Tuesday, October 15, 2013
October 15, 2013 Tuesday
Woke up this morning with a little rain shower and cloudy which as forecasted was to continue all day. Yeh, to Paducah we went with Judy from S/V Tortola, Billy stayed back to work on the boat. The wooden quilt was the high light of Judy's day and Curt's, Walked along the concrete wall between the river and the city which was built to be their flood wall. On the inside were painted murals depicting the history of Paducah with little Plaques of explanation. Stopped at a antique store, nothing exciting and different to me anyway, may to Curt. Stopped at the Quilt in a Day quilt shop, nice shop with lots of Eleanor Burns books, surprise! Went on down the street for a quick walk thru to another quilt shop and then on the road to Hancock of Paducah which I was blown away, biggest fabric store I've been in, all kinds of fabric lines and in the back room their mail order kits, patterns and fabric. Wow. Yes I did buy kits for Christmas presents, friends (Bobbi) and me. Awesome store, outside was just a tin warehouse type building, very deceiving. Home to the Marina quickly since we're late and happy to get to Hancock of Paducah. Still raining off and on, wet dreary day, everyone in their boats doing whatever. Had tuna fish sandwich and Curt went to return a purchase from the Chancery. I got the keys to the car again to go to the grocery store for provisions before we leave tomorrow. Got to go over to Light house Marina with tons of Hunter sailboats, back here to the Marina, still raining but warm 70's today. Caught up on the blog as you can tell. Will try to do pictures at next Wifi opportunity.
October 14, 2013 Monday
Went with 4 others to Paducah today, two had to get their monthly blood drawn due to some previous medical problems. Went to eat lunch at Whalers Seafood, was very good, had shrimp etoufee and black eyed peas with fresh onions soo good. The National Quilt Museum was across the street and all were game to go especially Chip who I found out was a Museum Curator all around the world, the Holocaust Museum, Golf Museum, Museums in China, England plus more. It was fun to here is critique of the displays and the simplistic quilts or I thought, he thought were the most exquisite. Lots of quilts that were hand quilted and even a basswood carved quilt, to www.gofraser.com, his carving of a quilt with the quilting indentations were amazing, one would swear it was a real fabric quilt. Very artistic quilts, contemporary and traditional pieced. Then time was up to get the courtesy car back so had to run. Went by a plaque on the street about the Scopes Monkey Trial, we all had forgotten that happened here in Paducah. I did get to go by Hancock's of Paducah store, so exited to just drive by. Relaxed the afternoon. Curt had worked on the boat motor all morning, on the way back to the boat parts store since they gave him the wrong impeller. Finally got the new one in and the motor back together. Had hamburgers on our little grill on the boat with lettuce salad and an apple I had bought at the Farmer's market a couple of days ago. Planned out our trip, where we're going to stop, poss. leave tomorrow although I have the courtesy car to go back to Paducah if it is stormy.
Went with 4 others to Paducah today, two had to get their monthly blood drawn due to some previous medical problems. Went to eat lunch at Whalers Seafood, was very good, had shrimp etoufee and black eyed peas with fresh onions soo good. The National Quilt Museum was across the street and all were game to go especially Chip who I found out was a Museum Curator all around the world, the Holocaust Museum, Golf Museum, Museums in China, England plus more. It was fun to here is critique of the displays and the simplistic quilts or I thought, he thought were the most exquisite. Lots of quilts that were hand quilted and even a basswood carved quilt, to www.gofraser.com, his carving of a quilt with the quilting indentations were amazing, one would swear it was a real fabric quilt. Very artistic quilts, contemporary and traditional pieced. Then time was up to get the courtesy car back so had to run. Went by a plaque on the street about the Scopes Monkey Trial, we all had forgotten that happened here in Paducah. I did get to go by Hancock's of Paducah store, so exited to just drive by. Relaxed the afternoon. Curt had worked on the boat motor all morning, on the way back to the boat parts store since they gave him the wrong impeller. Finally got the new one in and the motor back together. Had hamburgers on our little grill on the boat with lettuce salad and an apple I had bought at the Farmer's market a couple of days ago. Planned out our trip, where we're going to stop, poss. leave tomorrow although I have the courtesy car to go back to Paducah if it is stormy.
