A Day of Travel on the Mississippi

Thursday, September 19 2019
Day 34 on the Loop – Alton, IL to Kaskaskia Lock (74.17 miles)

 We had planned to leave Alton at 7:00 AM, but received a call on the radio at 6:45 am from another boaters that the lockmaster at Melvin Price Lock could lock us through if we could leave the marina immediately.  Kathleen and I hurried through the final items on the pre-departure checklist and cast off, ready to proceed on the next phase of the Great Loop.

Leaving Alton.... An early start to the day!
After leaving Melvin Price Lock we entered the Chain of Rocks Canal.  This bypasses a section of the Mississippi that is impassable due to rocks.   

At the south end of the Chain of Rocks Canal there is a lock that you pass through and then enter St. Louis.

Chain of Rocks Lock, with Jubilee behind us

The floating bollards were quite high up, so the lockmaster just let us float free in the lock as we went down 14 feet.

From there it was on to St. Louis where we took turns taking pictures of each other's boats with Frank and Cally Rogers-Witte, on board Jubilee, a Ranger 29S.

Jubilee in front of the St. Louis Arch


 It was a long day, with over 74 miles traveled.   We had swift (3 knots or so) currents, which helped us to move along at about 10 knots.  There was quite a bit of barge traffic around St. Louis, but once we left there it was very quiet, with few barges and just a few recreational boats.

Along the way, Kathleen did a great job learning how to steer the boat.
Kathleen keeping an eye out as she steers Sunny Tug


Art Work Along the Mississippi


Would love to have this speed/fuel burn rate for the whole trip!

We ended our day tied up to the Kaskaskia dam lock wall
The day had been hot and humid, so it was nice to start up the generator and to get the air conditioning going. A number of other Looper boats were tied up on the Kaskaskia Lock wall, so we enjoyed visiting with them during the evening.

Loopers on the lock wall

Comments

Post a Comment

Please feel free to leave your comments.

Popular posts from this blog

Sunny Tug Returns to Shore, Upgrades and Repairs, and Shipping to Chicago

Image
Friday, August 2, 2019 This is an update on the crazy last couple of days since we returned Sunny Tug to Winter Island Yacht Yard on Tuesday, July 30. I had a list of 18 items that needed to be looked at based on our shakedown cruise.  The two  biggies were the electrical system problems and the AIS (Automatic Identification System) not working. Here is a good write up on the West Marine website of how AIS works . The original plan was that Sunny Tug would be picked up Thursday, August 1 to start the transport to Chicago.   She actually left on Saturday morning, but Roland Hanes, the trucker, thinks he can still get to Chicago on Monday. Roland unloading a new Ranger Tug in preparation for loading Sunny Tug It was a long, and at times crazy, couple of days.   It was good getting to help out with some of the work at the yard, so I could learn a bit more about my boat but it was also tiring.  Thankfully, the heat that we first had when I arrived in Salem had eased a bit, th
Read more

A nice run down the Tennessee to a secure anchorage.

Image
Wednesday, October 9, 2019 Days 54 on the Loop – Pebble Isle Marina - Tennessee River to Double Island Anchorage (46.54 Miles). Pebble Island Marina was nice.    It was nice having shore power (electricity) to turn on the heat in the morning, since it was quite chilly.   I am supposed to have a diesel powered heater on board, but that has never worked and I have not been able to find anywhere to fix it. Vicki returning to the boat at Pebble Isle Marina On the dock at Pebble Island Marina In the morning many Loopers went to the office to pick up cinnamon rolls that the marina provides to guests.  :)  We skipped on that, but other said they liked them. Before leaving the marina I spent some time on the phone making calls to ask for quotes for having Sunny Tug trucked from Iuka MS (Aqua Yacht Harbor) to Orange Beach, AL (Saunders Yacht Services).  Lady Finger Promontory on the Tennessee River The ride up the Tennessee River was very pleasant, with
Read more

Paducah to Green Turtle Bay Marina (Grand Rivers, KY)

Image
Sunday, September 22, 2019 Day 37 on the Loop – Paducah to Grand Rivers, KY (Green Turtle Bay Marina) (38.6 miles) It was nice to get a more relaxed start to the day since we only had about 45 miles to go today, and one lock to go through.   Our berth last night was on the shore side of the floating dock at Paducah, which was nice since it protected us from the wakes of passing tows. We had thought about joining other Loopers going to brunch in Paducah, but decided that with a lock to go through (which always is a roll of the dice for time) we would start earlier. After a short time on the Ohio River we transitioned to the Cumberland.   Whereas the Ohio had been very wide, the Cumberland was much smaller, and a bit more scenic.  It was also interspersed some large gravel pits and the occasional tow. Gravel plant along the Cumberland River In one instance the tow called us on the radio to discuss a passing situation, but in most cases it was us calling them to ask which
Read more