Great Loop Adventures Aboard Next Chapter: Gateway Arch

Hoppies

Our cruise out of Alton and farewell to our guest Marc on Monday October 3rd was 44 miles with Hoppies as our destination. The trip took us past the famous Gateway Arch in St Louis on a beautiful bluebird day. Getting our picture on the boat with the arch in the background was another incredible boating moment. Unfortunately we did not get to St. Louis. Believe it or not the city does not have a marina or even a dock that makes access convenient. We put that in the, “can’t do it all” bucket. The current on the Mississippi was quite brisk allowing Next Chapter to cruise between 12 - 13 mph.

Just out of Alton we did have to transit a large commercial lock but fortunately it was ready for us when we arrived. As you recall from previous posts sometimes the wait can be multiple hours. Once past St Louis it became pretty desolate except of the industrial fixtures along the banks which also meant we had to negotiate passing a couple of tows along the way. We arrived at Kimmswick, Mo where a famous Looper stop is located called Hoppies.

It is called that because that is the owners name who is now in his 80s. He and his wife Fern have run the place for decades. It is a rag-a-ma-tag place but strategically located as being the last stop for fuel for the next 250 miles. They also give a river briefing every night covering current river and anchorage conditions. Fern used to deliver the briefing while smoking cigarettes, one in each hand.

The dock is really not a dock. It is small rickety barges that are cobbled together with chewing gum and duck tape. Well not quite that bad but you get the idea. The small town of Kimmswick is just about a mile from the marina. Unfortunately begin Monday everything was closed. We did get to see some old hand hewn timber log buildings dating back to the 1800’s. The docks are located right on the Mississippi which is actually quite scenic. After the docktail/briefing from Hoppies daughter a group of 10 of us piled into a Uber and went to a nearby town for dinner. We were all surprised we could get an Uber but sometimes luck prevails.

Kaskaskia River

On Tuesday morning Sue and I delayed and had a leisurely morning enjoying the view from the dock. We pulled off about 11 in the morning headed for a short 40 mile cruise to the Kaskaskia river where we would be mooring on the lock wall for the night. Being able to average 10 miles per hour meant we would be there by 3 pm. When we arrived there was room for only two more boats on the wall so we took one of them. By 5 pm 5 more boats arrived so some of them rafted up to boats on the wall. The rules of staying on the wall are that you are not allowed to walk or hang out on the wall. Well this was a clear example of how rules are written to be broken. I think at last count there was 20 loopers all sitting on the wall at Docktails. Fortunately the lock master turned a blind eye.

Cape Giardeau

Wednesday morning we planned for a 6:30am departure as our next destination would be 68 miles down stream. Remember with the push of the current we could easily average 10.5 mph. Well when boating Neptune loves to smash plans. When we woke up we were fogged in. so we delayed. By 7:30am the fog had started to lift so we could see out to the mouth of the river. Off we went into a bright sunny sky, or so we thought.

About 2 miles down river we turned the corner and there was a wall of fog. We nosed into it to see how thick it was and within about a 1/2 mile we could not see the flag on our Sundeck. About face, retreat! We pulled back out of the fog, tossed the anchor and enjoyed the sunny morning. Listening to the tows chatter we learned that they don’t even mess around in the fog.

The minute they get into it they pulls over on the bank and beach the barges until it lifts. One of our Looper friends thought with his radar he could push thru. Well they crawled down stream for about a half hour when they got to a break in the fog. They immediatly dropped the hook to wait it out. He said to me, “That was the scariest thing I have ever done.” By 9:30 the fog lifted and we were on our way.

We arrived at our anchorage at 3:30pm and got settled in. It was a beautiful warm day with temps in the low 80’s. We launched the dinghy and went into town. Cape Giardeau, MO is not a typical looper stoop because there is no convenient place to tie up a boat in town. That was especially true due to the river now being over 10’ below pool. We managed to find a flat rock shelf where we could pull the dinghy up and secure it.

After a bit of a rock scramble up the bank we were in town. Turns out it was a really nice town and actually on the upper scale. There is also a state University located right in the town. We managed to find a local brewery and had a great conversation with one of the owners about life in the town. It turns out that many of these river side towns chronically have to deal with devastating floods from time to time. The town has a sea wall to try to protect the area when the Big Muddy runs over it’s banks. They even have high water marks recorded on the wall at one of the gates. It was hard to imagine it could get that high and everything not get destroyed. The people in these towns are the definition of resilience. They love their communities and will do anything to preserve them. This is truly the heart of America. We are happy to report the fabric that binds this country together is alive and well.

Zoom in and you will see the high water marks.

We no more than say goodbye to our South African friend when at the very next port we run into this Looping couple that is from the same town that Marc lives . Hat are the chances?

Bridge outside of St Louis. We can’t begin to tell you how many different types, styles, colors of bridges we have passed under.

Log structure for the 1800’s in Kimmswick

View from the top of the bank at Hoppies. Yes the water does come over the bank. I would say where I was standing was at least 30’ above the current water line. They have had water in their house more times than they can remember.