October 13,2013 Sunday
Walked to church with Mary this morning, we miss read the times so got there just in time for communion and the ending prayers and songs. Met a couple who had been living on a boat and fell in love with Grand Rivers Kentucky, eventually came back here sold their boat and went back to work. Soon to be traveling 5th wheel with their 5 dogs one of which is a new rescue dog of 95 lbs. They were an enjoyable couple and fun to here their story. Got back to the Marina and then left with the group to go thru the maps and learn where to anchor, dock, the ropes of the river down the line to Stewart Florida. 4 hours later and a quick BBQ sandwich we headed back to the Marina to get ready to go to dinner with the group at Miss Patti's, know for here 2" thick pork chops and 6 inch high meringue pie, homemade plus 20 some other pies. Curt and I had the sawdust pie, coconut filling with whipped cream and bananas and more whipped cream and bananas, the whoops pie was tried and loved along with the apple crumb pie with ice cream. Too chilly to walk the mile back to the marina so we all piled into the big mini van and rode, full, happy and many with left over 2 inch thick pork chop. Patti's is know to sell 100,000 lbs of pork chops a year in a little town of 350 people. Of course inside she was decorated for Christmas while outside for Halloween, beautiful mums and pumpkins, squash decorating the streets.
Walked to church with Mary this morning, we miss read the times so got there just in time for communion and the ending prayers and songs. Met a couple who had been living on a boat and fell in love with Grand Rivers Kentucky, eventually came back here sold their boat and went back to work. Soon to be traveling 5th wheel with their 5 dogs one of which is a new rescue dog of 95 lbs. They were an enjoyable couple and fun to here their story. Got back to the Marina and then left with the group to go thru the maps and learn where to anchor, dock, the ropes of the river down the line to Stewart Florida. 4 hours later and a quick BBQ sandwich we headed back to the Marina to get ready to go to dinner with the group at Miss Patti's, know for here 2" thick pork chops and 6 inch high meringue pie, homemade plus 20 some other pies. Curt and I had the sawdust pie, coconut filling with whipped cream and bananas and more whipped cream and bananas, the whoops pie was tried and loved along with the apple crumb pie with ice cream. Too chilly to walk the mile back to the marina so we all piled into the big mini van and rode, full, happy and many with left over 2 inch thick pork chop. Patti's is know to sell 100,000 lbs of pork chops a year in a little town of 350 people. Of course inside she was decorated for Christmas while outside for Halloween, beautiful mums and pumpkins, squash decorating the streets.
October 12, 2013 Went shopping with the other ladies, head for a farmer's market and Walmart, didn't find either one so went to local IGA in Eddyville and liquor store. On the way back went by a huge flea market and saw they had tomatoes and other vegetables so stopped and looked around. Curt worked on getting the impeller out of the motor since we had found two new ones yest. Had dock drinks and appetizers
October 11, 2013 Friday
Nice people at the Marina, everyone so friendly, had a mechanic come check the motor and within a few minutes said it was the starter Selenoid. Couldn't find one so decided to wait and get it fixed later. When we went to fill up with gas the dockmaster suggested shorting it with two wires and a push button to start it. He cut some wires put on the ends to hook to the bolts and the button on the other end, just like in the sixty's when the starter would start. Once again he refused any payment, appeared tickled he could put this new started together for us like in the old days. Another pay if forward. Wow. With that we left Kentucky Dam Marina and went across the beautiful lake arriving at the Green Turtle Marina, Jeff and others were standing at the end of the dock welcoming us, what fun, everyone excited to see us and we made it across the wickets at lock 53 and 52 without getting towed.
