Huntsville, AL to the Mississippi River July 30-Aug. 6, 2013

We left Huntsville at 9:25 a.m. on Tuesday, July 30.  There is always something new and different on the waterways.  That day Fred looked back and saw a helicopter hovering over a power line we’d just gone under. A few minutes later an Alabama Police boat whipped by and then the Coast Guard announced that one mile of the river (which we’d just passed) was closed due to broken power lines.  Oops.  So very glad they did not fall on us!  It took longer than a day to repair---the message repeated and repeated on the radio. no pix.

Our first stop was Florence, AL, so (with a little help from mutual friends Mike and Linda) we phoned Fred and Joan Myers.  They’ve retired from the Tennessee River and Tenn-Tom Waterway guidebook business, and now spend at least a couple of months a year traveling the back roads of America.  They actually came within 3 blocks of my childhood home in Aberdeen SD by taking SD Highway 12 when returning from a circuit of the Northwest corner of the US!  We really enjoyed our visit with them, and oops, forgot to take a photo.

We see a lot of fishermen on the waterways.  Most don't even look up as we pass.  They're fishin'.

 These guys were out mushin' around near a defunct (mostly removed, in fact) railroad bridge.  The others were just

coming in as we docked at Cuba Landing Marina.

On Friday, Fred phoned Larry, from whom we purchased the Duroboat (Chucky).  We were in his neighborhood.  He was not.  However, we spent a delightful evening with his daughter, Elizabeth, who works in the office.   Aside:  Elizabeth and her sister Katie did the Great Loop in a 16’ Duroboat the same year we were Loopers.  We didn’t see them, but they made a whirlwind, 2 month (teacher’s vacation) trip around the east ½ of North America, and had a great time! 

Speaking of unusual sporting feats, Ben Friburg, whom you may recall we met in Chattanooga,  DID ride his StandUpPaddleboard from Cuba to Key West.  Check it out at www.CubaSUP.com.

Meanwhile, back at the boat, Chucky was duly visited and photographed. In fact, Elizabeth made a 35 mile return trip on Sat. morning to photograph YOUNG AMERICA from a bridge. And we photographed Eliz. photographing YA.   Cool pix!

Saturday afternoon we pulled into our old stompin’ grounds, Green Turtle Bay Marina in Kentucky.  We’ve been returnees way more often than the average Looper who stops there, and it felt good to be back.

This is our ‘staging’ place for the Mississippi River trip.  We grocery shopped, received mail, watched a couple of movies, and did what we could to learn about the conditions we would meet on the Big M.  It has rained so so so very much, that inland Rivers have spilled great amounts of water southward.  We certainly experienced the Tennessee high waters (remember Locked in at Ft. Louden?) and the current has given us a nice push as we move toward the Ohio.

Captain Gordon Brume has MS River Info!

The best information we have says GO—it won’t get any better!  So on Tuesday night we enjoyed  ‘a little bit of something’  (Happy Hour) with dockmates Bill, Pat,(they missed the photo) Dan and Denise, Melissa and Greg and we all said our farewells.

There are locks on the lakes formed by the Kentucky Dam (on the Tennessee River) and the Barkley Dam (a few miles further up the Ohio on the Cumberland River).  Barkley Lock is going to be very, very busy beginning Aug. 8, because the Kentucky Lock will be closed for a month for repairs.  Busy can mean 2-5 hour delays for a power boater while tow boats are locked up and down.  We had lock luck on Wed. morning, and were able to take the shorter route, the Kentucky, to the Ohio with only a 10 minute wait at the Dam!  The Ohio was streaming!  Without changing our engine speed we were going 11 miles an hour instead of our usual 7.5!

Our lock luck did not hold on the Ohio.  At the only lock on our route, cleverly named Lock #52, we were behind tow #3 in line---with both the large chamber and the smaller auxiliary chamber operating.  The drop is only 7 feet, but the only way down is through the lock.  We were there from 1:30 pm until 5.  Waiting.  Sigh. 

Chatting with the lockmaster as we wait to drop 7'.

Barges are exiting on the left and another tow awaits.

When we were finally headed downstream, the 30 mile run to the mouth of the Ohio at Cairo, IL went very fast.  Until the very end, when we had to slow waaaay down to stay behind two towboats as they carefully made the turn out of the Ohio into the Mississippi.  One went down, toward New Orleans.  The other, like us, took the “Upper” as we now know that the +/- 900 miles of River from Cairo, IL to St. Paul, MN has been dubbed.

End of Ohio River. Tow heading to Upper

It was dark when we slipped behind an island out of the way of tow traffic.  Knute (our anchor) grabbed the bottom, and held solidly, despite 2-3 knots of current trying to push us out into the channel. 

Our corner of the MS.See the current stream?

As we sat on the deck and watched the steady stream of tows go by in the dark, we were very very happy that they made the corner slowly and carefully---thereby avoiding our little hidey-hole!

Next blog will cover the 202 mile run to St. Louis (really to Alton, IL, across the river.  St. Louis has zero facilities for pleasure boaters.  Strange but true.) 

This part of the Upper is the ‘wild card’ of this adventure, as there are no locks for the first 200 miles (same as the 900 miles of Lower Miss.).  With no dams to regulate the amount of water allowed downstream, the River just runs freely.  Large wing dams (piles of rock sticking out into the water) have been built along the banks to force the water into a deep channel for the commercial traffic---and there is a LOT of commercial traffic—and this adds to the speed!  There is one marina 158 miles upriver, and anchorages are few and far between.  So it will be a challenge for our 7.5 mile an hour boat to slog through the 2-6 mile an hour currents that will be trying to push us to Louisiana, and reach the marina while we still have fuel.

To bed.  Beautiful starry night, but muggy!  Please, no more rain!

Be well and be sure to remember to breathe!