Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Kentucky

In the last post on Sunday night we were at anchor on the Ohio River across from the Olmstead Dam and I was worried about the anchor slipping. Well the anchor held just fine but I slept (about an hour total) on the bridge just in case. The wind died down and the boat was rocking peacefully until the early morning when the wind came back and it started raining. We had agreed to leave at 7:00 so we could get to Green Turtle Bay. At 6:30 it looked pretty bleak but we left at 7 in the rain up the Ohio. We had three locks to go through and the first one (Lock 53) was only a couple of miles away. Luckily the wickets were down which means that you can bypass the lock and go over the dam. It's raining, overcast, windy and Ginny is in the lead driving over a dam that we hope is really down far enough -not a great way to start the day.

It turns out that would be a piece of cake compared to all of the tows on the Ohio. The AIS was lit up like a Christmas tree for the next 40 miles. The next lock is Lock 52 and the wickets were not down so we had to lock through. We had a very hard time getting the lock master to answer but when she did it was only about a 20 minute wait. We had to pass several tows on the way and at one time we were passing one on his port and another one was passing me on my port. You have to exit the Ohio at the Cumberland which is a right hand turn. The Cumberland is a much different river, it is narrow and much prettier than the Ohio but we are still going up hill. I think I mentioned that we had not pumped out in a while so we were pretty desperate to get to Green Turtle Bay Marina before they closed at 6:00. It was getting pretty late and we still had to go through one more very large lock. "Free to B" was behind us and Gene called and suggested that we kick up the speed for the last 10 miles to make up some time. He no sooner got off the radio before I was up on plane running 20MPH. We made it to the lock about 4:00 and were locked right through. Green Turtle Bay Marina was only a mile farther and we fueled up and pumped out.

Green Turtle Marina is in Grand River, KY and it is exactly what we needed. It is large, well protected, modern with all the amenities you could want. The first thing we did was fill up the water tank and shower. Ginny from the "Free to B" had arranged for a restaurant named Patti's to pick us up for dinner. Patti's is famous in these parts and their specialty is 2" thick pork chops. We are in a dry county and we should have bought our own alcohol but I forgot which was fine because the meal was terrific. After dinner we crashed and I slept like a baby.

On Tuesday we cleaned the boat really well but not much else. When I was washing the boat a guy knocked on the boat and introduced himself as John Wright. He was dressed in business casual so I didn't think he was Looper. It turns out that he has a house boat in the marina and has been following the blog since August. He read that we were going to be in Green Turtle so he drove 100 miles from his house to say hi. John had stuff to do on his boat but he needed to be back home soon so we didn't really get to spend a lot of time but his visit was much appreciated and I hope to follow his blog when he does the Loop some day. We visited with other boats and had dinner on the boat.

Today I changed to oil and then Ginny and I got a golf cart and rode into town for a little look see and lunch at Patti's because they are also know for their pie's which we didn't get a chance to try at dinner. Some of the stores were closed but it was still a nice little town.

We are ahead of schedule so we are going to rent a car and go see the kids for a few days. We are planning on starting back on the trip on October 3. Unfortunately we will be losing our traveling companions. "Free to B" is going home and won't be returning until October 6 and "Nova" is going to continue on because they want to get to Florida and they don't have any restrictions on their insurance. I probably wont be blogging as often but I will stay in touch.

The Olmstead Lock at 7:00 in the morning

Nova and Free to B leaving the anchorage

The Cumberland River

Still a lot of industry on the Cumberland

Now this is a much nicer river

This is where we started going fast to make the lock

The Barkley Lock which has a 57 foot rise

The doors closing behind us.

We have arrived and a pump out is just around the corner

Ginny was all smiles

The town of Grand Rivers

A random sign on the highway

Patti's is a legend

Pork is their speciality

There is other stuff to do at Patti's

Off of the Mississippi and on the Ohio

In the last post we were tied up to a lock wall on the Mississippi and I was pretty frustrated with the river but the last couple of days have been much better because I am more comfortable with the river and the traffic. The night on the lock wall was very comfortable with no wind or waves. We left around 9:00 headed for Little Diversion Channel which was about 70 miles. We didn't have any locks so we arrived to our anchorage late in the afternoon and had plenty of time to get anchored. The three boats rafted together with two of the boats using their front anchor and one of the boats had both a front and stern anchor. It took a little while because the current was going one way and the wind was going the opposite direction so we weren't sure which way to set the anchors, but we got it. After we were set, another three boats came in and they rafted together also. Gene on "Free To B" took his dog Skipper in the dinghy so he could go the the bathroom on shore. Unfortunately the river bank was all mud and Gene was up to his knees in mud.

