The Ohio then the Tennessee

Descending the Mississippi was not particularly pretty. The water was ugly, full of debris, whirlpools and flotsam. Dodging the crap in the water felt like Han Solo on the Millenium Falcon in an asteroid field, then you hit a whirlpool and your in a black hole. After Hoppies "Marina" of sorts we got close to the junction of the Ohio and stopped at a great creek off the Mississippi beneath a railroad bridge and it was delightful. Going down river, on an engine check, I saw the raw water pump was leaking so had to change that out at the end of the day. The next day we shot on down the river and turned the corner to start the ascent up the Ohio. I feared the current would be heavy against us but it was really minimal and what a delightful afternoon it was on the ride up to Paducah where we tied up to a city dock with 5 other boats, including our two buddy boats still with us. Found the Paducah Brew Werks and my new favorite beer, Zombie Dust, a real hoppy IPA. The next day began the ascent of the Tennessee River past the Kentucky Lock into Kentucky Lake. This area continues to be a major transportation hub for barges and tows. At the lock we waited 2 1/2 hours for a tow to go up and another to come down the lock before we could get through. We finished the day by crossing over to a marina on the Barkley Lake side of the reservoir, to Green Turtle Bay marina. The weather turned to crap with lots of thunder, lightning and rain so we holed up two nights there. It was a nice enough spot, but we both would rather anchor out. This fall trip has not been conducive to anchoring. There just haven't been a lot of anchorages, but that will change now going up the Tennessee and down the Tombigbee. We left Green Turtle yesterday and said goodbye to our buddie boats for now anyway and are now on our own. Had a nice anchorage alone last night and a pretty, misty morning departing today. Tomorrow we hope to lock through the Pickwick dam and enter the Tombigbee sysem. We also made plans for the end of the trip and will leave the boat in Mobile in two weeks, and fly home on November 6.

Misty departure this morning on the Tennessee

Mississippi flotsam

Railroad bridge anchorage off the Mississippi

Down river speed on the Missisppi

This tow was pushing 35 barges, 7 long and 5 wide

Tied up in Paducah

Frozen food section in Kentucky

Colors changing on the Tennessee

Looking down Kentucky Lake

On the Mississippi

Over the last 5 days we have descended the Illinois River and are well on our way down the MIssissippi. The rivers are in flood stage from all the fall rain. The Illinois ws full of barges and tows pushing them. It is also surprisingly void of population. I expected small river towns, but they were few and far between. Also, not much for cell service so minimal internet coming down that river. It's better now on the Mississippi. We have been traveling most of this distance with a couple of other boats, both sailboats, with their masts off. One of them is a catamaran with a group of three older guys , and the other is a couple several years younger than us, we have become good friends with. Coming down the Illinois, we tied off at free walls in Joliet and Havana, with a stay at SpringBrook marina in between, anchored out one night behind Buck Horn Island, rafted up with the other couple, and stayed at the Grafton Marina, then Hoppies lasat night. Hoppies was destroyed by floods and ice a year ago and is pretty third world. Cindy thought it was comparable to the apocolyptic community in the movie "Waterworld". It's at Kimmrick, Missouri, a nice little town full of craft shops. Today we are going to put on over 100 miles, and get close to the bottom of our stint on the Mississippi, start the slog up 50 miles of the Ohio River before the locks into the Kentucky Lkes and the Tennessee/Tombighbee waterway.

Traveling in the fog, leaving Grafton

Our buddy boat, Mon AmourMon Amour and Encore

Mon Amour and Encore, our other buddy boat

Passing St. Louis

The Arch, not as impressive as the Stutue of Liberty

Big tow of 12 barges. Each Barge carries the equivalent of 40 semi trailer trucks

Budwiser plant

The big tows are analagous to the huge semis with the cabin in back of the cab

Smaller tows are like a regular tractor/trailer rig

My speed on the Mississippi yesterday at 90% throttle. It's flat water speed would be 9.5 mph

Wine tasting at Grafton

Typical lower Illinois River

At Havana Illinois

Not sure of this "castle" but it looked cool

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Mon Amour in the lock

Down the Illinois

Into the locks

As I write this we are in the Illinois River system woking our way through the 8 or so locks to get us to the Mississippi. It's a mess. The locks are now open but there is a backlog of traffic, both tows and barges and "PC's" Pleasure Craft which is us. We have the lowest priority. We stopped at a free wall at Joliet Fiday night and at Spring Brook Marina last night and have been traveling with a really nice couple from South Haven, Michigan on a demasted sailboat. Friday night we went out with them to celebrate Chris' birthday, had a nice meal and drank a Zombie Dust beer, an excellent IPA. Yesterday we traveled with a group of 8 boats through the Brandon Road and Dresden Locks, and things went reasonbly well. Lost one boat, that went aground yesterday, a sailboat. Another boat pulled him off, but he then tangled his lines in his prop and had to find a diver to clear them. I sure don't envy that guy. The water here is about as ugly as I have ever seen. Dead carp, and all kinds of detritius floating in it. This seems to me to be the colon of middle America.