Went out to dinner with the group of 5 other boats and had a good time catching up. Ready for bed once again 10pm tonight in a cozy calm slip.
Nice people at the Marina, everyone so friendly, had a mechanic come check the motor and within a few minutes said it was the starter Selenoid. Couldn't find one so decided to wait and get it fixed later. When we went to fill up with gas the dockmaster suggested shorting it with two wires and a push button to start it. He cut some wires put on the ends to hook to the bolts and the button on the other end, just like in the sixty's when the starter would start. Once again he refused any payment, appeared tickled he could put this new started together for us like in the old days. Another pay if forward. Wow. With that we left Kentucky Dam Marina and went across the beautiful lake arriving at the Green Turtle Marina, Jeff and others were standing at the end of the dock welcoming us, what fun, everyone excited to see us and we made it across the wickets at lock 53 and 52 without getting towed.
Went out to dinner with the group of 5 other boats and had a good time catching up. Ready for bed once again 10pm tonight in a cozy calm slip.
October 10,2013 Day 25 Thursday
03:15 Woke up to violent wave action on the boat. Must have rocked for 30 minutes, finally fell asleep and woke up at 7:30, wondering if there was fog because we got to sleep calmly for a while. Sure enough fog, thank you Lord! Towboats were moving slowly in the fog and most were stopped. The 9-10 that were stopped along the Illinois side last night were gone, must have gotten thru the Lock up river. Coffee in hand, breakfast over and barges moving with the boat again rocking and rolling we headed for Paducha city dock 1.5 miles from anchorage. No city dock to be found, just a huge boat ramp. Went to an open barge almost out of town, circled and decided we should see if there is a close gas station to fill up the 6 gallon tank just for insurance we would have enough incase we got stuck at the Kentucky Lake Dam for 8 hours. Curt walked up to find a cement wall and buildings on the other side. Was a marine company with high fence, Curt walked into the office and asked if we could tie up on the barge till we got some gas. The southern boy said sure I don't care, I gots to run an errand but I'll take you when I come back. Gas station about 3 miles away so we decided to wait and wait and wait. In the meantime we decided to fill up our water tank since it wasn't pumping water, carried our two water jugs back and forth approx. 1 block down to the boat and back up the hill. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, we didn't fall down.....Curt came back with the Gentleman and when we told him we were getting a little extra water he said you're out of water too. We reassured him with the disgust on his face we were fine, just making sure we had enough till we get to the Marina tonight. Nice guy though, when Curt asked him if he could give him something for his trouble, he said have you heard "Pay it Forward"? With our shock we said yes we've given many away, this was to be our first official one back at us. Almost brought tears to the eyes. With a handshake he backed his truck around and went back up the hill thru the trees on the gravel broken concrete trail. Off we went, leaving Paducah without me getting to the long promised Hancock of Paducah quilt shop... Up the Tennessee instead of the Cumberland, saw several Bald Eagles today, hadn't seen them for awhile, guess they were guiding us once again. Had a big probably 60 foot boat slow down before he went buy us, his wake would have buried us. Beautiful while boat named "The Captivator". Captain and probably owner waved as they went buy, gave us some space and then sped up, huge wakes on both sides, soon to disappear down the river. Made it to the Kentucky Lock, was open for business and promised only 2 hour wait, we were hopeful since we talked with Jeff and Judy and they were coming up to the Barkley Dam Lock. We wanted to surprise them and get there first since they had left a couple days ahead of us.Tried anchoring on both sides of the river but the sandy muddy bottom wouldn't hold, found a little whole what we were able to anchor till time to go thru the lock. At 6:30 we got the okay to go into the lock to be raised 57 feet to the Kentucky Dam level. Went in with another boat called Elegante, beautiful 60 foot boat with lots of bells and whistles on top and teak would all the way around the back and sides. Coming out of the Lock it was black, now dark. The Captain of Elegante called us by radio and asked where we were going for the night. Agreed that we would not make it to Green Turtle in the dark, took him up on his offer to follow him, since he had lights and radar to the other Marina across the lake. Thank you Lord once again. We would have never been able to see without him ahead of us. Got into the Kentucky Dam Marina, tied off into a slip and tried to decide what to eat after calming down. Captain Jack and his wife worked the boat for another couple who owned it, they were on their way to an open house for a facility they were opening for injured Iraq. Veterans, then a meal on the boat with the City of Nashville councilmen and a boat ride for the Mayor. Their next stop was to Key west back from Nashville down the TennTom Waterway and then to Turks and Caicos Islands for the winter. Captain Jack and been driving the boat for 11 years all over the world taking the owners to where ever they wanted to go. Said the diesel motors burned 50 gallons an hour, you do the math.
