Ohio and Cumberland Rivers

We exited the Mississippi River at Cairo, IL.  The change was dramatic as the muddy debris filled water was left behind and we entered the much cleaner Ohio.  The only downside was the current changed from 3 mph of help to 2 mph of hindrance, since we were now going upstream.  Our goal is the Green Turtle Bay marina on Lake Barkley, about 90 miles away.

There was a lot of barges and commercial activity near the confluence.  Many grain loading stations and a few quarry operations like this one later on.

The first lock we came to on the Ohio was the Ohlmstead.  They are constructing a new one (targeted for 2020, but already years late and way over budget) right next to the old one that we were allowed to boat through (after a 45 min wait).

Our nemesis was the infamous Lock 52.  The lock website showed over 60 commercial tows in the queue, some waiting more than 4 days.  We arrived at 4:15 pm with 3 other boats and called in to the lock master.  He told us to move over and wait for the next opening.  After 2 tows went through and another in process, about 6 pm we called again, got a new guy (must have been a shift change) and he said after the next tow went through he would take us.  That meant 7:30 at earliest.  Not being keen on traveling in the dark, we requested permission to anchor for the night.  We anchored just below the dam in 10 feet of water, far away from the locking process on the other side of the river.  Unfortunately, the spillway current was just enough to slap noisily at the sides of our hull all night long.

We awoke before daybreak and prepared to lock through as soon as possible.  We called the lock master (again someone new) at 6:30 am to inform him of our readiness.  He called us over at 8 am to be ready.  We finally locked through at 10 am!  To relieve our frustration, we powered up and went at 20 mph for the next couple of hours.  The first time in several days we have been able to.  Once we left the Ohio, we entered the Cumberland river and it was much narrower.  Not much traffic and we had a nice cruise except for one hidden tree limb that jumped into our propeller.  It stalled us out and caused great anxiety.  But we toggled forward and reverse a couple of times to free ourselves and all was well again.  Whew!  A few miles later on we came upon 3 other Looper boats and decided to follow them to the next lock.  The Barkley lock is one of the highest at about 57 ft of lift.  We only had to wait about 20 minutes and the process was very quick and smooth.

Just a mile into Lake Barkley was Green Turtle Bay marina.  We fueled up, pumped out, and were in our slip by 4:30 pm. 

 We lucked out by getting a covered slip that just became available that day.  It will be a safe protected spot for Happy Daze (you can just see her nose in second slip) while we return home for the next 3 weeks. 

We booked flights and rented a car to sight-see for a day.  Paducah is about 30 miles away, where we visited the National Quilt Museum and the famous Hancock's Fabrics world headquarters.  Angie was in heaven.  The lake, marina, and town all seem very nice.  We'll try to spend a bit more time here when we come back in November.  They have a long wall of murals that show Paducah's history, including this of Lock 52 with a tow and barges.

For this leg from Racine, WI to GTB in KY, we covered about 740 miles over 12 days of boating.  That's an average of 62 miles/day, only a bit below our overall Loop average of 74 miles/day.

We are 4380 miles into our Great Loop and estimate only about 700 left to complete it in Pensacola, FL.  And that is the next leg!

Mississippi River

When first learning of the Great Loop, I had assumed we would spend a great deal of time on the Mississippi River.  That option does exist, but like most Loopers, we chose an alternate set of rivers for most of our journey south.  The section we did travel began at Grafton, IL and ran 220 miles to Cairo, IL where the Ohio River comes in.

No question the river is big and muddy.

In our first few miles we almost ran aground.  The river looks so big that we did not worry about shallow areas - WRONG!  There are many and several man-made like this "wing-dam" that we recognized thanks to the BBQ grill.  They extend out from the shore several hundred feet and are often submerged at high water.  The US Core of Engineers has constructed these partial dams to keep the main river flow in a channel.  We learned our lessen to "stay in the marked channel" and not wander outside.

After leaving Grafton on the Illinois River, we traveled a whole 15 miles to Alton on the Mississippi.  We had been getting reports that they were having trouble at a lock on the Ohio River where we were headed and it was confirmed that the lock was down for repairs, with no boats were getting through. Surprisingly, there are few anchorages and no real marinas on this section of the Mississippi.  Alton had the last nice marina and they were offering a "pay for 3 nights and stay 6" fall special.  The marina is near the right bridge span and we were in a covered slip. They had a pool, 2 hot tubs, and private bathrooms with showers; all on floating structures.  The old downtown was only a few minutes walk with many restaurants and antique stores.

Since we were stalled on our voyage, we took the opportunity to go visit my daughter Christine and son-in-law Steve.  We rented a car and met them at a campground in Springfield, MO. 

They came up from Cassville, MO, a couple hours away in their "new to them" camping trailer.  We played bocce, cooked out, and caught up on our life stories.  It was a pleasant couple of days off the boat.

