We are a Sailboat Again

The mast went up on Thursday and the sails went on Friday, we are a sailboat again.


We are currently at the Green Turtle Marina in Grand Rivers, KY. We decided to take a week at the dock here given the fact that the weekly rate is equal to the 5 day rate. We were going to have to spend a 3 night stay someplace to put the mast back up anyway. Plus that there is a festival here in town this weekend.




The trip down the Mississippi River was interesting and tense. Danny's Fault has a top speed of about 7 miles per hour and with the river current we were traveling at speeds of up to 12 mph. There were numerous logs and sticks in the water that we were dodging, when we could see them. Daily we were hitting something unseen in the water. As a sail boat, the keel helped to protect the prop. The power boats are not that lucky.




The Miss River has been so altered and controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers that it is nothing like the Mark Twain tales. There are levees; wing dams on the sides of the river, pointing down stream, that are just at or below water level; weir dams under water that point slightly up stream to help flush out certain areas; and there are things called wicket dams that can be raised or lowered depending on how much water is the the river (Illinois and Ohio, none on the Miss). Most of the depths were in the 20-30 feet range, but there were holes where depths of 60 feet were not uncommon. In these areas the boiling current would take charge of the boat and tell Danny's Fault where we were going.



South of St Louis we stayed at a marina called Hoppies, a place with character. Fern, the owner who reminded Jude of the character in the old TV show Tugboat Annie, gave us a briefing of the river from her place to where the Ohio comes into the Miss. Her knowledge was invaluable. Our last anchorage on the Miss was off to a small channel on the right hand side that was on the outside side of a turn. This caused the current to be greater there and gave us a bigger challenge to get into the cut. With the engine revving higher than usual, we made it in at a whopping speed of about 2 mph into the anchorage. Sure is tough going against the flow of the Miss.






The next day we turned up the Ohio River, the south border of Illinois. Many others who have done this trip have hated the Ohio due to its current. The water is at very low levels so we had no problem with the current. Our anchorage for the night was not as safe and secure as advised. At 9PM, after dark a tow with empty barges came within 100 feet of our starboard side. Later that night our traveling companions, Adamant 1, had the same experience on their port side! The next morning we again headed up stream and had to wait 2 1/2 hours to get permission to go through the next lock. Commercial traffic has priority and pleasure craft is at the bottom of the list as to who gets to go next. After locking through, we headed further up the Ohio to where the Cumberland River comes in. We anchored is a safer place that night.

We had a rainy trip up the Cumberland River but finally got away from Illinois and arrived at Green Turtle Marina by 1 PM. This is a nice place. We have used the courtesy car to go into Paduca, KY, and make a provisioning trip to Sam's. There is a nice indoor pool that we have used and we had a group hot dog roast on the beach the other night. Since we have been here the weather has been perfect, high 70-low 80. The next bit of rain is to be on Tuesday. Guess when we take off!




Speaking of next Tuesday, the Discovery Channel will begin its newest series on the Iditarod. Jude and I are in the trailer so we assume you would be able to see us on the program. We were working the start line at Willow. We are the last two officials in the starting chute, Jude on the musher's right, and Rob on the musher's left. Watch for us.


Tomorrow or Monday we will do a bit more planning for our next few stops. Our traveling companions left yesterday headed further south in Kentucky Lake to a couple of anchorages. We will probably catch up with them in the near future.


Before we left we put Sirius radio on the boat so that we could listen to Michigan Football. As I sit here and listen to Toledo take the lead on Michigan, I am glad that there are a lot of other thing on Sirius!!



Jude managed to get fairly close to a Great Blue Heron. We have seen hundreds of them along the rivers. We have also seen Bald Eagles, White Pelicans, and a few deer.









Good luck to all. We will be able to receive email until Monday night if you want to get back with us.
Rob