Day 358-359
On Monday we experienced our first anchorage of the trip at Little Diversion Canal below Cape Girardeau, MO., about 110 miles from Hoppie's. Since there were no marinas or fuel stops on our route for over 250 miles we had no choice but to anchor for the next two nights. The banks of the anchorage were mud, so I could not take the dogs to shore. We laid out some Astroturf on the bow of the boat ad let them know that this was where they would "go out". Eventually, they did "go out" there since there was no other choice.
I pulled a boneheaded move at our first anchorage. Our catamaran is affected more by a slight wind than a small current when it comes to anchoring, so it's hard to get it to lay properly at anchor. Since there were local fishing boats zooming up and down the canal and the current was not sufficient to keep us laying straight off the anchor, I decided to drop a second anchor off of the stern to keep us from swinging into the channel. Of course, I immediately got the anchor line wrapped around one of the propellers and spent the next half hour or so in the water reaching under the boat to get the line untangled from the propeller. Fortunately, I was able to unwrap it and there was no damage to the boat. Score another plus for the PDQ, I was able to reach the propeller and untangle the line by feel without having to be completely under water.
I'm sorry folks, I didn't take any photos.
The next morning we continued another 49 miles down the Mississippi River, dodging logs, debris, and tows. At one point we encountered one tow passing another and we were directed by the tow captains to take our boat right between the two. That was a harrowing experience, especially fighting the two prop washes after we had passed the tows.
After 49 miles we reached the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and turned from the muddy, swift, and debris laden Mississippi River into the relatively clear and calm Ohio River. The transition between the two rivers was amazing, and even though the Ohio is still very much an industrial river with many barges and tows we were relieved to get out of the Mississippi which was so muddy that the Ohio looked clean by comparison.
We had to travel another 70 miles up the Ohio to our next anchorage. On the way, we passed through a new dam and lock being built to replace the next two old locks on the river, numbers 53 and 52. We had to be escorted through the construction zone by this tug boat with two spot-a-pots on the back (?!) from below the new dam to above lock 53 which was already in the process of being dismantled.
When we reached Lock 52 we had to wait about an hour and a half to get through, but that was nothing compared to stories we had heard from other Loopers about having to wait seven to nine hours, or even overnight. The lock is so old that it is constantly breaking down and at least two Loopers we know had been inside the lock when it broke down and were stuck in there for hours. When they opened the gates for us they creaked and groaned so loudly that I was surprised they were able to get them open enough to get us in the lock. Once inside we saw that the lock walls were configured in such a way that it was virtually impossible for us to tie to a wall without damaging the boat, so the lockmaster allowed us to float and hold our position in the middle while he filled the lock.
We got through Lock 52 without too much drama and proceeded up the Ohio, a total day's run of 120 miles, to our next anchorage at the mouth of the Cumberland River behind an island called "Towhead Island". It was a pretty place and after the heat of the day dissipated we enjoyed the starry night sky from the flybridge. There was enough for a breeze to keep the bugs away, so it was a very pleasant night.
Again, sorry, no photos.
No comments :
Post a Comment