Yesterday was such a difficult day I couldn't bring myself to write my blog. We woke up to may flies plastered all over the boat. This is our first encounter with these bugs who live only 24 hours. What's the point? Very gross.
We wanted to leave early because it was going to be a long day with 2 locks to get through.
About 10 miles into the trip a very dense fog rolled in. Lake Michigan deja vu. You could see the end of the bow and that was it. Again our radar and some good luck got us through until we neared the first lock. It emerged out of the mist and Dave had little time maneuver or else bump into the wall. Again good luck came through because the Mississippi River locks have 2 chambers. The lockmaster directed us to the smaller chamber with a strobe light. His southern accent and mouth full of chewing tobacco (again gross!!) made it impossible to understand him. I had to ask him 3 times to repeat himself. Being from WVA I used to be able to translate southern drawl into English but I guess I'm loosing my skill.
The lockmaster let us hang out in the lock for a couple of hours until the tow captains on the radio said the fog had lifted. When the big lock gates opened for us to exit there was a huge traffic jam of barges in front of us who had also been waiting out the fog.
Dave is becoming quite skillful and patient (no really!) in maneuvering with and talking to the tow captains. Again the AIS is worth every penny spent on it.
The current in the river was about 4 1/2 knots which pushed us along about 3 knots faster than we normally travel. Certainly would not want to head north and fight the current. You must be very careful when you pass tows to not get caught up in their massive wake. So with the current and the wake and some wind thrown in you better know what you're doing.
It was one barge after the other and these barges were extremely wide and long, until we reached the 2nd and final lock on the Mississippi (yaay!--locks are real time killers). We had to wait nearly 2 hours just hanging out while the tows jockeyed their barges around.
We finally got into the lock and we were the first of 3 pleasure boats locking through. We moved all the way forward, me with line in hand ready to lasso the floating bollard (I'm getting quite good at this but I do miss Jim and Lin!) and there was no bollard where it was clearly supposed to be!! Son of a...! I almost lost it there. Cool hand Dave said not to worry that we would just float in the lock (it was only a 12' lock) so we did. When the big lock doors opened up we headed out to do more battle with the barges down past St. Louis.
St. Louis is not pleasure boat friendly and a disappointment. There is no waterfront and they park on the beach near the Arch. We passed Rams stadium (sorry you aren't here Toby). To visit St. Louis you have to go 20 miles south and rent a car. Not this trip.
The barge traffic calmed down a little and the scenery got a little nicer. There were nice green levees that famously don't hold sometimes in major floods. Absolutely no houses though.
We arrived at the legendary Hoppie's Marina. This is the last marina for 228 miles. To call it a marina would be an overstatement. It is quite a dump. It is actually 3 100' barges tied to a high stone wall cliff with cables. Hoppie is a real person and an original Mississippi River lamplighter. His wife Fern is the real attraction. She is for sure the real Mississippi Queen and I think she has river water running through her veins. Dave called her "Large Marge". This is a favorite stop for loopers because every evening Queen Fern holds court and does a river briefing. There were five of us loopers there furiously taking notes on everything she said.
She told us how to safely pass barges. Never on the outside of a curve because you could get pushed ashore by the wake, always on the inside of the curve. Where to anchor safely behind weir dams (no more marinas coming up for 3-4 days), remember that the buoys reverse from red/green to green/red when you come to the Ohio River, etc. etc. She is a real piece of Americana and the History Channel should do a piece on her because I'm sure she has endless stories and I, for one, and tired of American Pickers! She is doing battle with the Army Corp of Engineers because they built a weir dam directly south of her little marina and it is causing shoaling on her property. Very bad for loopers. My bet is that Fern will win and they will relocate the dam. She is a real pit bull. Good Luck Fern!
It was one of those days that you are glad when it's over. The Mississippi is quite disappointing. I've read previous looper's blogs and that seems to be the general opinion.
The beautiful plantations, paddle wheel boats and willow tree line banks are just not happening. It's more like West Henrietta Road on a Saturday afternoon. Kind of like Route 1 into Key West. I must look for the beauty that IS here. The history of the river and the bustling commerce.
I walked up the hill at Hoppie's and took this picture this morning.
Today is shaping up much better than yesterday. There are no locks to get bogged down in and we are going to an anchorage that Fern recommended. No more marinas for 3-4 days. The barge traffic is much lighter and hey, no FOG!
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