JUST A LITTLE DIVERSION!

MONDAY, SEPT. 29 - 

We now know there is a reason they call this river the “Mighty Mississippi”.  It sure is different down here than at home in Dubuque, IA.  It has swirly, squirrely eddies, current and the channel winds back and forth.  All of that coupled with the bigger towboats and barge loads make it seem like the wild, wild west of boating at times.  We had a nice run downstream to Cape Girardeau.  Encountered a fair amount of barge traffic and the scenery started to improve. 

We also went by this couple in a canoe, another interesting travel story here.  Check out their website.

As we were travelling we saw a small boat start catching up from behind.  Soon we realized it was a Rossborough and our French Canadian friends Sylvi and Simon!  

They travel about 15 to 17 knots so they came bye to say hi and blew right by us.  As we were beginning to pass Cape G., noticed Seamont had pulled up to a fuel dock for gas.  It was a small dock but provided access to town.  We decided that a trip into town for more ice since our refrigerator is out would be in order.  We attempted to raft to Seamont but the current was so strong it made it impossible.  Thanks to Sylvi who tried to accommodate us.  We decided that John would take coolers and the dinghy into the fuel dock and walk to town while I ran Free Bird in circles near the channel.  With the strong current it wasn’t an option to just float.  John’s ice mission turned into quite a haul.  He had looked on his cell phone and saw a convenience store 3 blocks from the river but every time we tried to call we got “all circuits are busy” so he just thought he would go for it.  Well…no ice at store 1, no ice at store 2.  Keep in mind it is 87 degrees and he is walking for ice.  Some customers at store 2 suggested he go to Family Dollar.  He ended up getting 44 lbs. of ice but was almost 10 blocks from the boat.  I meanwhile am dancing in circles in the boat and am getting a bit concerned that something happened to him.  I saw 3 trawlers coming South and knew it was some Loopers headed for the anchorage we intended to go to as well at Little Diversion Channel.  I radioed them to explain why I was driving in circles so they would not be concerned that something was wrong.  Next thing I know John is back, we get him back on board and off we go. My ICE HERO!!!

Set the hook with 4 other Looper boats, Perfect Balance, Estrellita, Priorities and Seamont.  Was a great little spot with plenty of room for all.  Perfect Balance invited all crew over for “decktails” on the back deck of their boat.  All the trawlers had their dinghys on davits or stowed so John volunteered to shuttle everyone around.  We were so busy getting ready that I didn't have time to take pictures but will try to get one of the boats to send me some.  It was a great spot.  Right before we left to go though, a fishing boat with some locals came by and a big flying carp jumped into their boat.  The gal who on board picked him up and let me take a shot before throwing him back where he came from.  Says it happens all the time.  Wow!  

As we were sitting on Perfect Balance, we were trying to put together pieces of radio transmissions we all heard about another Looper boat we know that got into trouble, Chantalle and Germaine.  From what we could piece together, they hit a rock that somehow took out their engine way back up by Hoppies.  Sounded like they were OK but their sailboat is not.  We are all thinking of them and anxious to hear more about what happened.  Will update you when we hear. 

This will be our last night on the Mississippi.  On to the Ohio we go!

HOT, HOT, HOT!

Sunday, Sept. 28 - 

First going to share some more of Hoppie's that I couldn't upload last time. Here is the log that had the guy in front us fall in trying to move it.  The debris coming down river was unbelievable!

It had been a rolly night as our boat kept rocking as the barges paraded past Hoppie’s.  Barge after barge, oh yeah, and the train tracks were practically running through our salon.  Did not make for a great night’s sleep.  

Forecast for today mid-80’s.  Here we go with another hot one.  Didn’t leave until almost 10AM as we knew we were going to make it a short day of about 40 miles.  Thought we would stay “plugged in” as long as possible so we could run the air conditioner.  Once we disconnect from shore power we can no longer run the a/c.  We have 4 fans but they only do so much when there is no breeze. 

