Ohio River to Cumberland River

Today will be our last day on the Mississippi River as we move on to the Ohio River a short ways.  We will have traveled 221 miles on the Mississippi and about 58 miles on the Ohio River that will lead us to the Cumberland River of which we will also stay on for just about 36 miles, the Cumberland runs us to the Barkley Lake and the Kentucky Lake.

Friday 9-23- We anchored on the Ohio River (mile 966) on the Kentucky side there, we dropped anchor and then an hour later there were 7 of us rafted together. Oh, and a canoe! here is the crew of Passport and Southern Belle.

 This is the canoe they were paddling by and asked if we knew of a grassy spot for them to pitch their tent. Hmm after talking to them Passport offered their upper helm to them for the night.  Ben and Jon are on an adventure and are sponsored by a few business, churches and others to raise money for orphans,  Sugar2salt.com for more info.  they are planning to take that canoe down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, they started in Ohio.  And we thought this was an adventure?

This paddle boat also is heading for the Mississippi.

 Saturday 9-24 another anchorage at the Cumberland Island Towhead again 7 of us rafted together.

Sunset at the Cumberland Island Towhead

Life is Good!  ey? Mike

This is a great picture of all of us rafted at the Cumberland Towhead it was taken before NautiNell got there.

2nd and 3rd day on the Big Muddy

We left hoppies on Tuesday 9-20 and headed back out onto the Big Muddy next stop Kaskaskia Lock  It is very nice for the lock master to allow us all to tie up to this lock as there are NO marinas on the Mississippi River.  We were the 2nd boat in for the night but 7 more were to follow.  As I understand it, it depends whether the on duty lock master will allow you to get off your boat or not, we were lucky enough to get the one that would let us leave our boats.  So, once everyone was in it was Happy hour on the wall.

9 boats rafted on the wall

We noticed that the foliage is beginning to change on the river, glad to be heading south as the temperatures are cooling down, especially in the evening.

The scenery is getting prettier as we head downbound on the river.

It is wise to radio the barges as to direction on what side they would prefer you to pass,  there sure is alot of heavy metal there, the law of tonnage applies here.  Some of these barges are 5 wide by 6 long, most we have encountered are 5 by 5.

After you get by them its the backwash that can really throw you around,  alot of power there for sure,  each engine is 5000 horse.

Yes that looks like the route we are taking.

On the 3rd night we anchored out in Little Diversion Channel, Skipper Bob said that there was 10' of water and room for several boats, more if rafted.  We did have 7' of water under our keel and on our raft was 5 boats.  However, the book also said, do not anchor here if heavy rains are forecasted as the channel will flash flood resulting in lots of debris and strong current.  Well of course it did rain during the night, I am happy to report no flash flooding occurred.  Getting into this channel was quite the challenge as you need to go past the channel, turn around, and come up river against the current of 5 knots or more to enter the narrow channel.   

Looking up the Channel was a raft of 4 and another raft of 2 and 1 boat anchored alone next to us down at the bridge.  In the morning we will be anchoring out again but this time we will be on the Ohio River.

St Louis Mo and Hoppies

The night before we left Grafton a group of us wanted to go over to the Hawg Pit BBQ which is not a long walk but someone called to make sure it was open.  As it turned out they said they would send over a ride for us, there were 12 of us.  This is the ride they sent a 1942 army truck complete with Bales of hay.  They gave us a tour of Grafton before heading over to the Hawg Pit.  A great time was had by all.

The next morning we were planning to leave Grafton early to travel on by St. Louis MO and spend the night at Hoppies, however when we woke up the fog had us socked in for awhile.   It was not until nearly 10am before the fog lifted and we could head out, well us, and 9 other boats.  Most everyone was either planning to stay at Alton for the night or going in to fuel up before heading out.  Alton is only 18 miles from Grafton and located just before a lock. 
As it turned out NautiNell and SweetPea needed to wait on a barge to be locked through first and we would have to wait about an hour so we all had our lunch while we waited. 
An hour turned into 2 hours we really can't complain about the wait as we have been very lucky with the locks to this point, and it was the first time we had to wait.  So at 2pm we really are just beginning our day.  We were locked down and at the next lock we drove right in and were on our way. 