We started out today at 8:30 and we were only going to travel 40 miles to an anchorage that was supposed to be easy. When we got the anchorage at about noon I went in first and I had a really hard time. The water was shallow and the wind was strong so we all decided to keep going. Jennifer on "Nova" did a great job of calling the locks ahead of us and getting recommendations on places to anchor on the Ohio. We were originally not going to travel on the Ohio until tomorrow, but we decided to go up the Ohio to right before the first lock and anchor. The government is building a new lock and dam about a mile South of the existing dock and one of the tow operators working on the new lock said we should anchor right across from lock on the Kentucky side behind a cell. I knew what a cell was but I had to ask which side was the Kentucky side. A cell is a large round structure built in the river to protect the dam and lock from damage. This cell was right on the edge of the river so we went in behind the cell and close to the shore.

Since we got on the Ohio River we are going upstream into the current. Normally you would expect to turn the boat into the current and drop the anchor which would push the boat against the anchor. We did that but the wind was really strong and was the opposite direction of the current so we kind of just moved around in a circle until the wind died down and now we are being pushed back by the current. It took Ginny and I a while to get into a routine about everything such as driving, cooking, bloging, ect., but we have not practiced anchoring so we are still learning. Ginny compared the process of anchoring to wall-papering with your spouse. We dropped the anchor today and it just wouldn't hold so we picked it up and had to drop it again - now we are set. I have two anchor alarms set, but tonight will be a one eye open kind of night if you know what I mean. Maybe I will sleep on the bridge. We are hoping to get to Green Turtle Bay tomorrow and a real marina. Did I mention that we haven't pumped out in a long time and we are running out of fresh water.

The lock wall on the Kaskaskai River.

The Dam at Kaskaskai

This is view from the lock on the Kaskaskai River looking towards the Mississippi with a tow going North.

These structures are everywhere and are designed to keep the river flowing towards the middle.

They are marked on the charts but you still need to keep a sharp eye out.

A prison in Chester, IL -

The home of Popeye.

I would have said we were in Missouri, but I guess the signs don't lie.

We saw this LST in Peoria a few days ago.

Two of the three other boats that were in Diversion Channel with us.

On the left is an overview of the Mississippi and you can see that it is not straight.

At times we were going NorthEast and still had a current behind us.

When we got to the Ohio this is the first thing we saw.

The first bridge on the Ohio.

The Olmstead Lock and Dam across the river from where we are anchored.

The other two boats with us at anchor.

You can see that they are not exactly lined up with the current.

You can also see the cell I was talking about in the narrative.

This is how close we are to shore and we are still in about 10' of water.

The Upper Mississippi River

We left Grafton and the Illinois River on Thursday morning after a nice two day stop. Both of the other boats we have been traveling with have been in the lead, so it was our turn. I won't say I was nervous but I will say I was scared to death. We left the marina in bright sun light heading East and I couldn't see the color of the cans so instead of throwing up we did the best we could. The first buoy we came to was actually a red and a green because it was at the confluence of two rivers. The next 60 miles to our first stop were horrible but we made it and frankly we learned a lot that will help us down the road.

Number one is that there are no other pleasure boaters on the river. Number two is that the tows on the Mississippi put out a much larger wake than the ones on the Illinois and while most of the tow operators are nice some are not so nice. Number three is that if you follow the sailing line or the magenta line then you will be just fine. We had heard about a 3-4 MPH current that would be pushing us but for the first 20 miles there was really no current. After we went through lock 27 that all changed and we picked up speed. All of the locks until 27 were relatively easy but this one was a B____. The wind was up the turbulence was high and lock operator was none existent.

We finally got to Hoppie's around 3:00. Hoppie's is a marina in Kimmswick, MO that is a series of about 6 barges tied together on the river. Hoppie's is the last place to get fuel for 250 miles so it was important to stop. There really is a Hoppie and he is the owner and his wife is Fern. Fern is very particular about how the boats are tied because she is an expert on the river. Fern has a "sit down" every day with boaters and goes over the charts telling them where to go and what to watch out for. One of her biggest cautions is to call on the radio when you are approaching big bends to make sure there are no tows coming at you. This is where the AIS comes in very handy. All commercial ships have a transponder similar to airplanes that broadcast their position, speed, name and other information. I have a receiver on my boat that reads the broadcasts and displays the information on my laptop. What this means is that I can see tows over 10 miles away and can prepare much better and I can then call the tow by name and ask for passing instructions.

