We are finally on the move again! We had a nice respite at Jennifer and Jeff’s home in Des Moines, but after two and a half weeks, we were ready to start traveling again. We arrived back on the boat last Saturday and, although the Illinois River was still above flood stage, the Coast Guard allowed pleasure boating back on the river by Monday afternoon. We left early Tuesday morning and have included a picture of the flooded shoreline. There are very few marinas on the rivers so it was necessary for us to tie up to some interesting places. The first night we tied to a barge in Beardstown, IL that has been provided by the town for recreational boaters. It had been closed to boaters during the flooding, but we called the town office and spoke with a gentleman who told us the barge was open for use. We had a fairly stiff current to negotiate as we neared the barge, but we finally got tied up and secure. There was a walkway to the town from the barge so we thought we would explore a little, but when we got to the top of the ramp we saw the end that reached to the shore was under water. Oh well, we were told there wasn’t much to see in Beardstown anyway!
As we traveled down the Illinois, we saw thousands of white birds along the bank and, as we looked closer with our binoculars, we saw that they were white pelicans with black tipped wings. We found out later from a local that it is a bird sanctuary where the pelicans have their young and then migrate to the south before winter. We never expected to see pelicans in Illinois.
Our next stop was the last marina we would see for a number of days, which was in Grafton, IL at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. It was a very nice place and a good respite from the flooded Illinois. We only stayed one night because we were ready to get down the mighty Mississippi and see what adventures would come our way as we traversed the 218 miles required to get to the Ohio River. Our first spectacular view was of the St. Louis Arch. We didn’t get the opportunity to go into the city to do any sightseeing, but it was wonderful to see this icon of the Midwest that we had always heard about. We expected the Mississippi to be a very wide river, similar to the width of the Chesapeake Bay, but were surprised to find it as narrow as the Illinois. There were some sharp curves on the river that had Weir Dams placed in the bottom to keep the water level controlled. These dams created significant turbulence and it was necessary to work very hard to keep control as we passed through. Our first stop on the Mississippi was a place that we had looked forward to for most of our trip, as we had been hearing about Hoppie’s since we went to the Looper Rendezvous last April. The Hopkins family has had a “barge” marina on the Mississippi for pleasure craft since 1938. Since the current is so strong on the river, it is necessary to go past Hoppie’s and come back upriver in order to tie on. They are very helpful to boaters who dock there and Hoppie’s wife, Fern, has a Captain’s meeting on the barge to let us know what to expect as we travel the next portion of the river. We have included pictures of the barge and Fern. She is rarely without a cigarette in her mouth and many have termed her a “female Popeye”. She is very sweet and pleasant and can’t do enough for her “boaters”.
The next two nights we were going to have to anchor out and after the storm we survived in Canada at anchor, we were a little apprehensive. There are not many places you can drop the hook along the Mississippi so we followed our guides and Fern’s suggestions and tucked in at what is called Little Diversion Channel. It is well-named as it is a fairly narrow channel where you can get out of the river current and anchor in calm waters away from the barge traffic. We had four boats with us and there would have been plenty of room for at least four more. It was necessary to wait an hour before we could leave the next morning due to the fog on the river, but we were finally on our way again and looked forward to reaching the Ohio River by the end of our day. I have mentioned the fast current on the Mississippi a couple of times, but to give you some perspective on it, we normally travel about 9 mph and on the Mississippi were moving at about 13 ½ mph. It was nice to have that push and it allowed us to do more mileage in a day than we normally would have.
We arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi and as we turned the corner, our speed dropped from 13 ½ to 7 ½ immediately. The push was great while it lasted, but we were now going upriver and had to buck the current for awhile. As we entered the Ohio, we had Missouri behind us, Illinois on the left bank and Kentucky on the right bank. It is pretty exciting to get a full realization of the amount of country we are seeing on this trip. Our next stop was the near the city of Metropolis, but we didn’t see Superman while we were there. He must have been out of town saving the world! We had a great anchorage off the Kentucky shore, well away from the incessant barge traffic. Tow boats and barges constantly ply the rivers as they move grain, coal and sand and other goods from port to port. We needed to be constantly on the lookout for them as they would take up a large portion of the navigable river. We would call the captains on the radio and ask them which side they wanted us to pass on. There is a “whistle” system that is used to communicate that information. If we are to pass to the right, whether the barge is coming toward us or traveling in our direction, we pass on the “one whistle” and if we are to pass to the left, we are on the “two whistle”. We have included a picture of a typical barge we had to deal with. The captains are very friendly for the most part.
