Cumberland River to Green Turtle Bay Marina

Day 14 - Tuesday, September 20
765 miles to Cumberland River and Green Turtle Bay Marina

The last post mentioned two possible anchorages on the Ohio river for us on Sunday night.  We chose Bean Branch.  This was not a side channel to tuck in to - we just pulled over parallel to the shore in a wide part of the river.  We were far enough away from the center of the river that the occasional passing tow (much fewer than on the Mississippi) caused no rocking for us.  We had just dropped our anchor when Dan and Jenny from Gypsy Spirit came over the radio asking if we and Scott and Brenda from Kali Nichta wanted to come aboard for drinks.  The 3 boats had been traveling together all day, but other than radio communication about passing tows, we hadn't formally met.  Dan was kind enough to be the taxi as he came to both boats to pick us up in his dinghy.  Upon introductions, we learned Gypsy Spirit started the Loop a week before we did out of White Lake.  We are practically neighbors as White Lake is in Whitehall, MI - only about 40 miles from Ludington.  Small world! Kali Nichta is in the home stretch as she left Port Charlotte, FL last April.
In Looper terminology, we aren't sure what you call drinks on a boat, but we enjoyed the company and conversation.  (can't be a docktail - no dock!)

We watched a beautiful sunrise over the calm waters of the Ohio river on Monday morning.  No fog, just a light mist rising near the shoreline.  Got an early start - 7 am local time.  Gypsy Spirit took the lead, with True North next and Kali Nichta right behind.  We arrived at our first lock - Lock 52 at 9.  There were 2 tows in the lock, which caused a 2 hour wait for us.  And yet another different lock experience.  Since we were traveling upstream on the Ohio, we went 8 ft. UP in this lock.  A worker lowered a hook and I looped our rope on it.  He pulled the hook up and wrapped our rope around a cleat at the top of the lock.  It was then just a matter of bringing in the slack as we rose. We exited the lock at 11:45.

Past Paducah, KY, we took a right turn on to the Cumberland River at 1:45.  This stretch was more narrow and beautiful.  At 7 mph, Captains Greg and Mike were taking Miss Daisy (me) for a nice Sunday drive (on a Monday).  We often commented on how gorgeous most of this trip so far would be when the leaves turn their vibrant colors.  We did have a monarch butterfly perch for a few minutes inside the flybridge.

My nephew was traveling in Kentucky and he crossed over the Cumberland River on I-24 a half hour before we passed under it.  Small world!

We had one more lock to get through - the Barkley Lock. If we had another 2 hour wait, we would be pushing dark again coming into Green Turtle Bay Marina.  We were communicating with a passing tow and the lock master heard us.  He radioed "True North, are you at the I-24 bridge?"  We said we were.  He said he had a lock open with one other boat in it and he would hold it for us.  (the lock was still a little bit ahead)  All 3 of us traveling together slid right into the Barkley Lock for a rise of 53 ft.  Sometimes you have to be thankful for the little things . . .

Our 4th crew member Karen had left Ludington Monday morning to meet up with us at Green Turtle Bay Marina.  She arrived before we did so backtracked a little to try to catch us on the river.  She  told us that when we came out of the lock, she would be in a gazebo on our left side.  We saw no Karen.  A bit of a communication snafu.  She did not know we had taken the Cumberland River to Green Turtle.  The other route is to take the Tennessee River off the Ohio to Kentucky Lake to Green Turtle.  We came into Lake Barkley.

All's well that ends well as by the time we got to our slip, she had driven the short distance and was waiting for us.  A welcome sight indeed!  Getting to this point was another milestone for us.  This Kentucky/Barkley Lakes region is a very popular resort area so we had picked it out before leaving Ludington as our place with enough to do and see to spend about 3 weeks.  Mike and I will travel back to Michigan on Saturday, returning on the 29th.  Then Greg and Karen head back to Ludington for a family wedding, work and appointments.  We will all be back on True North about Oct. 14 or 15 to continue the journey.

Pretty much every Looper stops at Green Turtle Bay Marina.  It is one of the first chances for fuel after Hoppies.  It also has a marine service division and marine store.  The manager of the service department said the Loopers keep him very busy this time of year.  Several boats were waiting for parts to be delivered and installed.  Our parts - new props - were delivered by Karen in the back of her minivan.  It was a matter of when they could be installed.  We were told a day or two.