Relatively easy run down to the confluence of the Kaskaskia River and the Mississippi.  Just off the channel is the Kaskaskia Lock & Dam.  We hailed the lockmaster and asked permission to tie up to the outside wall of the lock for the night.  Turns out he’s a cat lover too, had a nice chat with him and got Free Bird tied up nicely.  We were the only boat there. 

The other Loopers all wanted to make more headway and continued farther South.  We just wanted to go for a ride in Marley to cool off and take a hike.  The thermometer was reading 89!  Got Molly set up with a nice fan blowing on her and took off.  Pulled up to a nice sand beach and tied Marley to a tree.  Wanted to make sure that if a towboat went by Marley didn’t end up in New Orleans! 

Took nice shaded hike to an area where they had great interpretive signs and learned more about the Kaskaskia River.  The river goes all the way to Evansville, IN.  Felt great to get out and walk.  Back to the boat to take in a nice sunset.  No TV reception so enjoyed an evening playing with Molly and reading.  

LOCATION UPDATE - Here is our current position as of Sunday.  One more day on the Mississippi and hopefully we'll be able to turn up the Ohio!

ROLLING, ROLLING, ROLLING!

Saturday, Sept. 27 – We left at 6:45 am and enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. 

Next stop - Mel Price L&D.  Got right in with one other trawler and had to wait for a small sailboat to join us.  Took a couple tries to lasso the bollard but got the job done. Shot out of that one and on to the Chain of Rocks L&D.  Were lucky enough to get right through this one too, no waiting.

The Mississippi joined the Missouri River and we went from a 2 knot current to about a 3-1/2 knot current.  Now onto St. Louis.  It is unbelievable to us that St. Louis has no developed waterfront presence.  There are NO marinas, there is NO place to anchor.  We went by the arch which was neat to see from the water.  We’ve been up in it but this was a totally different perspective.

South of St. Louis the barge traffic really picked up.  The number of barges each tow pushes has gone way up from the Illinois.  We passed one upbound that had a 5X5 or 25 barges it was pushing.  These are really BIG towboats with like 3 engines.  When they push north they really throw a wake.  The waters keep moving and swirling and they got the best of our poor little Molly.  I should not have fed her mid-trip but I did not anticipate the change in the status of the river.  We started to see trees and other debris like never before.  It took constant vigilance at the helm to avoid the hazards. 

 Our destination was a place called Hoppies.  Boaters vie for a reservation here as there are few places to stop or anchor.  This is a mom and pop shop, 3 old steel barges tied together right on the open channel.  We had a small recovery drill when I lost one of the boat hooks overboard.  I had insisted that we buy a big net with a telescoping handle (thank you Kathy Lindo for the idea) in case Molly falls overboard.  It came in really handy to fish the boat hook out of the water.  I think my captain would not have been happy with me if we hadn’t snagged it.  Then into Hoppies.  Wow, it was like a 3^rd world marina.  There is no marina, just these barges tied up where you get power, water, can buy diesel and thankfully ICE!  You are invited to attend the daily briefing from the resident river guru (and Hoppie’s wife) Fern at 4:30.  We went and listened to her advice.  She is quite a piece of work and the place was just a trip. 

We ran into several Loopers, including a Canadian guy named Pierre who was doing it in a canoe.  We also met the crew of the little sailboat that had been behind us in the locks.  It was a young couple, maybe 22 (or 18) and they had made it this far from NY.  Their plan is to go down the Mississippi and ot turn off at the Ohio.  Wow, we wouldn’t do that and they are in a little boat, and so young. John was in awe, I was concerned.

Tying to this dock meant ROCK AND ROLL.  The barges went right by and there was no protection so we rocked and we rolled.  Add in the train track that was only feet away and it was evident that this was not going to be our best night of sleep.  Then the guy from the sailboat in front of us noticed a huge log coming down.  We got up front to fend it off and he tried to help and FELL IN!  Scared us but he was fine.  I grabbed a boat cushion to toss to him but he swam back to our swim platform where John had quickly deployed the ladder.  He was fine.  He kept the log off our boat and apologized for getting our cockpit wet when he walked through!  We were just so glad he was OK, it all happened so fast.

