Sept 30 On the Mississippi (Little Diversion Channel anchorage and then on to America Bar anchorage)

Sept 29

Just another day on the Mississippi.  We’re actually making good progress getting down the rivers having now covered 522 miles since leaving Chicago.  Illinois River is behind us and only one more day on the Mississippi before turning upriver onto the Ohio.  The Ohio watershed hasn’t received the rainfall that they got on the Missouri and Mississippi, so we’ll only be fighting a minimal current as we go up stream. 

 The Mississippi is currently 17 feet over normal and projected to crest in a few more days at 22 feet.  Almost to flood stage I believe.   All this extra water has certainly aided our speed but that’s been about the only advantage.  The debris and turbulence have been almost treacherous at times. 

Swirls, upsurges, wirlpools, chop, we got 'em all

   A decently long day covering almost 70 miles and a nice anchorage called the Little Diversion Channel.  Out of the current, well protected, deep water, and good mud to hold the anchor.   We had to fire up the generator once the anchor was set.  A/C was mandatory with this continuing heat wave.  Checked the weather report around noon and it was 92 with a “feels like” temp of 99. 

Tranquility of the Little Diversion Channel anchorage

  At least coming down the river we had a bit of a southerly breeze to make it tolerable. Still, I had to check my calendar to make sure it really is the end of September because it sure doesn’t feel like fall yet.

Journey for Sept 29

Sept 30


Another morning of meandering down the Mississippi at an astonishing speed.   Still lots of current but either debris is easing up or I’ve just gotten used to it and only worry about the largest logs and trees.  Biggest excitement today was passing a large 4x5 tow (20 barges connected 4 across and 5 deep) in one of the horseshoe bends.  He was downbound like us so was making good speed.  Asked that we pass him “on the 2’s” (tow captain speak for his port side) which was the outside edge of the channel with the strongest current.   Hammered the throttle to get past him before the next big bend.  Nebo says we hit a top speed of 16.4 MPH!! 

Passing the Dennis Rottroff "on the 2's"

Shortly afterwards we made the turn onto the Ohio River and past Cairo where you could see its much clearer water joining the Mississippi.  We were now upbound and traveling against the current.  At least the Ohio is flowing at a much more leisurely .5 knot so we’re still able to keep about a 7 knot speed by revving the engine up a bit. 

Getting ready to enter the clean waters of the Ohio River

 A distinct color change as we enter the Ohio

At anchor again tonight – bit of an unprotected area on the side of the river but well off the main channel.   Looks like we remain in the grasp of a major heat wave. Temperatures for at least the next few days are expected to remain in record breaking 90+ degree territory.  Hot and hazy on the open water does at least provide for a pretty sunset. 

Two observations today.  First, there seems to be limited wildlife along the Mississippi.  We got used to seeing flocks of storks and routine sightings of bald eagles, egrets and herons as we came down the Illinois.  Just haven’t seen any on this river – maybe we’re just too far away from the riverbanks to see them.   Second observation is the deplorable shape of our bridge infrastructure.  Whether railroad bridges or road bridges they all look ancient, unkept and about ready to rust away and fall into the river.

Journey for Sept 30

(Note the yellow line around the horseshoe - over 15mph!!)

Sept 28 Hoppies to Kaskaskia Lock wall

Sept 28


What a difference a day makes.  That crazy wind yesterday running against the strong downstream current was creating very choppy conditions on the river.  That chop made it very difficult to see all the debris as well as the eddies and swirls.  No wind today so much better visibility to those hazards.  

The sun rises to a much calmer river at Hoppies

Our group of 4 looper boats left Hoppies at 9AM with a short travel day planned.  Roughly 40 miles downstream to where the Kaskaskia river enters the Mississippi.  A short way up the Kaskaskia is a lock that allows transient boaters to tie up to their outer wall.  Great location out of the current with good wind protection.  Only drawback is there is no power hookup and with unseasonably warm and humid upper 80-degree weather it would be nice to run the A/C.  May wind up firing up the genny for a bit before bed to cool things down.


About the best thing I can say for the river is the 4-knot current makes for great progress.  Look at teh push against this bouy.