03:15 Woke up to violent wave action on the boat. Must have rocked for 30 minutes, finally fell asleep and woke up at 7:30, wondering if there was fog because we got to sleep calmly for a while. Sure enough fog, thank you Lord! Towboats were moving slowly in the fog and most were stopped. The 9-10 that were stopped along the Illinois side last night were gone, must have gotten thru the Lock up river. Coffee in hand, breakfast over and barges moving with the boat again rocking and rolling we headed for Paducha city dock 1.5 miles from anchorage. No city dock to be found, just a huge boat ramp. Went to an open barge almost out of town, circled and decided we should see if there is a close gas station to fill up the 6 gallon tank just for insurance we would have enough incase we got stuck at the Kentucky Lake Dam for 8 hours. Curt walked up to find a cement wall and buildings on the other side. Was a marine company with high fence, Curt walked into the office and asked if we could tie up on the barge till we got some gas. The southern boy said sure I don't care, I gots to run an errand but I'll take you when I come back. Gas station about 3 miles away so we decided to wait and wait and wait. In the meantime we decided to fill up our water tank since it wasn't pumping water, carried our two water jugs back and forth approx. 1 block down to the boat and back up the hill. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, we didn't fall down.....Curt came back with the Gentleman and when we told him we were getting a little extra water he said you're out of water too. We reassured him with the disgust on his face we were fine, just making sure we had enough till we get to the Marina tonight. Nice guy though, when Curt asked him if he could give him something for his trouble, he said have you heard "Pay it Forward"? With our shock we said yes we've given many away, this was to be our first official one back at us. Almost brought tears to the eyes. With a handshake he backed his truck around and went back up the hill thru the trees on the gravel broken concrete trail. Off we went, leaving Paducah without me getting to the long promised Hancock of Paducah quilt shop... Up the Tennessee instead of the Cumberland, saw several Bald Eagles today, hadn't seen them for awhile, guess they were guiding us once again. Had a big probably 60 foot boat slow down before he went buy us, his wake would have buried us. Beautiful while boat named "The Captivator". Captain and probably owner waved as they went buy, gave us some space and then sped up, huge wakes on both sides, soon to disappear down the river. Made it to the Kentucky Lock, was open for business and promised only 2 hour wait, we were hopeful since we talked with Jeff and Judy and they were coming up to the Barkley Dam Lock. We wanted to surprise them and get there first since they had left a couple days ahead of us.Tried anchoring on both sides of the river but the sandy muddy bottom wouldn't hold, found a little whole what we were able to anchor till time to go thru the lock. At 6:30 we got the okay to go into the lock to be raised 57 feet to the Kentucky Dam level. Went in with another boat called Elegante, beautiful 60 foot boat with lots of bells and whistles on top and teak would all the way around the back and sides. Coming out of the Lock it was black, now dark. The Captain of Elegante called us by radio and asked where we were going for the night. Agreed that we would not make it to Green Turtle in the dark, took him up on his offer to follow him, since he had lights and radar to the other Marina across the lake. Thank you Lord once again. We would have never been able to see without him ahead of us. Got into the Kentucky Dam Marina, tied off into a slip and tried to decide what to eat after calming down. Captain Jack and his wife worked the boat for another couple who owned it, they were on their way to an open house for a facility they were opening for injured Iraq. Veterans, then a meal on the boat with the City of Nashville councilmen and a boat ride for the Mayor. Their next stop was to Key west back from Nashville down the TennTom Waterway and then to Turks and Caicos Islands for the winter. Captain Jack and been driving the boat for 11 years all over the world taking the owners to where ever they wanted to go. Said the diesel motors burned 50 gallons an hour, you do the math.