The amount of debris that was coming down river was really disconcerting but we just had to go to bed and try to get some sleep.  Have more pics to post from this day but our laptop battery is about to die.  Will add them to tomorrow's post.

SINGING THE REFRIGERATION BLUES!

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26 - When you are a boat owner and going on a big trip, you try to anticipate and think of every contingency.  John has many spare parts but unfortunately one does not normally think to have an extra controller for the refrigeration unit on hand.  Our Fridge went on the fritz mid-week and died.  John and his friend John worked on it a good part of the day Friday and they got it to work…for awhile.  So we are going to hold up our end of the ice market until the part arrives at a downstream marina for us.  We did find some time to play in the pool and hot tub with our new friends.

  

We saw more of the 18 Steamer cars in town that were touring the area.  The majority of them were Stanley Steamers (I just thought that was a carpet cleaning company).  They were really something to see.  I still haven’t had time to look up more about them but will have to do that and report back findings when I can.  

One night we went up the “mountain” as our Floridian friends called it (we ascended probably just 150’) to Airies Restaturant with new Looper friends Burke and Stell.  Great view albeit we got there a little later than we should have.  Only hitch in the evening  was that their shuttle service “forgot” that we needed to go back down to the marina.  A nice group of 4 local ladies offered to get out of their car while the driver gave us a ride down when our server showed up in a Gator.  Another gal came out and drove us safely home. 

Upon arrival at the marina, we heard live music.  We ran into a group of 4 guys from Kansas who were quite the characters.  One played the fiddle, one a guitar and one the harmonica with the 4^th claiming to be spiritual advisor to the crew.  The fiddle player was a pilot and had flown them in to go out on his boat for a few days.  His boat name was Fiddlin’ Around.  Well let me tell you these boys could play!  The just kept playing for the very small group of people who happened to be there and it was delightful!  

We spent the last day in Grafton hanging out with friends, taking a bike ride.  Grabbed a bite for dinner at the marina pub and the 4 guys from Kansas were at the next table and once again entertained us.   We got a coveted reservation at the next stop on the Mississippi called Hoppies.  There are not many places to stop along the big river and boaters have been vying for the slips there for weeks.  We were lucky and happened to get in on a cancellation.  On to the Mighty Mississippi we go!

PALISADES, PARTY AND MORE!

The weather has been fantastic!  The forecast is looking great, sunny and 80 every day for foreseeable future.  We decided to sign up for another couple of days here.  Looks like there are many loopers and nice amenities.  It's time to both clean Free Bird up, do some maintenence and get off the boat and enjoy some down time.  Got up at 6:30 as I had to head out at 7:30 for Jerseyville. Karen and John (Sundowner) had reserved the courtesy van from 7:30 until 11:00 and I HAD to do laundry.  They dropped me at Plaza laundromat and they were off to Walmart and in search of boat motor oil.  We all accomplished our objectives and were back to the marina at 11:00 on the dot.  John spent the morning changing the oil and was very ready to do something else.  Got our bicycles out finally and went for a spin.  

The bluffs to the south that line the river are called pallisades which are very pretty.  

There is a bike path that parallels the Great River Road and we went a way on it and then doubled back through town.  There is a nice little lighthouse and park near the river's edge.

Then back to ready for a Looper Docktail Party.  Mark and Pauline of Last Dance invited the whole crew out to their boat.  (They have 2 CATS on board, suddenly we have more cats than dogs!)  Once all the Loopers started showing up, it became evident we needed to move the festivities to the big building, there were just too many of us!  Saw a lot of folks we have seen before and connected with new ones.  The network and fellowship we have found in this group is amazing!  

Afterwards went to the local hotel for a bite.  On the way back we found the Stanley Steamer cars.  We had seen a few of them during the day but didn't understand what was going on.  They were all retired for the night but I took a few pictures and we'll come back tomorrow to talk to the owners and check them out more.  

We'll learn more about them and report in the next edition.  