The next morning we needed to pass through a lock so we called the lockmaster at 7 AM to ask him if we could lock through. He instructed us to go to a red buoy and wait until he called us. There were many tows waiting to lock through and we didn’t know how long our wait would be so we dropped our anchor again, made another cup of coffee and waited for our call. While on our coffee break, I looked out the window and saw a whitetail doe with two yearlings swimming across the river. She heard me make noise when I called Flint from below and she turned around and went back to the shore where she began her trip. We have included a picture of her. Two hours later we heard the lockmaster ask a towboat captain if he would mind if two pleasure boats locked through with him. He said yes and we knew we were almost ready to go. Our call came awhile later and we pulled the hook and entered the lock with the tow. The walls were too high for us to tie up to so we had to float in the middle for an hour until they finally raised the level twelve feet and opened the door to let us out.
A few miles after completing the lock we left the Ohio and entered the Cumberland River. The barge traffic almost disappeared and the scenery was beautiful as the rock cliffs rose up from the riverbanks and the trees were beginning to show the fall colors. The flow of the water was gentle and quiet and we totally enjoyed the trip. We had one more lock to transit before we could stop for awhile and it rose over 50 feet to dump us into Eureka Lake on the other side. Less than a mile from the lock, we stopped at Green Turtle Bay Resort, which is a must for all loopers. After transiting all the rivers and their various challenges, it is time for a break, before we start down the Tennessee to Mobile. This resort offers a heated pool, hot tub, sauna, exercise equipment, courtesy cars and great sights to visit in the area. We are going to stay here for a week to get some projects done and enjoy the amenities.
We will be back to you once we start traveling again. We are going to a rendezvous of loopers at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Alabama on October 20th and then we plan on going up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga to visit the Baileys after the rendezvous, if weather and finances permit. If we don’t take the boat, we will visit them by car. Take care and we will be back with you soon.
As we traveled down the Illinois, we saw thousands of white birds along the bank and, as we looked closer with our binoculars, we saw that they were white pelicans with black tipped wings. We found out later from a local that it is a bird sanctuary where the pelicans have their young and then migrate to the south before winter. We never expected to see pelicans in Illinois.
Our next stop was the last marina we would see for a number of days, which was in Grafton, IL at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. It was a very nice place and a good respite from the flooded Illinois. We only stayed one night because we were ready to get down the mighty Mississippi and see what adventures would come our way as we traversed the 218 miles required to get to the Ohio River. Our first spectacular view was of the St. Louis Arch. We didn’t get the opportunity to go into the city to do any sightseeing, but it was wonderful to see this icon of the Midwest that we had always heard about. We expected the Mississippi to be a very wide river, similar to the width of the Chesapeake Bay, but were surprised to find it as narrow as the Illinois. There were some sharp curves on the river that had Weir Dams placed in the bottom to keep the water level controlled. These dams created significant turbulence and it was necessary to work very hard to keep control as we passed through. Our first stop on the Mississippi was a place that we had looked forward to for most of our trip, as we had been hearing about Hoppie’s since we went to the Looper Rendezvous last April. The Hopkins family has had a “barge” marina on the Mississippi for pleasure craft since 1938. Since the current is so strong on the river, it is necessary to go past Hoppie’s and come back upriver in order to tie on. They are very helpful to boaters who dock there and Hoppie’s wife, Fern, has a Captain’s meeting on the barge to let us know what to expect as we travel the next portion of the river. We have included pictures of the barge and Fern. She is rarely without a cigarette in her mouth and many have termed her a “female Popeye”. She is very sweet and pleasant and can’t do enough for her “boaters”.