So we spent the better part of Tuesday cleaning the boat inside and out, from bow to stern.  We then took her to the fuel dock for a pump out.  (it was closed when we arrived the night before). We didn't get fuel as we didn't want the extra weight in the boat when it was pulled for repairs.  We had just got back to our slip, all tied up, when the service manager came to say they could pull the boat right then and put on the replacement props.  So we untied and drove it across the marina to the haul out slip.  Karen drove the van right up to it .  The workers took the old props off (one was damaged when we hit the rock in Joliet), took the replacements out of the van, put them on, and put the old ones back in the van for us.  We just stood and watched.  The whole process took a little over an hour.

We were invited to join 8 other Loopers for dinner at Patti's on Tuesday night.  Patti's is a famous local restaurant that many people told us was a "must do".  Its claim to fame is a 2" pork chop and mile high meringue desserts.  We had both!  (that "when in Rome" theory) Possibly the best pork chop I've ever had.  There are other stores around Patti's that will warrant another visit in the day time.

There very well could be a 3 week break from the blog posts.  Unless we see/do/find something or someplace interesting and noteworthy.  A trip to the National Quilt Museum in Paducah is on the agenda, along with dinghy rides and just plain relaxing.  No news is good news in this case.

The Cumberland River

We had a tow captain ask us to hug the red buoy as close as we could on a tight bend.

How do you think we did?

Marking the water level on a bridge support

Approaching the Barkley Lock

I tried to get a picture that would show how far we had to lock up.

This is Gypsy Spirit following us into the lock.

Green Turtle Bay Marina

True North out of the water

Replacing the props

Patti's Restaurant

Greg and Karen and dessert

A unique way to bake and serve bread 

It's Fall Y'all!

On The Hook

Day 12 - Sunday, Sept. 18
703 miles to Little Diversion Channel

"On the hook" is boat-speak for anchoring out instead of being at a dock in a marina.  (or on the Mississippi, being tied up to old barges!)  Last night was our first anchorage and tonight will be our second.  So far we have continued to have internet coverage so I've decided to keep up with the posts.  If I didn't write for 3 days, the next one would be so long, nobody would read it.  Including my mother-in-law, and she has two sons on board!

 Although we were at Hoppies with 2 other Looper boats, there were no docktails as it rained the 2 days we were there.  The rain also prevented us from going into the, what we were told, cute little town of Kimmswick.  The amount of debris that floated by us while at Hoppies was incredible.  Fern told us to say hello to the debris because we would be seeing in farther down the river.  The Kali Nichta was one of the boats tied up with us and they asked if they could travel with us to Green Turtle Bay, our next marina.  The Kali has smaller fuel tanks and Scott (the captain) is a little concerned about having enough fuel.

We left on Saturday morning at 8:30 local time. Appropriate for college football day, a football floated past us as we pulled away from the barges known as Hoppies Marina.  Kali Nichta asked us to take the lead.  We wondered where the debris that we saw for 2 days went because this stretch of the river was not as bad as we expected it to be.

The current on the Mississippi is fascinating to us.  More tows pushing more barges (the biggest we passed so far was a tow with 35 barges tied to it!) are creating actual waves like we see on Lake Michigan. The wake from tows on the Illinois was hardly noticeable for us.  The river also has random swirling whirlpools that make steering the boat harder .  It is a full-time job dodging debris, tows, and whirlpools and dealing with the current.

In the spirit of football Saturday, lunch was a tailgate menu - brats and chips.
At one point we saw the most amazing line of geese flying south, more than I have ever seen together.   They all landed on a little side tributary.  Maybe that was their "anchorage" for the night.

With as many times as I go up and down the flybridge ladder, I should have a Fitbit to see how many steps one can take in a space 16 ft by 53 ft!

