October 2019 – Page 2 – Loopin' with Mike n Pam

Phew! After turning onto the Ohio River our paced changed dramatically. The Mississippi current was so swift that we traveled at 10 to 14 knots which is 3 to 5 knots faster than normal cruise speed at same RPMs. We even hit Sea C’s all time speed record of 21.5 knots (approx 25 mph…a brief carbon blow out) . Once we hit the Ohio River we started traveling up stream against the current and our cruise dropped to 6 to 8 knots as we seemed to crawl to Paducah, KY public wall. The outside temperature was a toasty 96 degrees with no wind and direct sun so it took its toll.

Paducah is an interesting town with a rich history including severe flooding. This town has seen many o’ floods and as a result, have built themselves a mighty cement wall. In order to make this monstrosity a tourist attraction it is adorned with amazing murals depicting the history along with bronze plaques describing the images in detail. Paducah had that quaint, southern feel with an artsy flare. By this time we have met quite a few wonderful people such as Mountain Wave and Nepidea who we dined with last night.

Flood retaining wall / Town history story board

We left the next day for the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky with 3 other boats that included a three hour lock wait at the Kentucky Lock. Sounds like a long wait but it is very relaxing anchoring in front of the lock and enjoying the summer-like weather and a nice lunch.

We arrived at Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina by 3:30 – with enough time to take a walk and enjoy some free chips and salsa at happy hour at the Thirsty Turtle. We spent 3 days relaxing, exercising, doing laundry, biking to town, provisioning and meeting many new people. There were over 28 looper boats in the marina and the only disturbing part about this was hearing how many people were laid up for several days waiting for parts or being pulled due to damage incurred on the crazy rivers.

It was super nice to slow down and smell the roses. It’s such a beautiful area around these parts and after feeling like we were moving at a fast pace and dealing with dangerous flood conditions/debris it was a welcome respite to get to know the people on the boats that you’ve been following, anchoring near or locking through with.

Fenders took a beating through the locks- Yay Magic Sponge!

Massive Dump Truck Loadin’ up

Grafton IL, mile marker 0, touted as the Key West of the Midwest. Great town that comes alive on the weekends, open air restaurants and bars with all types of live music. Our original plan was to stay one night but it turned into a four-night stay. Not so much because of the chill Jimmy Buffet atmosphere but more because our big ol’ batteries died. After some intense trouble shooting, we discovered that the battery charger circuit breaker was not working thus the batteries were not being charged. The indicator light on the CB panel showed it was working properly but the reality was that no power was being supplied. We’ll spare the gory details but we did swap out the bad circuit breaker and we are all good. At the same time, we decided to bring in 2 new 8D cell (130lb each) batteries to replace the 4.5yr old ones on board….. and since were on a roll why not a new generator battery! The new 300lb+ of battery cells should serve us well especially since we have many overnight anchorages on the horizon.

25 passenger Courtesy ‘suicide’ Van to Walmart – Drive at your own risk

Heading down the Mississippi, we spent one night in Alton, another on the Kaskaskia Lock and Dam wall and a third at Boston Bar Island anchoring. All days were 90 plus degrees, high humidity, and direct sun which really drained our body batteries. A highlight of the trip was seeing the beautiful St Louis Arch. Thank you to our ‘buddy boat’, Pegasus, for taking our boat picture while dodging upriver tows. The Cardinals clinched the division against the Cubs the night before, bummer,

The Mississippi is wider than the Illinois, contains a higher population of commercial barges, and has strong swirling currents that will throw large boats off course in an instant. River water levels are up right now which means that boats must be on constant watch for floating full-size trees that will rearrange your propeller or punch a hole through the hull. The mighty, muddy, magnificent Mississippi River. Just ahead: a left at the Ohio River for some upstream travel!