worked out well after all that worrying I did (Roger by the way, was not worried at all).  We stopped at the city dock at Paducah, KY and decided NOT to ask permission to overnight there.  No one kicked us out and we had a great night there.  We walked up the riverbank to the town and ate dinner at a nice seafood restaurant.  It was timely because I was pretty down, feeling as if I had joined the cast on “Survivor – Great Loop”.  A nice shower and dinner served by someone else does wonders for the psyche… And then we woke up to a boat that had been swarmed (thank God, on the outside!) by these flying creatures called Shad Flies.  Just take a look at the photo!!

 

At cocktails last night, we decided to cut down the Tennessee River (rather than go around to the Cumberland River).  The cruising books said that we might have a long wait at the Kentucky Lock, but we took our chances and Roger was really nice to the lady lockmaster.  She locked us through in just ½ hour and we have heard horror stories of boats waiting 4-5 hours to lock through at Kentucky Lock and Dam.  We saved 25 miles by going that way!  

 

The rivers seem to be getting better as we put them behind us and go to the next.  The Mississippi was better than the Illinois River (marginally).  The Ohio was better than the Mississippi, with water that was not as muddy but a current that was against us.  And we are now on the Tennessee River in Kentucky Lake area, which is just beautiful.  We are looking forward to the rest of the trip where we expect anchorages and marinas to be more available and have a little less commercial traffic and more to see on land.  

 

Meeting the towboats on the rivers is really exciting.  It takes our boat a long time to pass one and we have to watch for them as they try to go around the bends on the Mississippi especially.  They are pushing barges that are sometimes 1000 feet long  x 200 feet wide.  On those sharp bends, they have to back up, go forward, back up, go forward (like getting out of a parallel parking spot).

 

One thing we did learn on these rivers (especially the Mississippi and the Ohio where there is a ton of towboat traffic) to speak “Tow” --- not “Thai”, not “Taiwanese”, but “Tow”, a special language all its own.  You can see from some of the pictures how important it is to communicate with the captains of these tows (you call them tows, don’t call them tugs!).  Roger, who can make his way through Canadian French and Brazilian Portuguese, has in fact mastered “Tow”.  The only thing he cannot get is the lazy, word-garbling tones.  He’s much too distinct, but here’s a flavor of it.  He looks for the name of the towboat in his binoculars, then he starts the dialogue R=Roger, T=Tow Captain:

 

R:  “Upbound Harwell Tow, downbound pleasure boat Karen Anne at Thompson’s Landing Daybeacon, Channel 13.”   

 

T:  “Har..”

 

R:  “Cap’n, Karen Anne is downbound, where would you like us?”

 

T:  “See y’all on the one whistle.”

 

R:  “Thanks, Cap’n, see you on the one.”

 

For those of you who don’t speak “Tow” (let alone “Boat”), that means we will pass each other, port-to-port (the left side of his boat will greet the left side of our boat as we pass each other).  Hey, you ask, why didn’t he just say, “Pass me on my left side?  Who knows?  This boating life is a country of its own, trust me.

 

 Making Headway Down the Illinois

 

Wednesday, September 2nd – JUST LIKE “DELIVERANCE” !!

 

At 7:00 a.m. we left in the fog, but it burned off fairly quickly.  We met two guys probably in their very early 20’s at “Starved Rock Lock”.  They “locked through” behind our boat and I had the chance to ask them what in the hell they were doing in the Illinois River in a freakin’ canoe!!  They told me they were going to New Orleans.  I said that if I were their mother, I would drive to the riverbank, make them get in my car and take them right back home!!  Think about it – they have no beds, no shower, no bathroom, and unbelievably, no VHF radio.  They have no way to communicate with the lock masters or tugboats or anyone!  I couldn’t talk them out of going home, and we went on our way.   

 

We caught up with 3 boats from the previous day and went 65 miles to Hamm’s Holiday Harbor Marina, Rome, IL.  It sounds pleasant, doesn’t it?  Our first view of the harbor was the “dead” paddleboats; we figured it must be a graveyard for those huge steamships that no longer work.  That should have tipped us off, but we were committed by then.  The cruising guide wrote positive things about this location:  it said there was a restaurant (but it was closed), laundry facilities (they must have been referring to the hose on the dock), restrooms with showers (only one worked and it was unisex I guess—I wouldn’t go near there)….well, you get the picture.  We tied up to a dock that was smashed in 3 different spots, had metal posts to tie up to that were pulling away from the dock and looked liked they’d snap any second.  Plus we had 2 picturesque work barges beside us.  What a delightful spot.   You’ll see it in the Trip Photos.  I know I heard some banjos in the woods!  