Much the of the logs we saw floating past Hoppies seemed to have settled right in front of our anchorage spot.  Fighting the current and the debris, we tucked into Little Diversion Channel at 5:30.  There was one boat already anchored  - Jet Stream.  We were tied up with Jet Stream the first night at Hoppies and we watched it leave on Friday, going sideways trying to get through the current to get back in the middle of the river.  We pulled in the calm, narrow channel and Kali Nichta did the same.  We dropped both our bow anchor and got the extra one we are carrying out to drop off the back.  I get a front row seat to the back and forth between Mike and Greg at times like this - i.e. the best way to anchor.  I think it is just a brother thing, an unwritten code that brothers really aren't suppose to agree on anything.
Mike:  "I'm afraid we are going to drift backwards."
Greg: "Tell Scott (on the boat behind us) to throw out a bumper then."

About an hour later, a fourth Looper boat joined us in the channel for the night - Gypsy Spirit.

We have been at anchor in the North Channel of Canada or Lake Michigan before.  After a hot day of traveling, we often jump in the water to cool off.  With the brackish colored water, the debris and the jumping Asian carp, none of us had any desire to jump in!

The plan was to leave Sunday morning at 8 am for the 81 mile trip to our next anchorage on the Ohio River.  Dense fog delayed our start until a little after 9.  Jet Stream and Gypsy Spirit left about 15 minutes before us. We never saw Jet Stream but did catch up and pass Gypsy Spirit before reaching our turn up the Ohio.  Watching Kali Nichta leave the channel in front of us was like watching tubers white water rafting - between the current, its wake and a whirlpool.

The debris for these last 48 miles on the Mississippi was the thickest so far.  At times it was literally picking the smallest one to possibly hit.  The river became very curvy, with lots of bends.  Barge traffic was heavier.  Butterflies flirted with our open windows, but none flew in.
Our lingo with the tows has shortened to : "Miss Allie, this is southbound PC True North.  One or two, cap?"

At 1:55 we hit another milestone moment.  We said goodbye to the mighty Mississippi river and  turned left to head east up the Ohio river.  We will not be on the Mississippi again while on the Loop.
The Ohio river starts at mile 0 in Pittsburg and ends at mile 981 when it connects with the Mississippi.  We are now going upstream against the current, which became quite evident as our blazing speed of 12 to 13 mph dropped to 7.5.  True North tried to keep the 10 mph we were doing (the current bumped it up to 12), but a vibration because of our prop issue prevented it.  We had a tug in front of us and we were all ready to radio it to ask permission to pass it.  But we didn't need to as we couldn't catch it!  So for this afternoon,we are REALLY meandering.   The Ohio has very little debris and the color is a more pleasing blue/green.  The Mississippi was dirty brown.

Our destination today is Little Chain Bar Anchorage or Bean Branch Anchorage, 32 miles up the Ohio.  Added to the 48 miles to get to the Ohio river, it will be another long travel day.

This guy stopped for gas at Hoppies. He is doing the Loop on a jet ski!

He does it in 500 mile segments.

We thought we would see lots more of these paddleboat

Mississippi scenery

An example of the current against this stationary buoy

Game day captain!

Our traveling companion - the Kali Nichta

Scott and Brenda Knight

Looking off the back of the boat on anchor in Little Diversion Channel

Notice the barge and tow going past

The rivers meet:

The Mississippi on the left - the Ohio on the right

The Mighty Mississippi

Day 9 - Thursday, September 15
593 Miles

There was much discussion Wednesday night and again this morning on whether to stay in Grafton or move on.  Three things drove our decision:  the situation of closures at Lock 52 on the Ohio River, the weather, and the arrival of a part we had ordered (impellers).  Our discussions are usually two-sided.  I just sit and listen to these two brothers hash things out.  Which is entertainment in itself as they have quite opposite personalities!
A call to the Lock and Dam division of the Louisville Water District told us that the lock was open to pleasure craft.  An 80% chance of thunderstorms is forecasted for Friday and Saturday.  The Grafton marina staff said they would overnight the impellers to us at our next stop, so we decided to stay on our schedule of getting to Hoppies on Thursday afternoon.  (More on Hoppies later).

True North left Grafton at 9:15 local time and entered the Mississippi river.  This was a hip-hip-hooray moment for us as traveling the Mississippi is a major part of the Loop.  Not to mention, it is THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER! People cross over it every day, but how many navigate down it?
The river is wider, more bumpy, and has more debris than the Illinois.  Seventeen miles down river is Alton, another favorite spot for Loopers.