The Channel above Marseilles Lock

Channel lined with tows and barges

Crap Pile coming through south of Chicago

Calumet River canal south of Chicago

This guy has a tight squeeze coming the the channel

Lining the canal is all this limestone

In the Dresden Lock

Leaving Spring Brook this morning. The top deck was icy

Hammond Indiana

We left Benton Harbor on Saturday after a 4 day stay. We rented an Enterprise car and drove to Kalamazoo to meet up with my brother Jim and Nancy, at Sally and Dale's, (my niece). Had a great visit and a great meal of chili Sally made. The last couple of days we are at Hammond Marina in Hammond, Indiana. It is an inexpensive no frills, but huge marina near the Calumet River entrance which will take us into the Illinois River system. There are two options, the Calumet or the Chicago River, and they meet up 25 miles or so down the line, forming the Des Plains River leading to the Illinois. The marinas at the Chicago River are all high ticket, and Chicago doesn't hold much interest for me. So we left Benton Harbor and came here, where there are probably a dozen or so other looper boats, all waiting for the locks to open. The director of the AGLCA has taken it upon herself to organize the 65-70 boats that need to get through the locks into groups, because with that many boats and the back up of barges, it will be a a real traffic jam. We are in the first group, meaning we will likely go through the closed locks first when they open on Sunday October 13, or that's the current plan. We will like head down the river system on Friday and Saturday to position ourselves for that first lock through, with 14 other boats. Until then, doing boat chores, varnishing and re doing the weather seals on the pilot house doors, and getting in some exercise. There are some pretty good bike trails close by and Cindy is able to run. Not as many pictures, just not a lot to look at here. All industry, but it Keeps America Great!

Chicago Skyline

Chicago from one of the Hammond Parks

Beautiful Hammond

More Hammond on my bike ride yesterday

Railroads and Industry

Chicago through the marina

Benton Harbor and stuck again sort of

The past three days we have been able to move from Frankfort on the northwest side of Michigans lower peninsula to Benton Harbor on the southeast side and now only a 70 mile jaunt across the lake to Chicago. We left Frankfort and put in a long day, to White Lake, just off the big lake, almost 100 miles, with a fuel up in Ludington. Diesel there was $2.85/gallon, so we filled and shouldn't need fuel until we hit the Gulf of Mexico, whenever that will be. That long day was not flat, but pretty tolerable and we pulled into White Lake and anchored in it's sowuthwest corner at dusk. I new it was weedy there, the depth was 10 feet or so, but the sounder said less than two, bouncing off the weeds. The next morning we found out how weedy. The anchor was loaded. It was then on to Grand Haven, a nice harbor town on the Grand River, downstream from Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had a wall tie up for $10, a prety good deal. It had a nice downtown area, and a good "gastropub" with outstanding hot wings. Our attention was now on the weather. Initially the weather window looked to be on Wednesday to move on, but that closed and it was Tuesday or sit for 4-5 more days, so we fired up and moved on to Benton Harbor yeserday. The first half of the day was pretty ugly with short period 3-4 foot waves. The boat did fine, but the thrift shop beer mugs less so. The day did improve as predicted and by the time we arrived at Benton Harbor things were pretty flat. The next three days look awful though. So, we are about 70 miles ENE of Chicago, a good day run, with our goal to be there October 5 for the locks on the Illinois River to open. About half way through our day yesterday, we were informed via online sources that the lock openings are going to be delayed, at least until Oct 10, and likely longer, so once again we are on hold, but not weather related this time, and everybody else doing the loop still on Lake Michigan is in the same boat, so to speak. There is an Enterprise car rental here so we are going to go to Kalamazoo tomorrow and meet up with family there and re supply some groceries and tequila. I hope within a day or two we'll have a better handle on when the locks will open.

Salad on the anchor at White Lake

This is the old coal bin at Grand Haven. It loaded the coal car behind the engine, fueling it.

Huge steam engine at Grand Haven

Fireworks at Grand Haven, part of a celebration of new lights at the harbor entrance.

Sandbar off the beach at Benton Harbor. 10 minutes later in the image below, it is covered up. The ebb and flow of the water levels occur over minutes and are 6-10 inches. Never realized this happened. 

The two heads are swimmers off Benton Harbor entrance

People in Benton Harbor were out last evening paddleboarding

Huge mansions on the shore of Lake Michigan at Benton Harbor