WOW we are now on the Mississippi River how cool is that!

The arch at St. Louis MO quite the sight to behold from the water.

We made it to Hoppies Marine for the night.  Hoppies is a highlight in looping not that its the nicest marina or anything, as a matter of fact Hoppies is jjnot much more than a group of barges on the Mississippi River that you tie up to.  But the reason this is a memorable stop is Fern, Pictured below (in the white top) she is very knowledgeable about everything and anything on the Upper Mississippi, Fern holds court everyday to inform boater of anchorages and hazards on the river.  And there is no fuel for over 200 miles which makes Hoppies a must for some boater.

Fern, Jim, Mike and Twyla marking up their charts for the trip on the remainder of the Mississippi and the Ohio River.

Celebrations in the Midwest

 

Let the Parade begin!

                                            Nice wheels

                                   Happy 175th Birthday Grafton Il.

                                  The Port of Grafton Light

Grafton Marina we spent a week here. partly because of a special they were running as well as the 175 th birthday celebrations happening all weekend.

As well as the land parade they had a boat parade and the laying of the wreath for those lost in the last year.  This girl had lost her husband suddenly last November.

Lots of interesting boats passing by the harbor.

This is the breakwater for the marina, it is an old floating dock, the pilings are that tall because the river will swell up and the docks will slide up the pilings.  They have gone to the top in the past.

Loopers doing what they do best when they are together. Friday Night

                                                                               The Mississippi River is less than a mile away, and St Louis is about 50 miles away.

 5 o'clock Sunday night  NautiNell has FINALLY arrived, we will travel with Mike and Twyla once again, down the Mississippi and onto the Ohio River.  We will be leaving here Tuesday morning for Hoppies more about that on the next post.

Grafton Il - Sept. 13th

Today we finally got the early start we have been trying to get (no fog this morning) so up and out at 6:30.  We had planned a loooong day 88 miles and 1 lock, that 1 lock could make or break us. 

More of the same scenery.

grain

salt

Hey! look behind you Sid!  Company.........moving at warp speeds.

Seeing more houses today all up on stilts we noticed that they looked newly raised as they all had new staircases and decks.

Ahhhh a sight to behold

Finally Grafton Harbor, time to fuel up and pumpout as we wait for our slip assignments.  We are planning to stay here for a week as we are awaiting poky, I mean NautiNell.  There are 15 loop boaters here some have left their boats for wings or wheels to visit home.  For those up stream they have a special going on.  "pay for 4 nights get 3 FREE"  great deal as there price per foot is good as well.  Good place to leave the boat and visit home, covered slips, pool, hot tub, really nice ship/gift store, courtesy cars, super nice shower rooms and some nice restaurants.  This weekend Grafton is celebrating their 175th Birthday with a parade, fireworks, car show, motorcycle show, boat parade, and a reenactment of the opening of the river road.  Make reservations now all the B&B's in town are booked for the weekend.

In our slip, behind us, we see big orange balls, howdy neighbor! We have a case of B.O.B envy.  Now time for boat chores and boy does SweetPea need a good cleaning inside and out!  Jim also plans to do an oil and filter change while we are here.

tie ups to Abandoned wall, docks and Barges! OH MY...

Not alot to see along the way a few houses, lots of trees and barges though.

The barges are loaded with asphalt, bark mulch, salt, sand, stone, pig steel, grain, crushed stone and other unmentionables.  They are being transported from other plants on this river or the Mississippi as well as the Gulf ports.

Honey I'm home!  We tied to a barge for the night quite an experience.

Took a walk into town, (Beardstown that is) 88 more miles to our next stop Grafton Il.

We all had lunch at the local Elks lodge in Beardstown,  something new for our Canadian friends aboard SomethingSpecial.  Nope, no Elks in Canada, but they are the home of the Moose Lodges.  A good time was had by all.

Isn't he cute................this is Skipper he's just 12 weeks old he's a Portuguese Water dog.  His master picked him up along the way and have had him for 3 weeks.  He's Canadian as well.  We met him at his new home aboard MyWay for cocktails.

Hmmmm Not really sure