Just past Alton was our first lock of the day - the Melvin Price, which we locked through in yet another different manner.  This lock had a small chamber just for pleasure craft.  We were the only boat there so were told to drive right in and we didn't need to loop a rope around a bollard or have one given to us from the wall.  We just floated in the middle of the lock!  It was only a 2 ft. drop.
Entering the lock there was a solid line of debris that was impossible to maneuver around so had to go right through it, hoping our slow approach speed would just push the logs to the side.  Along with the debris to greet us, the top of the lock wall was lined with tourists watching the locking process.  I loved being able to wave and have people wave back.  I wave at every tow we go by but often can't see through their windows to tell if they are waving back.  Our dinghy covers the name and home port on the back of the boat;  we need to have a sign up on the flybridge so all can see we are from Ludington, Michigan!
Leaving the lock, the Asian carp were jumping all over behind us.  Some quite close! No pictures as by the time you hit the shutter button they are back in the water.

Right before St. Louis, we went through the Chain of Rocks Lock, where we again we got right into and floated in it. This time it was an 8 ft. drop.  And a first- a woman answered our radio call when approaching the lock.

The Gateway Arch dominates the St. Louis skyline. At 630 ft., it is the world's tallest arch.  It is also called the Gateway to the West, as it is a monument to the western exploration.
South of St. Louis was all industrial.  I commented in an earlier post of the commerce that the large, inland rivers support.  It is a stark contrast to the mainly pleasure boating on Lake Michigan.  Transportation, in all its forms (trucking, railroad, river barges) truly is the lifeblood of life.

The current on the Mississippi is faster than the Illinois, so our 10 mph got bumped up to 12.5.  We were flying!  An increase in speed with no fuel being used.  You have to be thankful for the little things.

Our destination was Hoppies, 61 miles from Grafton.  Maps say it is in Kimmswick, Missouri but the mailing address for our impellers is Imperial, MO.  We arrived at 3:15 local time.  Hoppies is known to all Loopers.  It is the last stop for fuel for the next 249 miles.  It is the last stop for power and water hook-ups for the next 249 miles.  It is anything but fancy - several old barges tied together just off the shore line that can accommodate 10 boats.  When we arrived, there were 2 other Looper boats tied up.  We had to go through the most debris yet getting to the barge/dock.  We went past Hoppies and turned around to head into it going upstream against the current, which gives us (Greg) more control of the boat.  We once again just had to let the logs bounce off us.

Besides getting fuel, power and water, Loopers stop at Hoppies to see Fern, Hoppy's wife.  She is a legend on the river, the Matriarch of the Mississippi.  About an hour after we got tied up, she called the crews of the 3 boats together for her briefing on all things related to the river.  She started with how to leave the barge, then went down the river explaining safe anchorages, the locks we will go through, how to get on the Ohio and Cumberland rivers, the Tenn-Tom waterway all the way to Mobile.  She covered everything we needed to know.

Our plan is to stay here at Hoppies today and Friday night (letting a forecasted Friday storm get by) and then spend two night anchoring out before reaching Green Turtle Bay Marina on Kentucky Lake on Monday.  I am anticipating little or no cell phone or internet coverage after we leave here so this may be my last post for a few days.  (when I said to Mike I will get a break from the blog, he said, "So will everyone else!")

We don't see many covered slips in Michigan

Grafton - Where the Great Rivers Meet

The Illinois and the Mississippi

Grafton Lighthouse

Where the rivers meet -   The Illinois is on the right, Mississippi on the left

The lock doors closing behind us

Proper lock attire.  Personal floatation devices are required in a lock.  This PFD 

inflates upon contact with the water.  Let's hope that never happens!

An example of a bollard (floating pin in a lock)

Where tows get maintenance work

Approaching St. Louis

True North tied up at Hoppies

Other Looper boats at Hoppies

Our briefing

With Fern

Havana to Grafton

Day 7 - Tuesday, September 13
532 miles

This was going to be a long travel day for us, so Mike was up at 5:00 am, (local time) wanting to be on the river by 6 or 6:30.  He pretty much had everything ready to go (water and electrical unhooked) by the time he knocked on Greg's door to have him man the helm to leave.  Greg's motto is there are only two things worth getting up that early in the morning for:  hunting and fishing.  Meandering down the Illinois river doesn't fall under either of those two activities.