Our wildlife photo of the day is this bird that when we first saw it, we didn't think it was real.  But it was definitely real.  It's a pretty common bird but thought it was cool the way it was drying it's wings.  Does the class know this one?

Back with more from Grafton tomorrow.  We are finally caught up on the blog - YAY!  Will try to keep it up to date.  Peace to you all!

GRAFTON HARBOR ARRIVAL

TUESDAY, SEPT. 23 - Made way through our final leg of the Illinois and reached Grafton.  River is getting progressively wider, the towboats are getting bigger and the topography is changing.  We are seeing some nice rock bluffs now.  

Still seeing quite a bit of debris in the river but able to steer around it no problem.  Did see one smaller tug that is worth a mention, just because they apparently named it after my wonderful sister! 

Once in Grafton Harbor we pulled into slip F-7 and and depth meter was not happy!  Too little water here to feel comfortable so we moved to the outside of H dock.  Most slips are under a covered metal canopy and at least we are not by being on the end.  Terrible cell service, especially under the roof!  And they are dredging near our slip, very noisy.  But it's beautiful weather and so we just turned on the A/C and can barely hear it now.  

There is a Paddlewheel boat, similar to the Spirit of Dubuque only bigger and with a calliope here for a few days called the Spirit of Peoria.  We heard the calliope and ran to the end of the dock to catch a picture hoping it was the Delta Queen.  Still nice to hear the tune!  Made it feel like the Mississippi.

We went over to hang out with the crew of Sundowner, including Capt. Jack - the coolest boat kitty ever.  He walks on a leash and loves to get out on the dock, this guy has personality plus!

Then it was on to the hot tub and pool.  Almost felt like we were back at Quarterdeck.  Great ending to the day.

LOCATION UPDATE - We have reached the end of the Illinois River and will be on the Mississippi now until we reach the Ohio River.  We have only 3 locks to the Ohio but quite a bit of water to cover.  We hear the current is strong so am sure that will help us along.

FISH ATTACK!

Monday, Sept 22

Woke to a spectacular cloudless, windless day. 

Time to make some tracks.  Our average speed was 7.7 knots including a 2 knot current.  We heard from Looper Sundowner who was now at Grafton and got an update on the group we had been running with.  We take turns at the helm and the river has long stretches now where we can use auto-pilot.  Navigation is easy; we just have to watch out for Towboats and debris in the water.  We have found that the red and green buoys they use to mark the channel have been compromised a bit with the recent flooding.  Some have trees hooked to them; some are completely in the wrong place or what they call “off-station”.  Normally you are supposed to go between the red and the green buoys, not this time!

We use the GPS and continue straight down the sailing line it provides.  Had to go through the last lock on the Illinois at LaGrange.  It was open as well so no wait, no problem!  It is forecasted to stay open until Thursday.  We floated right by it.  Now we are clear all the way to the Mississippi!  

John’s brother Robbie made a great suggestion.  He thought we should show a map of our progress so here it is.  

Hoping to make Grafton by tomorrow, we ended up putting on 70+ miles, one of our biggest days.   We got to McGee Creek which was one of the last anchorages for quite a way.  Deployed John in Marley again as this anchorage looked a bit more interesting.  He surveyed the area and back out he comes when WHACK, he was hit in the back by a flying carp!  Wow – we couldn’t believe it.  He said it hit hard, it made a big mark on his shirt and his back.  When he was back on board, we nosed up into the creek and dropped anchor.  Then he got back in Marley and took a line to shore and tied our stern to a tree root.  We were tucked in sweetly in 12’ of water.  We were out of the flow of the current which was carrying a lot of debris and out of the prop wash of the towboats.  While we were sitting there we saw a big tree go by and we thankful we could get in far enough to avoid that kind of stuff. 

THE MOLLY REPORT - She is doing much better but still isn't taking to it all like a duck to water.  She has ventured out when at anchor and is exploring a little more every day.  