October 9, 2013 Day 24 Wednesday
Anchorage at 1.5 mile marker in the river was a good one, beautiful night skies and amazing morning sun. Slow current with no waves from the tow boats and barges.. Entered the dreaded Ohio, was very busy around Cairo, Ill. at one point wondered how to get around all the tow boats building huge groups of barges 21 sometimes, think may 28 we saw at one point. Our speed has dropped to 3-3.5 knots as expected going against the Ohio River. It's current speed is supposed to be around 3 knots against us. After getting thru all the traffic we went to the Kentucky side out of the sailing channel, hoping to get better time and not to hit shallow water or logs in the water. As we were told the Ohio is running fast to the south with lots of tree branches/logs and wide. Wind was out of the east, tried the Jib up which helped some with the speed. Partly cloudy and temp about 50's. Oh yes the electric start on the motor quit a couple of days ago, but will start if Curt pulls the cord. Passed over Lock 53, Wickets were down, good current or rapids going over the wickets, our speed dropped to 1.4 knots for a little while till over the dam, wondering if we'll make it up over the wickets at Lock 52. previous sailboat had to be towed over it because of the fast current. Made it two Lock 52, wickets were down, lock master said just go over it following the tow boat who was a 1/2 mile ahead. Went to the green buoys as suggested by other previous boaters, our speed dropped to .5 knots so I said forget this I turned toward the red buoys and in the processed must have made it over the wickets because our speed slowly increased and we were passing thru the eddies/whirlpools being tossed around a little. Curt finally took a deep breath, we're home free now, well almost. Anchored on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, what we thought to be far away from the sailing channel and waves of the tow boats/barges. First tow boat waves rocked us for about 10 minutes, waves kept bouncing off shore and back to our boat. Shore was approx. 50 ft and depth 12 ft.
Anchorage at 1.5 mile marker in the river was a good one, beautiful night skies and amazing morning sun. Slow current with no waves from the tow boats and barges.. Entered the dreaded Ohio, was very busy around Cairo, Ill. at one point wondered how to get around all the tow boats building huge groups of barges 21 sometimes, think may 28 we saw at one point. Our speed has dropped to 3-3.5 knots as expected going against the Ohio River. It's current speed is supposed to be around 3 knots against us. After getting thru all the traffic we went to the Kentucky side out of the sailing channel, hoping to get better time and not to hit shallow water or logs in the water. As we were told the Ohio is running fast to the south with lots of tree branches/logs and wide. Wind was out of the east, tried the Jib up which helped some with the speed. Partly cloudy and temp about 50's. Oh yes the electric start on the motor quit a couple of days ago, but will start if Curt pulls the cord. Passed over Lock 53, Wickets were down, good current or rapids going over the wickets, our speed dropped to 1.4 knots for a little while till over the dam, wondering if we'll make it up over the wickets at Lock 52. previous sailboat had to be towed over it because of the fast current. Made it two Lock 52, wickets were down, lock master said just go over it following the tow boat who was a 1/2 mile ahead. Went to the green buoys as suggested by other previous boaters, our speed dropped to .5 knots so I said forget this I turned toward the red buoys and in the processed must have made it over the wickets because our speed slowly increased and we were passing thru the eddies/whirlpools being tossed around a little. Curt finally took a deep breath, we're home free now, well almost. Anchored on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, what we thought to be far away from the sailing channel and waves of the tow boats/barges. First tow boat waves rocked us for about 10 minutes, waves kept bouncing off shore and back to our boat. Shore was approx. 50 ft and depth 12 ft.
