October 25, 2017 Kimmswick, MO to Florence, AL - The Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers

This part of our adventure was 538 miles by way of the Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers.  Just to level set we traveled through the states of Illinois and Missouri by way of the Mississippi river then Illinois and Kentucky on the Ohio river, Kentucky on the Cumberland river and then Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama on the Tennessee river.  I am really adding this more for me as I found my lack of knowledge in regional geography kept me continually asking Ken..."So where are we now, what state, what river?"  And I still admit to not having it all pieced together.

We left Grafton, IL on Tuesday, October 10th to start our trip down the Mississippi River.  We were only on the Mississippi a couple of days but it was different from anything else we had experience due to so few places for safe docking or anchoring, as well as the water levels being very low and having to deal with swift river currents.  On our way we passed the city of St. Louis and its famed arch.  It was a bright spot and this overcast and misty day.  Our first stop for the night was the famed Hoppies marina owned by Fern and Hoppy.  I use the term marina loosely as it was really a series of barges tied together.  The treat was getting to meet Fern, as her daily river conditions updates are known through out the AGLCA community.  As we were the only boat tied up for the night we got a one on one update.  Fern is a no nonsense kind of gal but with a great sense of humor.  As we were wrapping up, Hoppy and his son-in-law showed up, so we got to meet Hoppy too.  Great stay.

Limestone cliffs and caves outside of Grafton, Illinois on Mississippi River

Mel Price Lock and Dam on Mississippi - Really different as the upstream gate is a single lock gate that rises from the bottom of the lock. 

Entering St. Louis - Love the bridges crossing the Mississippi with the Gateway Arch in the background.

St. Louis, MO from the Mississippi River - The Gateway Arch - Monument to American westward expansion

  Wing dams on the Mississippi.

The purpose of these dams is to direct water flow that will allow a natural dreading of the river.

Mississippi River - Even though it was a cloudy day, the beauty in the calm waters comes through.

Mississippi River at Hoppies on the Missouri side - Me and Fern after her daily update on the river conditions.  And Independence docked up for the night.

Our next stop was the Lil' Diversion anchorage.  I only mentioned this as we have done very little anchoring.  We were successful on our first try and had a very quiet and peaceful night.  The next day we left the Mississippi river and entered the Ohio river, where we encountered Lock 52.  What a mess.  Believe it or not, we were impacted by Hurricane Irma and the tremendous amount of rain run-off impacting this lock in Kentucky.  We had expected to plan for and deal with locking delays from tow/barge travel but not because of high waters.  Lock 52 was closed until the water receded to a safe level.  As a result the tow/barge traffic was backed up for miles in both directions, and since we were a pleasure craft our locking through was at the bottom of the pecking order.  We anchored for 2 days before the water levels were low enough for locking through.  Fortunately for us, there were a total of 14 pleasure craft waiting at this point.  The lockmaster took pity on us and allowed all 14 of us to lock through between an upstream and downstream tow/barge load.  Yoohoo!

Lil' Diversion Anchorage on the Mississippi River - 3 Loopers rafting up in the upper left corner before the railroad bridge.  Also, notice the right bank and how low the water is.  Made navigating a bit challenging.

Ohio River passing a 5X6 tow.  That is 30 barges rafted together.  I will tell you they take up a lot of the navigable river!

Snapshot of our nav showing all the backed up traffic on the Ohio River waiting to lock through at 52.  Hard to see but each blue shape is a boat or tow/barge waiting.

Ohio River, Kentucky - Above and to the right is the new Olmstead Lock and Dam under construction with a planned opening in 2018.  It will replace Locks 52 and 53 which have been in operation since 1928 and 1929, respectively.  River traffic flow will greatly improve with the new lock.

Notice in the pic to the left  and how smooth the lock walls are.  Just a point of observation so that you can compare to pics below of Lock 52.  There is no doubt in my mind that building this new lock was way over due.

