Resting at Green Turtle Bay.

I just returned from the Spa at Green Turtle Bay, and can now catch up on the blog.  We arrived late Thursday after another long day on the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers.  Lock 52, on the Ohio, is etched in my memory.  Our group of seven pleasure craft arrived around 3:00 PM, with the hopes of making it to the Cumberland that day.  Well the lockmaster had other things in store for us.  He did not allow us to lock until after sunset, so the group decided to anchor and go through at first light rather than be in the river at night (I already had one bent prop).  After watching a full moon lunar eclipse I called the lockmaster at 6:00 AM the next day, and we waited till 10:00 AM to lock through.  With that late start we did not hit the Barkley Lock on the Cumberland to around 4:00 PM and had to wait on a tow (commercial traffic has priority over pleasure craft) and locked out at sunset.  Fortunately Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina is only a mile from the lock.  We limped in and promptly all went to the resort restaurant.  It is a dry Kentucky county!!!  After some discussion we were allowed to bring our own booze in for a fee.  We Loopers are a rowdy lot until 9:00 PM, which is “Looper Midnight”, at which time we must be in the sack, or turn into pumpkins. 

The next day, I was scheduled to have the boat hauled to check the props, but had to wait in line, as about a dozen boats were being hauled due to the number of bent props. They tell me this is the worst the Mississippi has been in 30 years.  Despondent boaters and an ecstatic prop shop. 

Friday night the Loopers invaded Patti’s a local restaurant, with our booze in brown bags.  Several awards were given.  Diablo scored the most courageous, as he made it from Hoppies in a small houseboat with one engine down and low on fuel.  Roxane the most heroic for towing Hotei out of the Barkley Lock when its engines would not restart.  Yours truly received an honorable mention as the leader of the flotilla from Hoppies to Green Turtle Bay.  After drinking continued from the brown bags I was told the real reason was not my outstanding seamanship, rather that I speak fluent “tug boat”.  It seems US Yankees and Canadians cannot understand tug boat captains on the VHF.  Most tow captains are from the south, and many from the New Orleans area.  They said my conversations with the tows sounded like the scene from Blazing Saddles where no one understands what any of the cowboys are saying "rubba rubba rubba".  So they just followed me on faith and hoped I was passing on the correct side!  R&R from Long Island still swears I was making it all up.  Rhonda didn't understand a word the captains said, and could not believe it when I had a conversation in the same dialect.  Wait till they get father south!  Score one for the Cajun. 

Today (Friday) it rained all day, so I decided to change the engine zincs, as they were overdue for a change.  Well of course one broke off, and I had to tear down a heat exchanger to get it out.  Naturally I tore the gasket, rendering the entire engine inoperable.  Believe it or not, the supply store here had a Mercrusier replacement gasket that fits my Yanmar engine, so I am back in business.  So after fixing what I broke, I went to the Spa for a massage… 

We will wait till our props are back, and then head up the Cumberland (it flows north) to the Tennessee and on to Chattanooga. 

Rising full moon at Lock 52.

The flotilla at anchor-Lock 52.  

At sunrise we all anticipated an early lock through.  

We did not get in until 10:00.  Lock 52 is an old lock scheduled for replacement.  The Corps is on it.  It has been building the new one for 20 years.  Some things don't change......

The flotilla finally out of Lock 52.  

Paducah, KY.  

The Cumberland is a much smaller and prettier river.  

Waiting, again, at the Barkley Lock on the Cumberland River.  

Here we are in the lock waiting on Diablo, the small houseboat with one engine out.  It brought up the rear about 1/2 hour later.  This lock brought us up 50' to Barkley Lake on the Cumberland.  

Corkscrew is from Nashville, and speaks fluent Redneck.  We have private conversations about the other boaters.....

Quo Vadimus on Barkley Lake.  

R&R.

Finally, the entrance to Green Turtle.  A long three days.  

Moondance's haul out.  

Even a small ding causes the boat to vibrate horribly.  Off to the prop shop.  

The yard here has it down pat.  They push the boat (propless) back to the slip so we don't need a hotel room waiting on the props.  

Deadheads, Divers, and out of the Big Muddy.

We are in the Ohio River, and thank goodness out of the Mississippi.  The Mississippi had about a five knot current and looked like a lumber yard had blown up with all the debris in it.  We nicked a prop on a log, and will have to have it repaired when we get to the Tennessee River.  The Tennessee has lots of marinas and pleasant stops, and it will be nice to have this part of the trip over.  We are travelling with six other Loopers, and it has been fun swapping stories.  The big tows make fun of us, like we are little ducklings in a row!  We have spent the last two nights at anchor in small oxbows, or canals off the river.  We plan to be at Green Turtle Resort Wednesday, in Grand Rivers, KY.  After our prop is fixed, we will continue up the Tennessee to Chattanooga. 

The ducklings.  We have been the lead boat since we have AIS, and can "see" the tows about 10 miles up from us.  

At anchor off the river.  Due to limited space, several boats "rafted up".

Loopers Quo Vadimus, Roxanne, Hotei, R&R, Corkscrew, Diablo and Moondance.  

We depart at first light, and have been travelling about a 100  miles a day.  Long days....