Our destination was Grafton, Illinois, where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi.  We figured it would take us about 12 hours to go the 120 miles.  Thought was given to breaking the trip up and anchoring out one night (which the other 3 Looper boats we were with in Havana did), but we passed the halfway point about 12:30 so kept going.  We had one lock today, the LaGrange, which ended up being just like the Peoria Lock - no change in water lever so kept right on going.

We had heard so much about the Asian carp.  There are videos on You Tube of water skiers with nets catching them.  And other Loopers wrote in the forum about seeing them jump out of the water constantly, with some having the fish jump right into the back of their boats.  At our docktail on Monday, someone mentioned they were a little disappointed in not seeing more carp, mainly for the entertainment value.  We don't want them jumping in the boat,  because I don't drive the boat so would probably be the one to get them off!  

Red and green buoys mark the river for us, with 90% of it being tree lined banks.  We looked forward to tows or little towns for a change in scenery.  Every so often we would see large docking structures where barges could tie up and wonder what cargo would being loaded or unloaded there.  Other times there would be a large plant, usually identified in our chart book, (never with signage on the buildings) where barges docked so no guessing needed.  

We passed Coon Hollow Island, and we aren't even in Kentucky yet! We also passed McGee's creek, but they obviously spell it wrong.  :)

At our cruising speed of 10 mph, it is easy to walk around, prepare meals and even take showers while traveling.

We arrived at Grafton Marina at 5:30 local time.  A stop at the fuel dock brought a very pleasant surprise.  I mentioned before that our slow speed was saving fuel, but Mike and Greg were actually shocked at the great mileage we were getting.  Earlier trips this summer, when it cruised at 30 mph, True North was a fuel hog.  Traveling the Illinois river was like going from a Suburban to a Prius!
The marina is just before the Mississippi so we haven't quite got on it yet, but you might hear us give a cheer when we do as it would be a milestone moment for us.

We are at Grafton for Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  It is Wednesday as I type this and the day has been one of washing the boat for the guys and laundry, dusting, vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms for me.  Yes, all those household chores still need to be done, even on a boat.

We just got a message from the Army Corps of Engineers that a major lock on the Ohio river is broken and may be several days before it is fixed.  This would back up barge traffic so we may be delayed here a few more days.  I'd be happy to spend the time exploring the little, hilly town of Grafton.

Life on the river

An example of floating debris.  The bigger the better for us as things like this are

easy to spot.  It is the smaller logs that you often can't see until you are right to them

We are sure these are pelicans, but can't really tell in this picture, even zoomed in

Coming into Grafton, IL

From the fuel dock.  Around the bend is the Mississippi

Sunset looking down the river

Peoria to Havana

Day 6- Monday, Sept. 12

411 miles

True North left Eastport Marina in Peoria on Monday morning at 9:30 local time under sunny skies.  If we didn’t know what day of the week it was (only those that are retired or on vacation can understand how this can happen), the total lack of activity on our dock that morning confirmed that the weekend was over. 

We cruised past downtown Peoria, which seemed quite nice. It is the world headquarters for the Caterpillar Corporation.

There was only one lock today - the Peoria Lock - which turned out to be a non-event for us.  It is a wicket dam, and the wickets were down, so there was no variation of water level.  We didn’t have to enter the lock, just stayed right on the river.  

I mentioned that we got our AIS up and running.  Again, it is not an essential navigation tool, but boy is it nice to have.  Several times on our route to Havana today, there would be a barge ahead, but around a bend and not visible to us.  The barge shows up on our AIS, which would also happen if you have radar.  But with this device, we can touch the boat image on our screen and it gives us the name of the tow, the distance away and how fast it is going.  And the great thing is, because we have a registered MMSI number, the tow can do the same with our boat.  He can see our name, that we are a pleasure craft and what size we are.  We had tow captains hail “True North” on the radio, calling us by name.  One saw us on his screen and radioed to us, asking us to wait as he came around a bend.  Greg and I would get big smiles on our faces, knowing that our splitting and splicing of wires really worked!