My top end speed in static conditions is 9.3 knots at 2600 rpm’s.  Today I was turning just 1500 rpm which is normally good for a little over 6 knots, yet we were routinely making 10.5 – 11 knots.   Normally we would push to cover more territory with these favorable conditions but there’s a backlog of loopers downstream making it impossible for us to get onto the Paduka town dock until Tues.    So, we’re purposely doing some shorter stints to bide our time.


Nothing much of note during our travels today.  A few crazy areas where weirs stick out from the banks to channel water into the main river and keep it flushed that generated very turbulent conditions. A few quarries loading barges with stone and of course the requisite tows headed upstream we had to dodge.

Turbulance that can unexpectedly grab the boat and  alter your course

Loading stone

Journey for Sept 28

Sept 27 Grafton to Hoppies

Sept 27


We spent a week at the Grafton Marina.   Nice clean family run marina, covered slip, out of the river current but a bit limited in things to do.   We wound up getting a rental car for a few days down in Alton, Il about 15 miles further downstream.   It’s also where the Mel Price lock is located and they have a nice museum and tour of the lock.   This is the first Mississippi lock we’ll passage and has a much larger chamber than anything we’ve been through.   It fits a tow boat and a raft of barges 3 wide and 5 deep all at once. 

A downbound tow in the Mel Price Lock 

We also toured the local Alton museum – sort of sad, they had a large picture gallery of “lost Alton” containing historical pictures of houses and buildings that are no more – simply razed or torn down.   They also had a display featuring Robert Wadlow who was an Alton resident holding the title of tallest man in the US (and possibly the world) at 8’11.1”.  They have a life size statue of him in a park across the street.  Sadly, he only lived to be 22 (1918 - 1940) succumbing to a foot infection. 

Next day we went exploring St. Charles, MO. which renewed my spirits seeing a town that cherished their historic main street.   The town consists of repurposed buildings on both sides of the main street that runs for 13 blocks parallel to the Missouri river.  A good museum featuring the Lewis and Clark Expedition was on the waterfront.  This was where they started their trip that took them to the Pacific Ocean and back.  It was also where Daniel Boone gathered up wagon trains   and guided them on their western passage.  We also were able to get together for dinner twice with our good friends Dave and Amy who live in the St. Louis area.  They’ve been keeping up with our travels and awaiting our arrival in the Midwest.  It was great catching up with them while enjoying a dinner high on a cliff overlooking the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Conversations about cars, racing and updates on mutual friends were a nice diversion. 

Dinner at Aries winery provided an evening view down to Grafton and the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers

 This next section of the river system is a long stretch with no fuel stops and no real marinas.  I needed to top off and with no fuel to be had at Grafton or Alton we made a day trip a few miles down the Illinois river and then a few up the Mississippi river.   The rivers flow pretty strong as we ran 1500 rpm downstream at 9.5 kts and then had to crank up to 2000 rpm to make 5.5 knots going upstream.    We got topped off at Port Charles marina taking on 116 gallons of diesel and then headed back to Grafton for one last night.

Fuel run journey on Sept 26

Today we departed Grafton at 6:30 just before sunrise but with enough light to see and be seen.   Traveled with “One Eye Dog” and “On Mission” to Alton where we hooked up with “Cat and Dogs” again who had stayed at the Alton Marina the last few days.

Heading out at first light past the limestone cliffs  of Grafton

 The gates were open for us at Mel Price Lock and with low water upbound and high water downbound we only dropped a few feet before  the gates opened. An easy uneventful passage aided by the use of tying just one line to a floating bollard.  

Exiting Mel Price Lock

With the strong current we were making great time sometimes going over 10 knots while the engine was barely working. The Missouri river joined us just before we entered the Chain of Rocks canal. The canal bypasses the Chain of Rocks which is an unnavigable section of river full of wide but shallow water and lots of rapids.  We arrived at Lock 27 to another set of open gates awaiting us so again a quick and easy passage. 

Feeling a bit "puny" in the Chain of Rocks Lock 27

 Upon exiting the canal, you approach St. Louis which has a busy industrial waterfront   with plenty of tows working up and down the river that is not very conducive to pleasure craft.   We did however take a few minutes to idle in front of the St. Louis arch for some glamour shots of each other’s boats.