 

That night, Roger checked the engine room and found that oil had blown out into the bilge – not good.  He suspected that we had been running too hard at 2500 rpm, and couldn’t identify the source of the blow-out.  I was worried and didn’t think I’d be able to sleep, but Roger seemed calm and told me he would check it in the morning. 

Thursday, September 3^rd

 

We left “Deliverance-Land” as early as we could – 6:30 a.m.  Not too long into the trip, an engine alarm sounded.  Now what!?  We slowed down, I took the helm and Roger went into the engine room.  Everything looked ok, compared to yesterday’s oil blowout, and after about 10 looooonnngggg minutes, the alarm stopped.  Roger checked on it every couple of hours and everything seemed okay.  

 

Late afternoon, we stopped at a barge and tied up.  Susan Godin from another boat called “Potest-Fieri” and I took our dogs to shore.  Louie had held it for nearly 11 hours!!  We edged our way along the 

barge, trying not to fall into the disgusting brown river on one side and trying not to impale ourselves with the broken cables on the other side, climbed up incredibly steep metal steps and finally got some green grass.  On the way back to the boat, we noticed that Louie was covered with burrs.  Oh, poor dog.  None of us were happy there, plus they wanted to charge us $36 for the night. 

 

We decided to move down the river about 2 more miles, where we caught up with “Barefoot Shoe” in an anchorage.  We also anchored, had cocktails on our boat and then Danny Godin and Roger took the dogs ashore one last time for the night.  Everyone was covered in mud, including Danny’s dinghy!  What a mess.  By the time I got Roger and Louie cleaned up, I had about 8 mosquito bites.  It had been a long, long day, but we went 93 miles and were happy to be making such good distance.  We ended up eating a light dinner and went to bed at 9:00 so that Roger could take a good look in the engine room early the next morning.

Friday, September 4^th

 

At 6 a.m., Roger replaced a damaged impeller.  I helped him by drinking my coffee – I’m useless without that first cup.  Then he found another problem – 2 bolts sitting in the bilge – not where they were supposed to be!  They came off the engine casing, so he messed with those and cleaned up some of the oil that had spilled.

 

Danny came over in his dinghy to pick me up so that I could take Louie to the bathroom.  I went barefoot because he said my shoes would only get stuck in the mud.  His dinghy had gone from white to all-brown inside.  I had a feeling I was in for a fun dog walk.  Oh God, I got out of the dinghy and stepped in mud – who knows how deep!!  To avoid sinking in, I lunged up the embankment and grabbed onto tree roots and pulled myself out of the mud.  I had visions of death by quicksand, just like the old movies.  I really held back on the expletives, because I hardly know this guy who was so nice to take us ashore.  Danny handed me Louie by the handle on his lifejacket and I carried him up the hill to a flat spot where he could take care of business.  I dreaded going back down to the mud and nearly propelled myself face first into the dinghy right after Louie landed in there!  Anchoring with a dog is NOT FUN!!

 

Anyway, we traveled 85 miles today and landed at Grafton, IL marina.  Roger & I usually take turns showering on our boat when the other person is driving.  By the time we tie up for the night, that is one less thing we have to do.

 

I can tell you right now…that the Illinois River is so boring!!  We motored 85 miles and finished the Illinois today, after traveling 327 miles on it.  In Grafton, IL we are at Mile Marker 0.00.  Even the guys agree with us girls that they cannot wait to get off the rivers – the Illinois, the Mississippi and the Ohio River.  We stayed here for two nights.  It’s a great marina with normal people and normal boats.  There is civilization here, finally!!

 

Saturday, September 5th

 

In the morning I did 4 loads of laundry while Roger worked in the engine room.  He had done as much as he could and we will have a mechanic look at it when we get to the Kentucky Lakes area.

 

After laundry, I borrowed another pick-up truck from the owners of the marina.  This is getting to be a habit!!   Rae Mason from “Barefoot Shoes” and Susan Godin from “Potest Fieri” were with me and we stocked up on groceries at two grocery stores, and homemade pie and fruit from a roadside stand.  Back at the marina, it was Labor Day Weekend, and there was a band playing and lots of drunk and crazy boaters!  It sounds just like a day at home, doesn’t it?

