Day 144-146 2nd year. October 14-16. On to Hoppies. Miles 39. Total miles 4360. and then down the Mississippi River
Woke at 5:50 to get a lock update to find a cloudy 50 degrees with quite a bit of wind, so we were bundled up! Found out that our group of ten boats would be worked into the lock queue and would need to be at the lock by 6:50. So we double checked lines and fenders to be ready for the lock and left at 6:30 to go the one mile to the lock.
We locked through the Mel Price Lock at 7:20 with nine other pleasure boats and dropped the 22 feet to continue down the Mississippi River.
We passed lots of barge loading depots along the shore, mostly petroleum, fertilizer and nitrogen we headed to the juncture of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.
Here a channel lead us to the next lock, Chain of Rocks, to avoid the rapids in the Mississippi in this section. A sign makes sure that no one goes the wrong way at this juncture.
As we started down the channel to the lock, we all had to slow to allow a tug to pass and enter the lock that already had two smaller barges inside. So we settled down to wait.
When it was our turn, the lock master called us into the lock and we got connected to the bollard, then two other boaters rafted to us because they could not get on the port wall due to the wind. Bill got a workout keeping all three boats positioned on the wall. Three boats weigh quite a bit!
We left the lock and proceeded down what remained of the lock channel to rejoin the Mississippi River. A little bit later the city of St Louis came into view. We all had pictures taken of our boats under the arch by one boat photography another. Got some nice shots.
Continuing down river we picked up our speed to 10 knots, due to the increased current from the river. Most of the shore along this section of the river is heavily industrial with many barge loading depots on both the Illinois and Missouri sides of the river. Lots of tug and barge activity.
Ten miles further south of St Louis the Mississippi shore line becomes more forested and undeveloped to allow for flooding. The river also has many wing dams on the inside bends of the river to help with erosion.
Another ten miles down river, we came to our destination tonight at Hoppies Marina near Kimmswick, MO. This quirky little marina and town is well known in the boating community. The marina is really two barges tied together with a small mobile home set on one of the barges to serve as an office. You can connect to electric, but no water or bathrooms. The owner, Debbie, gave us the scoop on the rest of the Mississippi and up the Ohio to Paducah, KY.
The town has cute shops and is famous for it Blue Owl Restaurant that serves Mile High Pie. We were not able to indulge as the whole town was putting on a women only Halloween event and all the restaurants were closed to those who had not prepurchased tickets.
Spent the evening catching up on the blog and Bill did a few boat chores. Many of our boating group enjoyed the Tennessee vs Texas A&M game. After dinner we splurged and ate the cake we bought in Alton two days ago. Was delicious!
Day 145 October 15 On to Kaskaskia Lock Miles 37 Total miles 4397
Woke to 50 degrees, but no wind. yeah! Looks like we may see sun today.
Left Hoppies’s barges and headed down the Mississippi. As we move further south the shoreline on the Missouri side becomes limestone cliffs. Many with homes at the top.
A few miles later, we passed Selma Hall or Kennet’s Castle as the locals call it, high up on the cliff. Selma Hall was originally built in 1854 by a wealthy lead mine owner. It was nearly destroyed by gun fire in the Civil War and again by fire in 1928. Today it is owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company which uses the castle as a conference center, complete with golf course, tennis courts and pool.
Just below Selma Hall we watched three train engines couple to a long line of hopper cars. Those engines are pulling a large load!
The next section of the river has three quarry sites and an electric plant and lots of barges,
Then the shoreline reverted to forested limestone cliffs. The trees are just beginning to turn.
The last miles of our trip down river today was filled with tight bends in the river. Fortunately we did not encounter any barge traffic, otherwise we would have to stop and wait for them to make the turn.
At MM 117.5 we turned up the Kaskaskia River and tied to the lock wall for the night along with the five other boats we traveled with today- MVSpartina, MV Arabella, MVLong Gone, and MV Summer Place.
Will have a relaxing afternoon and all the boaters will convene for docktails at 5.
Day 146. October 16. On to Little Diversion Channel. Miles 61 Total Miles 4462
The sun greeted us this morning as 8 boats headed out of Kaskaskia Lock to head down the Mississippi River. As we prepared to leave 2 barges entered the Kaskaskia Lock right beside us. Was amazing that the barges just fit, just inches from the lock wall.
This section of the river is lower forested shoreline with levees beyond the shore.
We did pass Chester, IL which is the birthplace of Popeye. Here the Core of Engineers were dredging by the Chester bridge, so we had to slow down to pass the dredging.
Today we had lots of company on the water with 13 barges and tows. When barges are going up river they have to push against the two knot current and create quite a bit of turbulence as they pass us, which takes up to one half mile to dissipate. We got good at riding the turbulence today with 13 times to practice.
At MM 84 the shoreline has more oxbows and begins again to have the Mississippi limestone cliffs along the shore. Many of the cliffs were covered in trees, except we found a few around quarry sites where the limestone was exposed.
Here in this section of the river, the inside bends have a lot more silting, making the navigable channel narrow. On one silted bar was a bald eagle standing on the sand. He watched us go by and then took off and soared overhead.
In the next bend of the river the current picked up so we are now moving at 12 knots with only 1400rpm. We normally do 12 knots only at full throttle! We were really moving and made good time today.
Bill found a drelict tug, a real fixer upper along the route today. Looks like it has been there for quite a while.
Next we passed the city of Cape Girardeau, but you could not see much of the city due to the flood wall protecting the city.
We then came to our destination for the night, Little Diversion Channel where we rafted up with MV Darling Lea (Mike and Tricia) and MV Spartina ( Joy and Pat). This channel was dug out off the Mississippi long ago to hold empty barges and it is not used anymore, allowing us to anchor here.
We all learned how to put out a stern anchor. Bill and Mike devised a fix and all three boats now sit right in the center of the channel.
The all took boat tours of each others boats and shared drinks and snacks, then retired for the evening.