Down the Mississippi to Boston Bar - Our First Night at Anchor

Friday September 20, 2019
Day 35 Kaskaskia Lock to Boston Bar Anchorage (96.66 miles)

After a peaceful night on the lock wall at Kaskaskia Lock we had an an early start, travelling with Frank and Cally Rogers-White aboard Jubilee another Ranger 29 Tug.   This would be a very long day as we traveled over 96 miles down to Boston Bar.   Also on the lock wall had been George and Nina Hutcherson aboard the sailing vessel Breathe and Chris and Bonnie Clayton aboard Mi Toi.

Before we left a tow with a couple of barges went through Kaskaskia Lock.   It was fun to be this close to a tow, and to hear the radio traffic from the crew member guiding the tow as he stood on the front of the barge.

Tow going through Kaskaskia Lock

We had planned to stop at Hoppies Marine, a floating barge with power about 47 miles down river, but Hoppies was full so we had to keep going.  This ended up being a good thing, as another Looper who did stop stop at Hoppies sent us a messsage that mooring there, against a strong current, was very hard and "not for the feint of heart."

After quite a bit of discussion, we decided to anchor at Boston Bar.  This is quite close to the junction with the Ohio River and so would make for an easier day to get to Paducah.

On the way down the Mississippi to Boston Bar Anchorage
Jubilee led us into the anchorage, since my depth sounder was no longer working.  He called out depths as he went in, and we anchored in about 10 feet of water.  There was a fairly swift current running, which was helpful as we did not have to set a stern anchor and our anchor held well. 

Jubilee anchored in Boston Bar


Mi Toi and Breathe anchored behind us in Boston Bar






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