The next two nights we were going to have to anchor out and after the storm we survived in Canada at anchor, we were a little apprehensive. There are not many places you can drop the hook along the Mississippi so we followed our guides and Fern’s suggestions and tucked in at what is called Little Diversion Channel. It is well-named as it is a fairly narrow channel where you can get out of the river current and anchor in calm waters away from the barge traffic. We had four boats with us and there would have been plenty of room for at least four more. It was necessary to wait an hour before we could leave the next morning due to the fog on the river, but we were finally on our way again and looked forward to reaching the Ohio River by the end of our day. I have mentioned the fast current on the Mississippi a couple of times, but to give you some perspective on it, we normally travel about 9 mph and on the Mississippi were moving at about 13 ½ mph. It was nice to have that push and it allowed us to do more mileage in a day than we normally would have.
We arrived at the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi and as we turned the corner, our speed dropped from 13 ½ to 7 ½ immediately. The push was great while it lasted, but we were now going upriver and had to buck the current for awhile. As we entered the Ohio, we had Missouri behind us, Illinois on the left bank and Kentucky on the right bank. It is pretty exciting to get a full realization of the amount of country we are seeing on this trip. Our next stop was the near the city of Metropolis, but we didn’t see Superman while we were there. He must have been out of town saving the world! We had a great anchorage off the Kentucky shore, well away from the incessant barge traffic. Tow boats and barges constantly ply the rivers as they move grain, coal and sand and other goods from port to port. We needed to be constantly on the lookout for them as they would take up a large portion of the navigable river. We would call the captains on the radio and ask them which side they wanted us to pass on. There is a “whistle” system that is used to communicate that information. If we are to pass to the right, whether the barge is coming toward us or traveling in our direction, we pass on the “one whistle” and if we are to pass to the left, we are on the “two whistle”. We have included a picture of a typical barge we had to deal with. The captains are very friendly for the most part.
The next morning we needed to pass through a lock so we called the lockmaster at 7 AM to ask him if we could lock through. He instructed us to go to a red buoy and wait until he called us. There were many tows waiting to lock through and we didn’t know how long our wait would be so we dropped our anchor again, made another cup of coffee and waited for our call. While on our coffee break, I looked out the window and saw a whitetail doe with two yearlings swimming across the river. She heard me make noise when I called Flint from below and she turned around and went back to the shore where she began her trip. We have included a picture of her. Two hours later we heard the lockmaster ask a towboat captain if he would mind if two pleasure boats locked through with him. He said yes and we knew we were almost ready to go. Our call came awhile later and we pulled the hook and entered the lock with the tow. The walls were too high for us to tie up to so we had to float in the middle for an hour until they finally raised the level twelve feet and opened the door to let us out.
A few miles after completing the lock we left the Ohio and entered the Cumberland River. The barge traffic almost disappeared and the scenery was beautiful as the rock cliffs rose up from the riverbanks and the trees were beginning to show the fall colors. The flow of the water was gentle and quiet and we totally enjoyed the trip. We had one more lock to transit before we could stop for awhile and it rose over 50 feet to dump us into Eureka Lake on the other side. Less than a mile from the lock, we stopped at Green Turtle Bay Resort, which is a must for all loopers. After transiting all the rivers and their various challenges, it is time for a break, before we start down the Tennessee to Mobile. This resort offers a heated pool, hot tub, sauna, exercise equipment, courtesy cars and great sights to visit in the area. We are going to stay here for a week to get some projects done and enjoy the amenities.
We will be back to you once we start traveling again. We are going to a rendezvous of loopers at Joe Wheeler State Park in Rogersville, Alabama on October 20th and then we plan on going up the Tennessee River to Chattanooga to visit the Baileys after the rendezvous, if weather and finances permit. If we don’t take the boat, we will visit them by car. Take care and we will be back with you soon.
2 comments:
Sounds like you are having a great trip! When will you be in Chattanooga? We will be in TN Oct 16 - 18 for a wedding.
Art & Lyda
Sounds like you are having a great trip! Lyda and I will be in TN Oct 16 - 18. When will you be in Chattanooga?
Art
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