Oct 1 America Bar Anchorage to Paducah,KY

Oct 1


Slept good at anchor last night.  Slight current had the boat pointed  in one direction with a gentle constant pull on the anchor line, wind died off completely once the sun went down so no swinging around, and despite being moored directly on the  side of the river any barge traffic would have to be completely off course and cross a sandbar to get us.  So, my mind was at ease and I slept contently. 
  

Early start to the day raising the anchor before first light and watching the sunrise over the tree line as we made our way to Olmstead Lock about 5 miles upstream. 

It is a large new double chamber lock replacing two old locks - #53 and #52.   Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s fast.  We still had an hour wait as they cleared a downbound tow from the chamber we were directed to use.   At least the gentle current made hovering off to the side a non-event. 

Heading into the Olmstead Lock

  It is really amazing how completely different the Ohio River is from our experience on the Mississippi.  One of our fellow loopers described it aptly as  “like going from a washing machine to a bathtub”.   The speed differential is noticeable.  Back to my steady 7 knot speeds which feel like I am creeping along (which, I guess I am).

Captain, My Captain taking a turn enjoying the easy flowing river

We are in civilization again having made it to the new Paducah, Kentucky city dock.   They just opened it last year and it’s been a very welcome addition to the stops along the river for loopers.  Pretty impressive structure ready to withstand any springtime flooding with piling that stick up at least 50’.  

Paducah's new floating docks

  Plugged into 50 amp service and running 2 of our 3 A/C units trying to beat this crazy 90+ degree heat. We’ll spend 2 nights here helping the local economy with visits to restaurants, breweries, supermarkets and laundromats.  They also have several museums including the National Quilting Museum.  Seems like a really cute town based on a  quick walkabout. Good sunset views too.

Two observations today.  First is that  we passed under some bridges that brought back childhood memories of playing with construction toys – Lego’s, Lincoln Logs, and an Erector Set.  This old railroad bridege was clearly designed by someone who played with an erector set.

Second observation is that we've hit a nasty section where mayfly's are prevalent.  Normally they're a problem in the spring so not sure if this hot weather  has them active but they sure  make a mess. They're short lived and harmless but  do  like to land on anything white (like a boat) where they seem to quickly die.  We've heard stories of boats being solidly covered with them in the morning so I guess we're lucky it's not that bad - just something we thought we had avoided this year in our travels.

Mayfly bodies piling up on top of the sundeck

Journey for Oct 1