As far as wildlife is concerned, we are still seeing many of the same water birds.  We did see a fox on the levee and a beaver last night but couldn’t capture them on camera.  This was the nicest bird we saw today.  Wondering if the Mrs. Noonan's class knows what this one is.  

Hint, it is immature.

SUN, SEPT 21 - SUNNY SIBLING SUNDAY

Woke to a bright, sunny day.  John’s brother Robbie, his wife Cindy and John’s sister Beth and her husband Bob just happened to be in town to attend a wedding the day before.  We could even see their hotel from our boat, what a cool coincidence!  They came by and picked us up and we had a nice brunch together.  We won’t see them again until Christmas so it was nice to catch up and spend some time together.  They came back to the boat to check her out and off we go once again.   

There was quite a NW wind, 15 to 20MPH.  Decided since we got a late start to just make a small hop and started out for Coon Hollow Island.  It was only 25 miles away so made it there around 2:30.  We went by, yes by the Peoria L&D.  It is a wicket dam and it was wide open due to the recent flooding.  So nice not having to stage and WAIT.  Seemed so weird to just drive by the dam.  

Once we reached Coon Hollow, Molly and I stayed on Free Bird and we deployed the shuttle craft (our dinghy Marley) with John aboard.  He took our handheld depth-finder and went to check out the anchorage.  He zoomed all around behind the island and found the spot he wanted to drop the hook.  We got anchored in 10-11’ of water and the current coming around the backside of the island kept us aligned nicely.  We even got to catch the end of the Packer/Lion game although we wish the outcome would have been different!  Made a pot of chili and nestled in reading books and playing with Molly.  It was just like home, without our recliners. 

SAT, SEPT 20 - WATER'S GOING DOWN, ANXIETY GOING UP!

ENTRY FOR SATURDAY, SEPT. 20 –

The river is dropping pretty quickly now.  The marina we are in we would not be able to in if the river was at “pool” level, which is the normal level of the river. We knew that coming in yesterday and were hoping the water would stay up a bit.  Rain was in the forecast but it was supposed to be mid-80’s.  We have hardly felt that all summer!  Cousin Karla offered to pick us up and take us to the grocery and hardware stores.  John needed a new fitting for the faucets on the swim platform which were leaking a bit and I needed to reprovision the galley.  When we returned, the first thing John did was check the depth of the water in our slip.  It was 6’1 feet   when we pulled in yesterday; it was reading 4’2 feet!  We have a little fudge factor built in there but not much.  Yikes!!  Time to get out of there as we have a depth of 4’10.  We brought the depth concern to the attention of the crew of RodALee who we knew also drafts 4”10.  Checked again with our handheld depth sensor and decided it was time to make an unscheduled departure.  We unloaded the groceries, showed Karla the boat and basically said we gotta go.  I went up and spoke to the harbormaster who kindly refunded our slip fee we had already paid for the night.  The folks there were super and just could not have been nicer.  So off we go, to where we don’t know!  Rain was threatening but looked like it might pass to the North.  It was already 2:30 so we didn’t want to go too far.  We knew there were free docks downtown Peoria but assumed with Oktoberfest and all they would be full.  Called the harbormaster and he thought there would be room for both boats so headed there.  There was an anchorage listed just across from it in case it didn’t work out.  As we reached the dock area we again ran into the Nina and the Pinta.  Their masts were up and they were moored to the South docks and giving tours.  

We found just enough space for the 2 boats to dock.  We pulled in first to make sure it was OK and then helped RodALee in.  The only problem was there were no cleats in the dock and nothing to tie to.  We improvised and got it to work.  

How nice it was to be right downtown and it was free!  Only drawback is the bridge noise, lots of it.  We were a block from the Oktoberfest grounds and right in the heart of the city.  Looper boats Estrellita, Fruitcakes (love that name) and our French Canadian friends Seamont were also tied up on the South docks.  

Looks like another night of German festivities for us!  Back to the land of bands and beer we go.  We hung out with Loopers and Karla and once again had a great time.  I still have that “chicken dance” song running through my head.  I didn’t know that had German roots, I thought they only played that at Iowa weddings!