There is a protocol  to passing a tow, whether it is in front of you or coming from the opposite direction.  We radio and ask the captain if he wants “One or two whistles”.  This system dates back to pre-radio communication days.  Back then, when tow barges had to pass each other, the captain would blow the whistle to indicate which side to pass on.  One whistle means to pass on the port side and two whistles means starboard.  With the advent of VHF radios, vessels can now talk to each other and could easily say “port or starboard,” but the whistle signal is a tradition that has endured.  I’m glad.  Some things shouldn’t change.

We came up to a RR bridge that could be raised.  The stated closed height of the bridge was 34 ft.  We knew we could clear that, but as we got closer, it didn’t look 34 ft.  To be safe, we radioed and asked it to be raised, which it was immediately.  From the fixed sections on the side of the river, it was very clear that we would not have gotten under it. (A good lesson that we can’t keep our eyes on the charts and electronics.)  We always give a “thank you” over the radio when we clear a raised bridge and this was the first time the bridge master said more than “Have a safe trip.”  He asked what our destination was, and when we said Marathon in the Keys for the winter, he said he wished he could go with us.  (maybe it was a slow bridge-raising day for him!)  

Further confirmation of the raised water level of the Illinois river was the boat launch ramps we passed that were under water.  Or the small campgrounds that had trailers with river water nipping at their jacks.

For several minutes, we had a distinct gravy smell as we passed Pekin, IL.  Yes, gravy, and it was a very pleasant aroma.  That soon turned into a real nasty odor, but fortunately didn’t last long.   You have to be thankful for the little things . . . The culprit was probably the multiple grain companies along the river at this location.

We arrived at Tall Timbers Marina in Havana at 3:30.  (I cannot type the word “Havana” without having Barry Manilow in my head singing -“At the Copa . . Copacabana.  The hottest spot north of Havana. . . “

Tall Timbers is a small, quaint marina, that we may have passed by as too small if we hadn’t called ahead and confirmed the depth and that they could accommodate our size.  It was a tight fit getting in, with about a 2 ft clearance off the bow when we spun around to back into our slip.  A big thing to be thankful for is having both Mike and I on the deck on the boat, one in back and one on the bow in these tight situations.  Another great docking job by Greg.

Tall Timbers was worth the effort to get in.  Not by any means because of the facilities -the restrooms were port-a-johns with a roof over them.  But very friendly owners and we were tied up by 3 other Loopers.  We had our first “Docktail” party!  We had read all about docktails- cocktail get togethers on a dock with fellow Loopers.  In fact, one of the boats - Captain’s Choice from Buffalo, NY - was the one we followed coming out of Starved Rock Lock.  The other two boats were on their home stretch - both started the Loop in Florida.  On the dock behind our boat was a covered sitting area with two picnic tables where we gathered and shared appetizers.  The best part was the information for us newbies.  Their philosophy was “There are no stupid questions” and they let us fire away.  They also told wonderful stories of the eastern seaboard part of the Loop, which confirmed our thinking that that area was going to be the most interesting - especially the northern part.  

Captain’s Choice stayed at the IVY Club in Peoria.  It was a marina we had considered, but went to Eastport instead.  While we were very happy with Eastport, we missed out on free beer at the IVY Club.  And it wasn’t like the “Free Beer Tomorrow” sign, it really was free beer.  You may be chuckling, wondering why that would be a big deal to me, but I mention it to show the hospitality to Loopers we have encountered.  (like discounts on dockage, etc.)  The free ice and laundry at Eastport was perfect for me! 

One last picture from Eastport Marina.  They had several of these.  Gives new

meaning to "floating cottages" because they do move up and down like boats 

tied in a slip

Downtown Peoria

Click on this to enlarge it.  The Mark Twain Hotel.

Until Karen joins us, we are Huck, Tom and Becky (Thatcher)

Birds, birds and more birds

Most of the bridges are not drawbridges.  The entire center section goes up and down

I did not zoom in to take this picture. This is how close we are when passing some tows.

A recognizable name on this tow

Our first docktail at Tall Timbers Marina

Tall Timbers Marina in Havana, IL