 
With the power of the Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri rivers combined, along with extra flood waters coming down the Missouri, we were getting pushed downstream fast but also watching for unexpected eddies and lots of debris.  Debris was getting increasingly difficult to see as we had a strong southerly breeze building waves against the opposing river flow.   It made for interesting docking at our stop for the night – legendary Hoopies Marine Service.  Historically they had a series of large barges attached to the shore for transient boaters to use but 2 of the barges were sunk in the spring floods so they’re getting by with fewer spots to tie.  The owners,  Fern and Hoppie,  are getting older and having health issues so were unable to conduct an evening route planning session which used to be a mainstay of a looper visit here.  Having lived and worked on the river their entire lives they shared lots of intimate details to ease your passage.  It’s always been tricky going downstream and then heading into the current while  easing into position for a tie up, but the tight barge space, strong current, and strong winds just added more drama. Thankfully we all got secured without issue although my nerves were certainly frazzled. 

Tied to the barges at Hoppies for the night

  We arrived early enough to walk into town (Kimmswick)  and have lunch at The Blue Owl Restaurant.  While lunch was good their Mile High Levee Apple Pie  is  the stuff of legends and has been featured on the Food Network.   It was outstanding. 

Journey for Sept 27

Note all the red lines - places where the current pushed us over 10 MPH

Sept 20 Beardstown to Grafton

Sept  20

Another long and exhausting day.  There are 12 boats on the barges at Logsdon Tug Service and another 6 anchored downstream waiting to get through LaGrange lock.   The boats anchored got held up the previous day when the lock closed for maintenance in the afternoon.   We were told yesterday the lock would be open in the AM and do the same afternoon closure schedule for repairs but when the group called the lock in the morning things had changed and would be closing at 9 AM until 1 PM.  Originally the lockmaster said he would take a group of 9 loopers at 7:30 and another group at 9AM.   We were lucky and were in the 7:30 group so off barge at 6:15 to get to the lock in time.     But then a waiting tow requested passage before they closed and got priority.    We all hovered around until he got through.   By this time the 8:30 group had also arrived.  Not sure the lockmaster understood we were all used to locking with boats rafted 3 and 4 wide to the wall but once he opened the gates all 18 boats charged in, got tied together and made the passage safely. 

Rafting 3 and 4 wide to the LaGrange Lock wall

We finally got out the lock at 9:30 and had to push it even with the favorable current to keep on schedule for a 5 PM arrival at Grafton Marina.   Again, a pleasant day although a bit hot in the 90’s.  At least we had a decent southerly breeze all day to offer some cooling effect.   More natural scenery, more eagles, more brown silty water, more tows to pass both upbound and down bound, and plenty of floating debris to keep an eye on. Several large logs floating just below the surface which could ruin your day if not paying attention.   A much more fatiguing day then the same amount of time on open water.

Chugging down the river

 One of the milestones today was passing the most western point on the trip just past the Norfolk Southern Railroad bridge at mile 61 on the Illinois River. We have now been as far east, north and west as we can go. 

Only thing left is going around Key West to hit the most southern point.    We are in a covered slip at Grafton Marina which is a first for us.  Perspective when backing in is really different. It just felt like I was too close to everything making me a bit anxious although we guided it in without any real issues.   Grafton bills itself as “The Key West of the Mid West” and is essentially a one street town lined with bars and restaurants.  They got hit pretty hard with the spring flooding but are making a good comeback.  We’re here for several days to recoup from the Illinois River passage and prep for our passage down the Mississippi and up the Ohio.   We also have friends in St. Louis we look forward to visiting.  

As a side note, Verizon service is very spotty here so updates, and especially pictures , may be even more sparse than usual.

Journey for Sept 20

Sept 19 Peoria to Beardstown (Logsdon Tug Service Barge)

Sept 19


A bit of a late start today,  We were considering  waiting until mid-morning to see if the IVY Club Marina had any cancellations that would allow us to stay an extra day, but after watching other loopers leaving we got the bug and  cast our lines  at 7:30.   We also decided today was a better day to go as the wickets were down at the Peoria lock  allowing unrestricted passage.  Wickets are like a reverse garage door on the riverbed.   When water is high enough they lay flat on the river bottom and allow vessels to pass by unrestricted.  When raised up they create a dam holding back water and require the use of the locks.     Another long day going roughly 80 miles.   Decent current helping our speed and allowing us to ease off on the throttle and still maintain a speed that would get us to our overnight stop in Beardstown. 