A "diver".  This is a submerged buoy.  The current is so fast, it drags it underwater.  If you hit this it is all over but the shouting!  

Turning from the Mississippi into the Ohio River.  Note how much clearer the water is in the Ohio.  

Hoppies on the Mighty Mississippi.

We entered the Mighty Mississippi River today.  It is about a 200 mile run from Grafton to the Ohio River.  We had to enter the Chain of Rocks Canal and Lock.  This sign makes sure you don't continue on the river as rapids are ahead.  

Locking through with fellow Loopers.  

Asian Carp are everywhere.  Click on the pic to enlarge and carp out!  

We went through St Louis, but like New Orleans, there are no recreational facilities on the river so we had to keep going.  

Due to the recent rain, the river was full of debris, and we had to keep a careful watch.  

The famous Hoppies, the only "marina" on this stretch of the river.  It is just a few barges tied to the bank in Kimmswick, MO, population 200.  It was packed with Loopers, and we had a great happy hour this evening on the dock.  Fern Hopkins, the proprietress, holds court every evening and dispenses local river knowledge. She has been doing this for many years!   

A local barbershop band  was having a concert next door, and the Loopers invaded.  

Grafton, IL.

Grafton has been an interesting stop.  Grafton Harbor Marina is very nice, with a hot tub that came in handy since the temp plunged into the 40s.  Grafton is a town of about 650 people, and bills itself as a tourist town.  We only found a few “wineries” that call themselves restaurants.  Really, they are just bars with hamburgers, etc.  So we rented a car and toured St Charles, MO (across the Mississippi), and it really is a neat tourist town with shops, restaurants and a Lewis and Clark museum.  We also visited Alton and Springfield, IL.  At Springfield, we toured the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library, a very well done place.  During the 1 ½ hour drive to Springfield we passed through miles of corn fields and agricultural interests.  We are truly in the “bread basket” of America. 

We had about 6” of rain in two days, and the river is raging, but should be ok tomorrow.  We will enter the Mississippi and head to the famous Hoppies Marina tomorrow. It is the only marina (several barges tied together on the river bank) on our Mississippi River route, and run by Madam Fern, who by all accounts is quite a character.  Stay tuned!

Gotta love this guy's roof.

I wonder what the neighbor thinks?

Confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  

We posed with the Lincolns!  This was a really well done museum and I highly recommend it if close to Springfield, IL.  

St Charles, MO history.

Lewis and Clark.  

This would be great decor for the boys' duck camp!  

The Eagle has landed, or Invasion of the Asian Carp.

After two long days, we are at Grafton, IL at the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  The Illinois River has alternated between rural and industrial.  We spent the night at the Peoria City Dock.  Peoria is highly industrial and home to Caterpillar Engines.  We arrived at the city dock after about a 10 hour run, and there was a big sign No Overnight Docking!  There was a sailboat staying over so we did too, and were not run off.  This has been about the only city that did not feel warm and toasty, with that sign.  So we did not get off the boat, but left at first light, for another 10 hour day to the LaGrange Lock.  The lockmaster let us anchor below the lock, in a pool downstream of the dam, out of traffic.  We stayed the night and headed out at first light for Grafton.

As I mentioned in another post, Asian Carp are a big problem here.  These are non-native fish that are taking over.  The electric fish barrier we went through is to prevent them from getting into Lake Michigan and destroying the native fish stocks.  There is a lawsuit by some states to permanently close the Illinois River from Lake Michigan, to stop the spread.  Naturally, commercial and recreational interests have opposed that measure, and the fish barrier is the compromise.
 

Asian Carp are the jumping fish and there are many videos on the net of hundreds of them jumping when spooked by a motor.  They are dangerous to small boaters, as they can knock a person out of a boat!  We even hear that there is a bow hunting industry that will take you out to shoot the carp from a boat on the fly.  The boats are equipped with batting cages to protect the shooter from flying carp.  Well, we were attacked by the carp on several occasions, with them hitting the side of the boat, and some even landing in the dinghy-what a mess!  I thought about breaking out my trusty shotgun, and having some sport, but was overruled by Alexis…

We will stay in Grafton for a few days, taking in the many sights and then head down the Mississippi River to the Ohio River. 

Starved Rock Dam.  

We have seen about 100 eagles on the river.  Many are juveniles, but this pair are fully plumed.  The locals tell the same story as back home.  DDT wiped out the eagles in the 60s.  It was a pesticide used by farmers that got into the water.  It caused the egg shells to be brittle, and no more eagles.  When DDT was banned, the eagles slowly reappeared, and now are common.  

We have been underway early each morning.  Thankfully, the fog has been minimal.  

The trees are just starting to color.  

Juvenile Bald Eagle.  

Duck season is just around the corner.   These blinds piqued my "Inner Bubba's" interest.  

They are on the river.  I guess they don't shoot when a tow is passing?

Best dressed blind.

The dinghy was carped!

The carp are messy!  Several hit the boat, and these landed in the dinghy which hangs off the stern.  

A teenager-just getting its plumage.  

Fellow Looper, Lady Shenanigan's, hit a log and had to be towed to the Grafton area.  "Deadheads" (underwater obstructions) are a constant danger on the rivers.