We left Fern at 9:00 today and headed for a lock wall at Kaskaskia Lock and Dam. The lock is on a side river that is out of the current and was only 42 miles away. We got here about 1:00 and I was able to get the dingy down and cruise around a little.

We are not allowed to walk around the lock due to security so we are spending the day catching up on email and the blog and I am watching "Armageddon". We have not anchored yet but I think tomorrow will be the day. We probably won't have Internet but I will post when I get the chance.

Our Lady of the Rivers, a statue for boaters near Alton, IL

Two colorful casino boats

Guess which way we went?

I know some of you know about my lack of direction so this sign was meant for me.

I-270

Wayne, this is for you.

Another bridge being built

A river tour boat in St. Louis

Hey, there it is.

Why there are no marinas would be a mystery to some folks but read the narrative and you will understand.

Helicopter tours of St. Louis

Hoppie's Marina

Fern giving us her wisdom.

I think it was diet coke in the glass - but maybe not.

Ginny found a banner to let you know where we are.

Hoppie's from the top of the hill

These were not all Loopers

The tows are big and so are the wakes.

The town of Kimmswick has a lot of little shops and what looked to be a pretty good restaurant.

I think this is a day trip for people in St. Louis because none of the stores opened until 10 and closed early.

At the End of the Illinois, Ready for the Mighty Mississippi

In the last post I said that we left Havanna and we would probably anchor out somewhere but we decided to keep running until we got to Hardin. I know you don't have a clue where these places are and frankly I don't either because I don't have a road map of Illinois. Basically, Havanna is in the middle of the state latitudinal and towards the Western side. Hardin is on the Western edge of Illinois and about 50 miles North of St. Louis. Hardin is a very small town but they have a semi famous restaurant that has a dock. We had called ahead and they said the dock was empty but when we got there it was full so we had to raft off which was fine. The place must be kind of known and have good food because Augie Busch has a helicopter fly there frequently from St. Louis to pick up brisket and pies. I was pretty excited about having a good meal with a good piece of lemon meringue pie. I had the brisket dinner with cole slaw and baked beans which was fantastic but they were out of lemon pie so I had pecan. I should have gotten the coconut cream but the pecan was good. We had cruised 99 miles and were pretty tired. Michael from Nova and I got back to boat in time to see the last half of the New England, Miami football game. Going slow (10 MPH) is bad enough but the scenery doesn't change very much so it was a pretty boring trip. I helped with the driving which gave Ginny a little break.

Since we were only going 20 miles on Tuesday to Grafton we didn't leave until about 9:00. We traveled with the boats we were rafted to so there were 6 boats in a caravan to Grafton. One of the boats (Dream Catcher) was going to cross their wake in Grafton so they were pretty excited. Crossing your wake means that you have returned to where you started the trip from. We are at Grafton Harbor Marina and it is really nice. Covered docks, swimming pool, fantastic bathrooms, a good ships store and a restaurant on site. We got in about 1:00 and were planning to stay over the next day. It was really hot so we didn't do too much on Tuesday. We were going to walk around town today but it has been pouring all day and it is cold. Ginny did get a ride to another Wal-Mart (our third one so far) in the courtesy car while I took care of some maintenance items (that's slang for I took a nap). Actually, we caught up on some boat chores, cleaning, and emailing. We are going to meet some of the other Loopers for dinner at the marina. We are planning on going down the Mississippi tomorrow to a famous Looper stop called Hoppies which is about 60 miles away. I am a little nervous about being on the river but I know we will be fine. The barges are much much bigger, there is a lot of debris in the water, there are concrete structures sticking out into the river and the current is strong. What's to be worried about. Hoppies is the last place to get fuel until we get to Green Turtle Bay which is about 250 miles and three different rivers away. If you are following the GPS tracks on this blog it looks like we are wandering around the country aimlessly but trust me there is water under those red lines.

Our last lock on the Illinois

This must have been a really nice boat in it's time

The dock at the Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin

Famous for their smoked meats

We all had dinner together.

The couple at the end on the right are the ones that crossed their wake in Grafton

Leaving Hardin

I think this was the gas tank I lost in Lake Michigan but since I already bought another one I didn't stop.

Look close and you will see a green frog.

Do you think it is poisonous?

A view from the marina looking toward the Mississippi River

The Grafton Marina club house