While away we learned that Lock 52 was repaired and locking boats through.  Although commercial barge traffic was backed up for days, it was reported that pleasure boats could expect to be grouped together and "slipped into the queue after not too much delay".  So we skipped using our extra 3 days and left Alton the next morning after getting back from our family visit.  There were 1-2 hour delays getting through the next two locks, but the weather was beautiful and we made good time after that.  Scenery was mostly commercial, but interesting in its own way.

Later on we were rewarded by an impressive view of the St. Louis arch.

Our destination was Hoppies, the only "marina" in about a 270 mile stretch of river.  It is rather rustic (3 grounded old work barges that you tie up to), but a well known Looper stop.  The ancient proprietor, Fern, gives an afternoon talk on what to expect on the river ahead of us.

Besides being the last fuel stop for many miles, Hoppies also allows access to a quaint old town of Kimmswick, MO. population 158.  Interestingly, the whole town is closed on Mondays (the day of our visit) including restaurants, museums, gift stores, etc.

Occasionally we saw some very nice homes overlooking the river.

We never saw any recreational boating, however we saw and watched out for these numerous and very large tows.  It was important to call them when in narrow channels, especially going around bends.  They would let you know if it was safe and what side was best for you to pass on.

Mostly what we saw on the Mississippi was WOOD!  It was a veritable obstacle course of floating debris constantly swirling around in the ever present current and eddies. Our path down the river looked like we were drunken sailors with constant correction of the wheel.  It was impossible to avoid it all, but our thumps were fairly small.  Made for a stressful cruise.

One good aspect was the assist we got from going down river.  We ran at 1300 rpm which gives us a  upper displacement speed of about 10 mph.  However, the current was running at an average of 3 mph, so we saw 12 to 15 mph on our gps.

Here is a snapshot of our chart plotter showing the Mississippi where the Ohio comes into it.  The screen is set for heading up (and right then we were heading East) so the Ohio is coming in from the top of the screen.

Illinois River

We traveled a total of 327 miles from Chicago to the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.  First we were on the Chicago River, then the Des Plaines river, then after about 60 miles it became the Illinois River.

We went under over 50 bridges in the first 30 miles. And this RR bridge is the only one we had to call for an opening.

As we we left the Chicago urban area things become very industrial with plants on both sides of the river for miles.  Lots of activity with tows and barges moving on the water.

Of course their were more locks to negotiate,

some with "bollards" to tie onto.  They float with the water level.

There were narrow sections and other stretches more like lakes.

Much futher away from Chicago things became more rural, with farms and even a bit of recreation.

Bit surprised by this campsite.

We were delayed by one lock for almost 4 hours and were limited on anchorages available before it got dark.  We pulled over to the side of the river just above this railroad bridge and anchored in 8 ft of water.  Current kept us fairly straight except for a strong wind that pushed us close to the bank and shallow 6 ft water.  But that was better than into the channel where the tows and barges traveled.

Obviously, some parts of the river basin floods higher than other areas.  We saw many of these houses on stilts we assume to be vacation homes.

Along the southern portion of the river we say many bald and golden eagles.

Several sand and gravel loading stations were spread along the lower stretch as well.

Near Grafton, IL we saw this paddle wheeler which went into the Mississippi for tours.

Grafton is the last stop on the Illinois just before it joins the mighty M.  You can see the first couple of barges on a tow headed downriver past us.  Many of these were 2 or 3 barges wide and 5 long for a total of 15.  Roughly 80' x 500'

Ok, next up is the Mississippi.

Chicago

We flew back to Racine, WI on Oct 5 and found Happy Daze waiting for us at Reef Point Marina.  Before we finished prepping her for cruising a couple of Loopers stopped by to say hello.  Nancy and Carey Cook had just finished two years on the Loop and we first met them in Delaware City back in July.  They were gracious enough to transport us for provisioning and then we all went to dinner together with lots of great stories to share.

Alas, the weather window was closing and we needed to leave early next day to make it 60 miles down to Chicago.  Wind was 20-30 kts and seas were beam on, but  spaced far enough apart that we didn't get hammered too much.  Quite a relief getting behind the break-wall at Chicago.

We berthed at DuSable Harbor, which was a perfect spot to visit the city.  It was just off the Chicago River and right on a walking/running/bike path, only a few blocks from center of town.

We arrived early enough to go on a walking excursion into town including the Magnificent Mile.  Here is a view of the Chicago River looking out to Lake Michigan.

They have many tour boats traveling the river, along with water taxis and the occasional private boat.  We found a highly rated pizza parlor for dinner and bought a large sampling of Ghirardelli chocolate for many desserts to come.

The next morning we found a sunny sky and went into the city on the river. It was very special.

Being early on a Saturday morning, we had the river to ourselves.  I'm sure we were in more pictures from onlookers than Angie was able to take of  the city.

Lots of unique architecture and several new buildings were under construction.  The economy seemed very healthy.

It only took about 30 minutes, but we went under about 30 bridges and never met another boat on our trip through the city.