Passing some tows

  This is a more natural section of the river – at least it looks that way - as there are trees along the riverbank and up the levees on both sides.   Never really sure what is on the other side of the levees.   Saw a large number of bald eagles.  This is the wintering grounds for them, and they are starting to arrive.   There are no real marinas in this section of the river.  We passed a few anchorages hidden behind some islands that looked peaceful but would have cut our travels short.   We pushed on to Beardstown and one of several unique places we’ll stay overnight on the river.   We tied up to a barge at Logsdon Tug Service along with about a dozen other loopers. It seems to just be our timing but a storm was passing through just as we were ready to dock.  Strong winds rushing up the river while the current was pushing us downstream.  Also had to squeeze into a spot between 2 other boats.   Got lucky in that the rain held off  and wind actually eased up just as we were making our final approach.  Dinner was an experience as we ate with 4 other looper couples in a diner above the closed bowling alley.   Two of the looper wives wound up doing waitress service as the one waitress they have called in sick with a migraine. Definitely a place with unique local color. We tried the local specialty – a pounded tenderloin horseshoe platter was a sight to behold  piled high with fries covered on one half with  white cheese and the other  half  melted chedder cheese.

Tied to the  barge

Journey for Sept 19

Sept 18 Ottowa to Peoria

Aug 18


Up early to make sure we get through the 3^rd lock (Starved Rock Lock) which will be shutting down   for repairs on Friday until Oct 5.  Out of the marina by 6:30 with a couple other boats hoping to get a quick lock thru but by 7AM another 7 or 8 boats had fallen in behind us.

Sunrise behind us as we leave Heritage Harbor Marina and Ottowa

About an hour’s run to the lock where we had to wait for an upbound Coast Guard buoy tender to come up.  By then everyone else had arrived so we wound up taking a bit longer to get loaded. Still, we were out of the lock and had that pressure of getting thru these locks off us by 9:30.

 USCG Buoy Tender coming out of the lock

Still another  55-60 mile run but with the current giving us a .5 – 1kt push we were making good time running the engine easy yet still making a great 8.3kts .  Arrival time was showing 4:30 PM so well before dark.    Not the most interesting scenery.  Tows and barges along the riverbanks, flocks of white storks in several areas, plenty of bald eagles flying around, and some larger bodies of water like upper and lower Peoria Lake which are big but very shallow and require close following of the channel markers.  

 13 Loopers sitting at the Ivy Club now.  Tight quarters but we looked like pros backing it in thanks to no current or wind.   This is actually a private club rather than a marina, but they have always been very accommodating to transient loopers. Enjoyed a nice dinner and drinks at the clubhouse looking down on “As You Wish”.  

AS You Wish (the one with the kayaks on the bow)  snug in her slip

Now that the three lock closures on the Illinois River is behind us there’s a new concern.  A mishap with a barge in a lock on the Tenn. River resulted in a major oil spill.  It was contained inside the lock but it resulted in a full closure as they work to collect all the oil, remove the damaged vessels and clean the oil off the lock chambers.  It is backing up loopers and we’re having a hard time making reservations at marinas downstream.   We’ll need to anchor a few nights anyway,  but we have concerns as many of these anchorages only hold a handful of boats, and if no one is moving you can see how we quickly start running out of options.   There are times when this “pleasure boating” thing sure can get a bit stressful!!  I'm exhausted - time for bed.

Journey for Sept 18

Sept 16 Joliet to Ottowa

Sept  16


It is our 5 month Looperversary!!.  Been at this now  for 5 months and 2750 miles.  In some respects, we feel like old seasoned salts, but every day is a new adventure and this was another day we’ll probably not forget.    Just a long exhausting day with another nighttime arrival.    We got stuck in Joliet for an extra day as the locks simply could not take our large and growing group at Joliet into their system due to backed up northbound traffic.  Rain overnight brought a barrage of debris, logs and tons of grass downstream giving everyone something to do as we manually spun boats around heading them upstream and continued to unjam logs caught between boats.  The river finally settled down late day so we took sometime to do a little exploration of town.