American Queen Riverboat - we past her on the Ohio River on our way to Lock 52.  She's a beauty.

Maintenance on the fly.  We had just finished anchoring on the right bank of the Ohio river, below Lock 52, to wait for the water levels to decline.  We noticed a sound we had never heard before, which is always a bit frightening, needless to say.  After a few minutes, Ken discovered his props were still turning as result of the swift river current.  Unsure of the potential risks and damage this might cause, Ken called Captain Chris, our go to expert.  Turns out it was not a real problem though the sound was annoying.  Chris recommended stopping the props and Ken used wrenches to accomplish this.  Of course, Ken needed maintenance after too, to stop the blood.  

Sunset on the Ohio River at Lock 52 - Two other pleasure craft waiting it out too.  

Sunrise on the day we went through Lock 52. To the right, the flotilla of pleasure craft begin moving into the lock.  It was a beautiful, calm morning on the river, which was only enhanced by our thrill be locking through.  Yoohoo! 

Inside Lock 52 - Recall I mentioned to compare this with the new Olmstead 

Lock.  Well this is what the lock walls look like after 89 years of continual

operations.  The concrete was worn and metal casing rusting away.  There was

exposed remains of what appeared to be ladder (right pic).

Time for a retirement party!

Not too long after we got through Lock 52 we entered the Cumberland river and made it to Green Turtle Bay Marina, KY where we stayed or I should say, Independence stayed for a week.  We had planned to attend the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama but there was no way we would get there in time by boat.  We gave up our slip reservations, rented a car and headed out.  It was great to see old friends, newly made friends and catch up on the latest happenings.  At the end of the week we drove back to Green Turtle Bay Marina to then head back to Joe Wheeler but by water this time.  It was interesting to boat under highway bridges we had just traveled days before by car.  And even more so to pass through the Joe Wheeler lock then under the bridge we traveled everyday to get back and forth to the rendezvous.  We ended this part of our adventure in Florence, AL where we met up with Jacques and Nelly, our buddies from France.  We first met each other in Chesapeake, VA at Atlantic Yacht Basin.  Independence was having repairs done from the lightening strike and they were having service work done.  We had seen each other briefly in Hammond, IN and were happy to have a couple of days together to catch up and share our adventures.  They will be crossing their wake in Clearwater, FL and hopefully we will meet up again before they head back to France.

ROAD TRIP!  Appears the Enterprise in Paducah, KY see a lot of Loopers.  Roofus all snuggle in for the 4 hour ride to Alabama and the Fall AGLCA Rendezvous.

Back from rendezvous at Green Turtle Bay, Three Rivers, KY - Gorgeous sunrise the day we headed out.

Another gorgeous sunrise at Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, TN on the Tennessee River.

Our journey on the Tennessee river took us through the states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama on our way to Florence, AL.  Along the way we enjoyed the beautiful cliffs.  I love the cliff formations as they appear to be neatly stacked layers of thin rocks but hardly strong enough to support themselves let alone homes.

This one really was neat as you can see where the rock layers did collapse and fall to ones below.

And along the way, the beauty of the cliffs was enhanced by the beginning of fall colors.  Wow, hard to believe it is fall, already.






From here we have decided to take a side trip to Chattanooga, TN.  A 500 mile round trip adventure that will be the subject of our next blog.

PS from Roofus:
Ok, first let's talk about that car trip.  I don't know where my humans went but I was in a strange room and left alone while they went off gallivanting.  And to add insult to injury, I was left on the floor like some common pet.  Yeah, they left me food and water, and gave me my blankies and my mom human even gave me her baby pillow but can we say puppy abuse!  They did try to make it up to me by taking me for nice walks in the open air, yummy treats and lots of hugs and kisses when they were there but I can tell you, I was happy to be back on Independence.  Wow, what a statement, who would have thought I would be happy to be on Independence!!!!  I must really be loosing it.