October 8, 2013, Tuesday Big Muddy Anchorage off what we thought was away from the channel and waves of the tow boats and barges. We were rocked so hard at the beginning of the night, prayed for calm water or barges to quit running and sure enough the middle of the night after we almost got rocked out of the boat we fell asleep to wake up in the morning seeing gray out the window of the boat. Curt looked out the back, the fog was so thick he could barely see the dingy tied to the back of the boat. Had fried potatoes with onions and green peppers and scrambled eggs for breakfast and of course OJ and coffee. By the time we got the dishes done it started to clear. 9:00 left our anchorage after seeing two tow boats behind their barges in the middle of the river held up to the fog cleared. Thank you Lord for fog. Temp. 43 degrees this morning with SE wind. Passed mile marker 45.2 now 800 miles from our beginning in Minn. Talked with Bill and Judy, said they had closed the canal due to working on a bridge so they didn't get out Mon. from Alton Marina. Anchored down a small stream off the Miss., good anchorage 16 feet, hoping for a calm night no waves from the tow boats. Beautiful clear skies, stars were amazing as well at the moon. Wind SE at 5-10 knots at 73 degrees.
Oct. 7, 2013, Day 22
7:45 am, departed Hoppie's Marina. Overcast with mist and light west wind,53 degrees, cold. 9:00 am passed the 700 mile mark since we left Minneapolis at mile marker 145.3:) Water current is fast, averaging about 8 to 9knots or a little more in the main channel, put up jib sail for a while with NW wind. Passed Kaskaskia River entrance and Decided not to anchor this early and try for the Big Muddy anchorage. Came across a Kayaker, slowed down to visit with him, said he has been doing a lot of the rivers was surprised to see a boat with sails up on the Mississippi. Told us to check out his web site at Irish Voyageur.com, he was heading to the gulf makes approx. 40 miles a day. Wow. Older gentleman. Decided to anchor at a wing dam mile 75.3, hoping for a calm night after being rocked and rolled on the dock at Hoppie's by the big tow boat and barges. Anchored off the point as suggested by Fern and Robert, worked well. Did a little fishing while it was light, no bites, must be the Asian fish jumping like crazy, rowed the dingy to shore and did some exploring on land.
7:45 am, departed Hoppie's Marina. Overcast with mist and light west wind,53 degrees, cold. 9:00 am passed the 700 mile mark since we left Minneapolis at mile marker 145.3:) Water current is fast, averaging about 8 to 9knots or a little more in the main channel, put up jib sail for a while with NW wind. Passed Kaskaskia River entrance and Decided not to anchor this early and try for the Big Muddy anchorage. Came across a Kayaker, slowed down to visit with him, said he has been doing a lot of the rivers was surprised to see a boat with sails up on the Mississippi. Told us to check out his web site at Irish Voyageur.com, he was heading to the gulf makes approx. 40 miles a day. Wow. Older gentleman. Decided to anchor at a wing dam mile 75.3, hoping for a calm night after being rocked and rolled on the dock at Hoppie's by the big tow boat and barges. Anchored off the point as suggested by Fern and Robert, worked well. Did a little fishing while it was light, no bites, must be the Asian fish jumping like crazy, rowed the dingy to shore and did some exploring on land.
