Day 357
We were up early Sunday and on the water just after daybreak since we had about 60 miles to travel down the Mississippi River to get to our next stop, Hoppie's. Hoppie's is the last fuel stop for recreational boats on the Great Loop for 250 miles until you can reach a marina on either Lake Barkley or Kentucky Lake, both in Kentucky.
Soon after leaving Grafton Harbor and the Illinois River we saw this 50-foot tall statue of Mary called Our Lady of the Rivers Shrine at Portage de Sioux, MO. It was erected after a disastrous flood in 1951 in gratitude for the river stopping just short of flooding the village.
The Missippi River was swift, muddy, and full of logs and other debris, as well as unpredictable currents and the occasional "tow". Navigating the river required all of my attention because at our normal engine RPM for cruising we were going over 20 mph for most of the trip due to the swift river current. We went through two locks and soon passed St. Louis, MO. The river at this point is strictly a working river, full of barges and tug boats and there is no place for a recreational boat to stop.
This tow was one of the largest we had seen so far, it was six barges wide by six barges long, thirty-six barges plus the tug boat!
This was a river boat we saw near St. Louis.
Here is an interesting yard decoration we saw below St. Louis.
Hoppies Marine Service consists of several old barges linked together by various means. This whole assembly is tied to the shore with ropes and cables and it is also anchored in the river to keep it away from the shore. Amazingly, due to the fact that Hoppie's is located on the downstream end of a bend and the barges are angled slightly closer to land on the downstream end, all of the huge logs and debris being swept along by the river completely missed hitting any of the boats tied up alongside.
Fern Hopkins, who is in her eighties, holds a daily briefing for all of the Loopers staying at the dock. She gets updates on current river conditions from the tow captains traveling up and down the river, so she always has the best information on what travelers can expect on the river, the best anchorages to use as well as those not to use, and updates for our cruising guides and charts. She really provided a lot of useful information.
Sharon walked into the nearby town of Kimmswick and saw some of the old historic places in town.
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