It’s all about a Terapin

 Green Turtle Bay

The cruise on Saturday was a sunny 29 mile windy trip on the Cumberland river that also involved transiting the Barkley lock just short of our destination. It was a pretty chilly trip even tough the the sun was out and the temps were in 60s. We had a wind on the nose which cooled it off quite a bit. Along the way we passed a couple of tows and enjoyed some beautiful scenery.

We arrived at Green Turtle Bay (GTB) about 3:30 pm and were greeted by some locals that had quite the outdoor setup on the dock complete with fridge, furniture, grill, etc… We could not even get the boat settled and they were putting beers in our hands. It progressed to homemade chili and then shots. We had a hard time getting away. GTB is a resort in and of itself.

It is complete with a yacht club restaurant, a breakfast place and the Thirsty Turtle bar. It is situated in an area called the land between the lakes. It is another favorite Looper stop. The area is flanked by Kentucky lake to the west and Barkley lake to the east. The adjoining town is called Grand Rivers that happened to have their fall festival going on that weekend complete with music and parade.

The town is anchored by a place called Patties 1880 Settlement. It is two restaurants, shops, hotel, mini golf, and of course ice cream. In the main restaurant the staff dress in period costumes. It draws over 350,000 people a year. The town itself has a population of only 360 people. Needless to say if the place closed down the town would go with it. Sue and I biked around the area taking in the sights.

I also went on a great hike that hit both lakes. Even stumbled across a couple of Armadillos. Our plan was to stay three nights and then begin our trip to Nashville on Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning we readied the boat to leave and started the port engine then the starboard engine. 15 seconds later the starboard engine shut down. Ut Oh! The god thing about Diesel engines is that they are fairly simple in their mechanics. The rule of thumb is they need fuel, compression, and air to operate. Or better put, “suck, squeeze, bang, blow.”  Well first thought was a fuel problem but we had just filled up the day before. After a bit of hunting I found the fuel filter on the engine had air in it. Bad thing for Diesel engines. It’s too bad they wont run on air but that’s just the way it is. Well after an entire day of trying to figure out why that was happening I isolated it to a loose fitting in the fuel line. So I tightened it and after bleeding all the air out of the system the engine started and ran for over 20 minutes. Yeeee Hawwww. And just in time to make Docktails. So we went down and celebrated the repair with our fellow Loopers. We got back to the boat to have dinner.

I wanted to make sure everything was working so I started the engine again. 15 seconds later it shut down. Shit! Boating is a lifestyle of extreme highs and incredible lows. Intestinal fortitude is a prerequisite to doing the cruising lifestyle. Let me tell you it was everything I had not to lose it. So once again this would be a really great spot for a cliff hangar but I wont this time. The next morning I was at it at 6am.

What could it be? So I took the fitting apart again and used some thread sealant on it which was the magic bullet. We were off by 10am bound for Music City or better known as NashVagas. 

                                                       GTB

Hike at Land Between the Lakes

                                                                    Lighted walkway on the dock at GTB

Sunrise at GTB

                                                Cumberland River 

Cumberland River

                                         Dredge Operation. The Army Corp has been closing sections of the rivers to dredge them due to the severe low water conditions

Last Day on the Huck Fin Waterway

 Olmsted Lock

Our ride on Thursday would be a long one with most of it on a following current. This would be our last day on the mighty Mississippi. About 15 miles from our final destination at the lock we would turn up the Ohio river and start the fight against the current. It started out about 2 miles per hour causing us to only make forward progress at 6 mph. That is pretty slow even for us. After a couple of miles the current let up so we were able to make a bit better headway. I must admit I was a little sad to leave the Mississippi. I found it quite peaceful. Makes you ponder how a young boy and his buddy made it down the river in nothing more than a raft even if it was fiction! I would bet back in the day it had been done. 

The cruise was quite beautiful along wide sand banks and very smooth water. It was another totally sunny day. It has been so long since we have seen clouds let alone rain we started to prepare ourselves for the payback when  Mother Nature realizes she has doled out too picture perfect days to us. Oh well we enjoy it while we got it. The anchorage at Olmsted lock was quite nice except for the roll. When we got there the current held us in a very tight pattern. However later in the night for some reason we were getting hit on the side of the boat by these rollers. One such roller actually woke me out of bed at midnight as I found myself hanging onto the bed. Fortunately that was the worst of it. So back to sleep. 