October 5, 2013 Sun shiny at 6:45 this morning, beautiful day, tempted to leave but bad weather forecasted. I went back to bed while Curt caught up on his journal and planned the trip for the next 275 miles with no place to get gas. The plan is to go to Paducah to the quilt shop in Paducah-Hancock Fabrics. I'm taking orders but will have to have them send it to you.:) We rode our bikes around the historic part of Alton last night, stopped at the riverboat casino just to look, not too exciting, no one winning big. By 9:00 this morning starting to get cloudy, seems humid in high 70's. Sitting up in the picnic area since that is wear we get WiFi service. Catching up on news. Good to Skype Kiren and get our hugs and kisses and of course good to see Mike and Andy, even got to see the water bill and our back yard. Able to watch the barges go by on the Mississippi River from here. Sure is a lot of traffic with big long barges pushed by big tugs. Fun to show our family the boats at the Marina and where we're at. Busy today, music and people, definitely a weekend. Think we'll try to catch a bus around town. We definitely need boat cards (business cards with our picture, boat picture and email address and phone #. Hint Hint Mike-Merry Christmas to us. 11:45 already, no rain but storm still coming.
October 6, 2013
Left Alton Marina at 9:15, wind came up to 10-15 mph out of the west, temp 53. Not a nice day. Started thru the Chain of Rocks canal to St Louis around 11am after passing thru the mouth of the Missouri coming into the Mississippi. Speed of 5.3knots in the canal and fairly smooth. Water current now over 3 mph and we're up to 10.2 kts. Wow, normal speed is around 5-6 knots. Went thru the lock around 12:15, exited the canal around 12:45. 1:00pm passed the St. Louis Arch. Original ETA to Hoppies was around 5-6 pm, new speed ETA around 4 pm. Tied up and topped up the gas tanks ready for the next 250 miles without any service, anchoring every night for 6-8 days depending on the current coming against on the Ohio and if we can get thru Lock 52 with the wickets down or the lock closed. Went to the Blue Owl to eat, good old fashion cooking, love the spinach, strawberry, pecan salad. Walked around town and headed back to the boat. Had our briefing with Fern, 75 year old owner of Hoppy's whose family has been here since 1930's. Her constant smoking gave us both sore throats and congested heads but she was very nice, precise on how we go down the river and where to anchor on the way. Knows her stuff. Watched Captain Ron on the computer in the boat since nothing else to do in the dark at 7:30pm.
Left Alton Marina at 9:15, wind came up to 10-15 mph out of the west, temp 53. Not a nice day. Started thru the Chain of Rocks canal to St Louis around 11am after passing thru the mouth of the Missouri coming into the Mississippi. Speed of 5.3knots in the canal and fairly smooth. Water current now over 3 mph and we're up to 10.2 kts. Wow, normal speed is around 5-6 knots. Went thru the lock around 12:15, exited the canal around 12:45. 1:00pm passed the St. Louis Arch. Original ETA to Hoppies was around 5-6 pm, new speed ETA around 4 pm. Tied up and topped up the gas tanks ready for the next 250 miles without any service, anchoring every night for 6-8 days depending on the current coming against on the Ohio and if we can get thru Lock 52 with the wickets down or the lock closed. Went to the Blue Owl to eat, good old fashion cooking, love the spinach, strawberry, pecan salad. Walked around town and headed back to the boat. Had our briefing with Fern, 75 year old owner of Hoppy's whose family has been here since 1930's. Her constant smoking gave us both sore throats and congested heads but she was very nice, precise on how we go down the river and where to anchor on the way. Knows her stuff. Watched Captain Ron on the computer in the boat since nothing else to do in the dark at 7:30pm.
Oct. 5, 2013 Saturday
Went shopping with Billy and Judy of S/V Tortola. The weather was cloudy and warm with a few scattered showers and light wind. Forecast for cold front passage with dropping temps and wind of of NE at 10-15 with gust of 25 mph. Ate at Mac's again downtown, seafood salad and I shared some of Curt's steak.
Went shopping with Billy and Judy of S/V Tortola. The weather was cloudy and warm with a few scattered showers and light wind. Forecast for cold front passage with dropping temps and wind of of NE at 10-15 with gust of 25 mph. Ate at Mac's again downtown, seafood salad and I shared some of Curt's steak.
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