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

Oh Those Damn Carp

After staying on the old lock wall at Henry we moved on to Peoria and stayed at the Illinois Valley Yacht and Canoe Club, commonly called IVY.  We had not seen any of the famous jumping carp until now.  I don't know what it is about our boat but they seem to love it.  We went through a long stretch where they were hitting the boat constantly.  Two of them ended up on the swim platform and I couldn't get them off until we got out of the herd because they would have knocked me off the boat.  Apparently there is a sport of shooting them with bows.  One guy drives a bass boat and others stand up with the bows cocked waiting for the fish to jump (see picture below).  We are travelling with two other boats so we called the IVY club for reservations and they said they could take us but it was shallow.  We were going in no matter what because the boat stank and was filthy from the carp crap. 

This was the last place to get fuel before Grafton which is about 170 miles away.  We were told that fuel would be getting cheaper down the river but it was $4.50 per gallon.  The great news is that I got 1.88 miles per gallon since the last fill up 250 miles ago.  We have not been running the generator the last few days so that is even better.  IVY is a very nice marina and everyone was super friendly.  One of the permanent members came down and we talked for a while and toured each others boat.  Besides the two boats we are running with there were at least three other Looper boats.  We met two of them (Dream Catcher and Jeremiah) at dinner on Saturday night.  In hind sight we probably should have stayed another day because we were close to Peoria and we could have used a rest day.  We passed the city of Peoria which was the largest city we have seen since leaving Chicago.  

We pushed on another 50 miles to Havana and the Tall Timbers Marina.  There was low water going into the marina but we made it fine.  Bob, the owner was a big help and told us where the town was.  There was a festival going on until 6PM so we walked up town and walked around a little.  The NFL package was free on Sunday so I got to watch some football and the BTN replayed the Notre Dame - Michigan game so I was happy.  Two other boats came into Tall Timbers (Sweet Pea and Something Special) and we had cocktails, then dinner and bed.  We are back on the river now passing a tow which is always fun.  I am not sure how far we are going today but I think we are going to anchor at the end - we will see.

 This was a marker at the Henry Lock

Another view of the old lock wall at Henry

 Are we in New York already?

 Jumping Carp

 Two fish on the swim platform

 An unusual boat made in Germany.

 Bow hunters after the carp

The IVY Club

 Peoria, IL

 An LST from World War II in for a visit.

 Guess which company has their headquarters in Peoria.

 The last lock of the day

 First time we passed a tow going the same direction

 A little skinny going into Tall Timbers

 Guess where I went first when I got to the festival

 A view from the street

 We were in Havana last night

 Sid, Evelyn, Dale and Jim

Gene, Jennifer, Michael and Ginny (another Ginny)