Peduca

In the morning on Friday we left at 7:30 am to hit the lock and make our way to Peduca which was 30 miles up the Ohio river. The river lingo is when going against the current it is up river. Then you have the right and left ascending banks. I know so much lingo. It’s almost like another language. We were looking forward to getting back to civilization and enjoy a dinner ashore.

We arrived nice and early sometime around noon. But unfortunately we did not get off the docks until after 3pm. There was a snafoo with the boats they had scheduled leaving one of the boats we had traveled with without a space to dock. After circling around for over an hour I managed to broker a deal with the city employees to let him stay on the fuel dock. Greg on “This is It” was quite grateful he got in.

Peduca is in Kentucky and is named after a famous Indian chief from the Chickasaw tribe. There is a lot to do in Peduca. They have a flood wall that protects the city from extreme rises in the river. On the inside of the wall they have painted beautiful scenes of local history. They actually stretch two blocks. Peduca also has the National Quilt Museum.

Yes, I reluctantly went with Sue but I am here to tell you it was incredible. These are not your grandmother’s old quilts. These things are works of art. On Broadway there is numerous higher end shops and restaurants. The architecture of the buildings is really quite nice. That evening we met up with a Looper couple we had not seen since the Erie Canal. We went to dinner at a local Cajun restaurant and later to a brewery to listen to some music.

The food was quite exceptional. The temps dropped quite a bit that night making for a chilly evening on the boat. Nothing an extra blanket couldn’t take care of. We really enjoyed the town and actually wished we stayed another day but we were booked the next day at Green Turtle Marina which is a highly desirable place and very hard to get into so off we went. 

                                                                         Yes it really is a quilt

Quilt

Quilt

Quilt

                                               Yep that is how dry it is along the rivers

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. 

                                                                    Gateway Arch

Industry

                                                       More fog 

Cape Giardeau Bridge

  Just another one of the countless tows we have passed. 

Last town on the Illinois River and the Big Muddy

 Grafton

So the last town on the Illinois was a winner. We knew the minute we pulled into the marina. The good news was it was Friday and we had two days here. It’s funny how sometimes when you get that feeling it’s almost always spot on. This time was no exception. We arrived after a short 30 mile cruise so it was barely noon and we could hear music playing from the nearby bars. 

The town was not very big but it had plenty to offer. We started by taking a ski lift up to a local winery where the owner had quite a vision. In addition to the winery there was a zip line course and one of those downhill luges. You know the ones on wheels where you control the brake and basically take as much as you dare. Well we had to do that and fun it was. No brakes for me baby!

Of course what winery would be complete without the token girly shop attached run by no other than the owner’s wife. The deck of the restaurant had sweeping views of the Illinois river a couple hundred feet below.  Back down in town there was numerous bars and restaurants all with their own special vibe. One we found had $1 & $2 beers, seltzers and can mixed drinks. They said they had too much so they needed to lighten their inventory so wanting to show Marc that we were good citizens we helped them out. On Saturday we walked down to the Hawg Pit where they were having a Rat Rod car show. Some of those vehicles are wild looking. We decided to have Lunch there which after the fact turned out not to be such a good idea. Marc and I ordered the Home Wrecker. It was a 16” hot dog covered with BBQ and Queso cheese. What a gut bomb. Well it tasted good going down. That night we were at docktails when another Looper came over and invited all of us to the back deck. Turns out they were ending their Loop this year because their house in Florida got pretty tore up in the hurricane. They took all their food out of the fridge and cooked it up for everybody. There must have been 20 folks there. It was sad but a fact of life. 

Alton

Sunday morning we left for Alton just about 15 miles down river. However leaving Grafton meant we were entering the mighty Mississippi. Grafton sets right at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. This was the section most talked about with Loopers due to the swift current, underwater gear destroying wing dams and plenty of barge traffic some five wide and 9 deep.

Time to earn another boating stripe. We were forewarned that the river was down 9’ and going lower by the day. It turns out the weeks of never ending sunshine we have been blessed with has a downside. No rain in the entire Mississippi River valley. When we arrived at Alton we got a pump out and went to our slip. Sue and Marc headed off to resupply while I tended to some boat chores. They never end just like house chores. I guess because they always occur on the water they don’t seem so laborious. After lunch we headed into town to see what we could see. Now Alton was more 

Marc in Grafton

                      Rat Rod Show

Another Rat Rod

            Really cool wood shop in Grafton. Guy get trees from arborist that cut yard trees down. 

Cool cliff formations along the Mississippi

View from Winery