 

Sunday, September 6^th

 

Our jaunt down the Mississippi will be 218 miles, but the current is fast, and going in our favor.  We are hoping to be off of “the Miss” in 3 days.  One of the problems, as I’ve said, is that on these 3 rivers, we have to plan our itinerary very carefully.  There are so few marinas, so we shall see what is ahead of us next!

 “Carp Captives” Finally Escape

 

Sunday, August 30^th

 

We made the decision to be “Carp Captives” no more and to cross the fish barrier.  We had to get approval from the Coast Guard first and then line up the tow.  We had secured reservations with Artco, the tugboat company, to tow us through one at a time.  We left our dock at 7 a.m. and four boats traveled together.  

 

About ½ mile up river of the restricted zone, we held our position until it was our turn.  We were second in line, and I don’t think I could have made it through this thing if we were any further back in the pecking order.  The uncertainty and anxiety almost did me in.  My stomach was in knots for hours!   Finally it was our turn, and it turned out to be a piece of cake (but one that cost $600!!).

 

We set out 6 lines and 5 fenders on our port side.  Roger nudged us against the “Buster White tugboat (no easy task with the river current).  We tied up and then Roger disconnected the batteries, and made a “dead boat”.  Roger, Louie and I boarded the Buster, signed a “hold harmless” form (yes, Dave Brush, I signed one, talk about desperate!!!), paid our $600 and stayed in the galley talking to the crew as the captain brought us through the fish barrier.  It ended up being a “non-event” after all of this!  The captain and the crew were so nice and genuinely felt bad that we had to pay for this crossing.  

 

We motored down the river a little further and Al Castenada, our friend from Chicago, called us on our cell phone.  He & his kids were on a bridge, making sure we got through the fish barrier ok.  That was so great to look up behind us and see them on the bridge!  

 

Next on our list of encounters was the Lockport lock.  Roger motored around waiting for our turn to enter the lock – for the second time that day we had to hold our spot and I’m going to tell you that is exhausting.  The lock dropped us down almost 40 feet and we were the only boat in there. When the lockmaster opened the doors, there were a bunch of boats and barges hanging out and we had to maneuver in between them.  About 2 miles down the river, we caught up with Barefoot Shoes, the first boat to cross the fish barrier.  They were tied up on the wall in downtown Joliet, IL, along with 2 other boats that went through the day before.  

 

We could go no further because…..guess what!!!  Another new obstacle!!  The railroad bridge in Joliet was broken.  So, we broke out the cocktails and greeted 3 more boats as they tied up to the wall with us.  Everyone was so relieved to be down river, although stuck once again.  The big excitement for the night was a huge fire on the left bank just past the railroad bridge.  We were hoping the bridge wasn’t on fire, (oh wouldn’t that have been great?) but we think it was a tire recycling company.  Completely exhausted, we went to bed at 8:30 last night.

Monday, August 31th

 

Roger & I took our morning walk, exploring Joliet.  Hmmmm.  Can’t wait for the bridge to get repaired.  We watched a helicopter drop (actually deliver) a motor onto the bridge, so hopefully that will be completed today and we can get going again tomorrow.  There are no amenities (i.e. marina) here.  Thank God we have a shower and a head on our boat, because it’s a little like camping.  And the blinds do come in handy!  

 

Do you realize that we have only completed 2 days of travel on our itinerary?  I hope to God we can get to Florida before Christmas this year, and not Christmas 2010.  I guess we’ll just hang out here all day with the other 6 boats and have another excuse to have a cocktail party tonight.  

Tuesday, September 1^st

 

Good news!  The railroad bridge is fixed.  We got on our way again this morning, and got about 45 miles down the river.  It was a gorgeous day, as you can see by the photos.  There wasn’t too much barge/commercial traffic, but we did have to wait a long time at the locks.  We went through 3 locks and each time rafted up to our fellow “Loopers”.  

 

Roger and I split off from them for a night and got a slip in Heritage Harbor, in Ottawa, IL.  It’s only 2 years old, and a beautiful spot, very rural and quiet.  We will be up early tomorrow because we have to go about 64 miles and there are not many options at this point of the trip.  If you look at the map, you would be amazed to see how close we still are to Chicago and Indy for that matter.  It’s going to take a long time to get to Florida!