I just stopped for the day, anchored inside an island at mile 78. Nice spot.
https://goo.gl/maps/KsGLmh8diFM2
I started to write a blog post last night but it turned out to be a long shaggy dog story about a floating tree. Maybe I’ll finish it, but for now the facts 🙂
I left the marina at Alton yesterday about 0700 and had an uneventful trip through the last two locks on the Mississippi and through St Louis.
No issues dodging tows, most of the traffic around there is local.
I stopped at Hoppie’s around 1:00. This is a well known jumping off place for Loopers as it’s the last place to dock for pleasure craft southbound for a couple of hundred miles. There were a couple of other boats there waiting for the weather to get better and/or the Ohio River levels to drop a bit. There was a winter storm watch in effect with snow forecast for the evening so it seemed sensible to stop.
I had lunch and dinner out in the nearby village. The snow held off until later that evening, and I woke up to a couple of inches.
But with the forecast for today calling for warmer and brighter I set off about 0800 and enjoyed a lovely ride downriver. Visibility was limited in the snow, but it gradually turned into a nice day.
The current seems to be consistently at 3.5 – 4.5 knots. I am loafing along at 1000 rpm which normally gives about 6 mph but I traveled 80 miles in 8 hours.
I like this. The commercial traffic is easy to deal with and sparse on this section. Biggest tow I saw had 25 barges.
The mileage markers used on this section are distance from the Ohio River, which demarcates the upper and lower Mississippi. So I’m 78 miles from the start of the lower Mississippi, and from the place where most pleasure boats turn off. Assuming that things go ok tomorrow I’m still keen on continuing down the big river.
Heat worked well last night and today. I’ll keep my generator on tonight as it’s still cold, but hopefully will be able to lessen usage as I get south. The forecast looks nice for tomorrow, sunny and a high of 10c.
Boating Adventures 