Rialto Theatre

We have 3 locks going downstream that we need to get through to hit our next destination – Ottowa and Heritage Harbor Marina.  After our groups leaders had conversations with the lockmasters our flotilla headed out at first light – 6:15 AM - for the Brandon Rd lock. 

The Flotilla gathers at first light to head south

Our record breaking looper locking group of 28 boats managed to get through this first lock as one group with boats rafted up 4 across on both sides of the lock.  Quite a site. 

We were center of the  lock - more boats rafted behind us

Unfortunately, the Bradenton lockmaster wasn’t as comfortable with locking that many boats together and broke us into 2 groups.   We were in the second group and got held up at the Marseilles Lock for several hours resulting in another lock through as the sun set. 

The sun sets as we continue waiting to lock through

We pulled into the marina in total darkness  at 8:30.    After a morning radio conference with all the loopers  several groups of boats decided to keep moving but we decided we needed a breather and stayed another day.  The marina has a courtesy car  we used for a trip to Walmart for much needed reprovisioning. It also gave me time to do a much needed full wash down of the boat including the hull. Since we had finger piers sticking out on both sides it  provided great access to all surfaces. Almost made me want to stay here a few days to give the boat a good wax job but we need to keep moving as our next lock – Starved Rock - goes to a full shutdown starting Friday for repairs and we absolutely need to get past it.

Journey for Sept 16

Sept 14 Chicago to Joliet

Sept 14


After day number one on the river system I am currently not a fan of this portion of the trip.   It was a long day with arrival at our final destination – Joliet – in the dark.  Thankfully the wall was already full of loopers awaiting the arrival of the group of 7 boats in our pack who went through the Lockport Lock together and were waiting to have us tie to them for the night.   And so ended our 11 hour day to travel 50 miles.

A beautiful morning as we leave Chicago in our wake

It seemed to start well enough.  We had a 10 mile run from Burnham Marina to the entrance of the Cal-Sag channel.  Open water, light ripples, clear skies.   But on our way we heard radio transmissions that the 106^th street bridge was stuck in the down position.  With our air height over 18’ we needed for it to open to pass.  We hoped it would be repaired by the time we arrived at it in 2 hours.   In the meantime, we got held up at the first bridge where the bridgetender just seemed in no rush to open.  After a ½ hour delay he finally let us pass. 

No idea why , but this bridgetender took his time opening for us at the first bridge

Lots of commercial sites along the water here – industrial and lots more bridges.  Most were at least high enough for us to pass unencumbered and the 106^th St. bridge was back operational before we got there.   We reached the Norfolk Southern Bascule Bridge which was down for a train passing.  Not sure what the lowered height is but after climbing on the sundeck roof and eyeing the top of our anchor light, Martha VERY slowly glided us under it with mere inches to spare. 

Clearance under the lowest fixed  bridge of the Loop - plenty of room to spare

A few nice hours of river travel on the outskirts of town before rejoining the actual Chicago River and another industrial section for loading, staging and unloading barges.   We got blocked   from our travels several times by tows coming down the channel.  These seem monstrous to us where we’re used to seeing just a single or occasionally double barge being pushed down the ICW. 

We hear they can be up to 4 wide and 6  long on the big rivers.  So far most of these have been just 2 wide and 3 or 4 long.  Still, that takes up a lot of space.   Finally made it to Lockport Lock only to be informed they had a double tow coming up before we could go down.  It would take several hours and we were directed to tie up to one of the large cribs off to the side.  

Tied up and waiting... and waiting ...

After several hours of waiting and watching the process of loading and unloading a split apart tow, we finally entered the lock as darkness approached.   Keep in mind we are on Central time here and it gets dark a bit earlier.   When the lower gates finally opened,  it was dark.  Luckily just a few miles and 5 bridge openings and we were finally at Joliet with it's free wall along the city front for transient boaters. . The entire wall was filled  so everyone had to raft up  to one of the boats already there. Thankfully our fellow loopers were ready and  waiting to assist our group on arrival.

Getting dark out

Approaching Joliet city lights - even more confusing

Boats lined up the next moring

A  "Tow" (don't call them barges) - passing our group on the wall

Journey for Sept 14