Author: Jeff

Today was fun. And somewhere along the way the right bank switched from Arkansas to Louisiana. I’m stopped for the night here.

After I checked in yesterday my plan was to go ashore and seek out dinner. But that turned into a bust, as there was no suitable place to secure my dinghy. I did go ashore this morning, pulled the dinghy up on the bank next to the casino. I walked around the old downtown looking for coffee, breakfast or provisions and came back empty-handed. Zero stars. But it was foggy so I couldn’t leave early anyway.

River was not busy, and I passed my companion travelers for the third time. Saw two aboard today. They’re going very slow.

Oh and met a paddlewheeler leaving Greenville.

I had a list of things I wanted to do today, and I think I did them all.

I’d been thinking more about current and drift. Today with the river pretty much clear of traffic – I had a southbound tow about 4 miles in front of me and only met a couple of northbound – I was free to experiment. So I attempted to go directly down-current by keeping my heading and COG as closely aligned as possible. I also had a split screen to the scrolling sounder to get a mental image of depth contours, which are not on my plotter. I’m making good use of my new electronics 🙂

The results were about as expected. Current was 4-7 mph. Interesting watching the depth, going over wiers, sweeping to the deep outside of the bends.

I also wanted to get off the big river and poke around a bit. And with the water high I figured there are a bunch of places outside the channel that could be explored. Carefully.

Greenville is at mile 537. I was thinking of stopping at a working harbour at mile 483 to look around, and as I got closer and started to look I saw a meander starting at mile 489 that appeared to connect, and that got closer to the little community of Lake Providence. So I poked my nose in. Lovely little diversion.

At one point we were separated from the main river by just a small strip

The current was about 2 mph, depth 20-25 feet and smooth. Idling along.

Then into the working harbour

I was quite keen on going ashore. So I anchored up in the head of the harbour near what looked like a service road and went ashore

But it was too swampy, so I ended up blasting back in the dinghy to the towboat dock, chatted with the guys there, and rode my bike over the big dike and a few miles into Lake Providence from there. Then back to spend the night at anchor. It’s lovely, about a mile above the industry in a dead end, no current, and excellent internet.

All in all an enjoyable and interesting day.

I’m anchored here, came in around 1:00 and am here for the night.

I’m covering off two days here. Sorry. I’m not big on writing when offline.

Yesterday was a lazy day most of the way. I slept in a bit, got underway about 0730 and hung around waiting for a southbound tow, thinking I’d do a repeat of Wednesday. But after 1/2 hour with nothing in sight I got impatient and headed south on the river. I saw this guy go by then passed him. Old sailboat mast down towing two PWC (jetski). Looked like solo, he said he’s going to LA.

The day was calm, sunny, maybe 15C. River was subdued, no logs. Towboat encounters were uneventful. Think I’ve got that figured out.

I met a cruise ship!

At mile 599 I passed the White River. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this is the navigation route to the Arkansas River. I had noted earlier that the Arkansas River met the Mississippi about 20 miles further down. Anyway, it seemed to be dumping an enormous amount of water into the Mississippi.

The ride got a little wilder after that. Probably more current than I’d seen before. Pretty solid 5 – 6 mph and sometimes more. I started seeing debris in the water again.

I should say the earlier in the day I had been following the shoreline rather than staying out in the middle. This was more scenic and interesting, and also gave me more options for avoiding the prop wash of northbound tows. They leave a lot of turbulence for a long way. The wing dams are all underwater and it’s pretty obvious where they are, both using the chart and the eyes, especially if sitting up top.

I passed a few houses that looked like more than cottages. First time since the Upper Mississippi

You can see lots of turbulence in the second pic. It’s 100 feet deep here, no control structures. Just a boil.

I was planning to stop in the Rosemont slack harbour, but in the interest of exploring poked my nose in here and anchored.

The cool thing is that this little channel only exists during high water. Here’s the satelite view

Anyway, it was very cozy and secure. Maybe 3 mph current and clean water

I hadn’t seen any internet connectivity most of the day, and there definitely wasn’t any there. I sent a text to Samantha to let her know I’d stopped and the text wouldn’t go through. Roaming carrier wanted me to pay for access. So after deliberation I tried to buy a cheap roaming pass, but then couldn’t use my credit card because I don’t have a zip code.

After much deliberation – such a pretty spot! – I got back underway and went a few miles down to Rosemont. I could see a water tower from where I was that appeared to be there, and I figured I could find internet or phone service to check in.

After anchoring here I dinghied into shore. Ran into a couple of locals who said there was a little village a couple of miles away but that everything was closed as it was Thanksgiving. They did say there was Verizon coverage inside the dike. So I biked about a mile, got briefly connected and checked in.

I wasn’t in any rush today, and by many reports this is the last place to go ashore for me. And it was rainy and windy this afternoon. And I have internet. So here I am. Had the heat blasting – I’m back to using the a/c system – and am thinking of going ashore for dinner.

Weather looks great for tomorrow. I’m feeling no rush as my deadline is two weeks to cover ~450 miles so will go slow and enjoy.

Well, if I had to nitpick I’d like it 10C warmer. And early on was a bit cold, damp, and at times impenetrable.

The big tows were all on the bank waiting it out. I did too. The first southbound tow that I saw getting underway I followed. It was the Keith Darling with about 35 full barges.

I had noticed coming down to Memphis that I was running at about the same speed as the tows. I caught glimpses of boats north and south of me on AIS but we never closed the gap. So I had made a plan to try to get on the back of a tow.

I did that today with the Keith Darling. Stayed 3/4 – 1 mile behind all day.

It was so easy and so educational. I’m going to suggest that as a great strategy for big river newbies.

I anchored here
https://goo.gl/maps/xZYwNMEsRKT2

Fabulous spot. No current, little commercial activity and cows. I identified it this morning with Active Captain and stopped at my target time of 1600.

After the freezing fog (that’s what the weather alert called it) burned off it was clear, calm, sunny and cool, maybe 10C max.

I should also report that my generator seems to be fully functional now. I have it running now for evening heat and cooking. Will decide later whether to shut it down tonight.

I’m happy to be towing the dinghy. At these speeds I keep it on a short painter and don’t even think about it.

So back to following the tow. I’ve been listening intently to the VHF working channel 13. I’d say 20% of what I heard made sense when I first entered the Mississippi. At Memphis it was 50%, and now it’s 80+. Every meet between tows is negotiated over the radio, often with very few words. Following one boat for the day gives great insights into these negotiations.

The other huge advantage of following is that the tow has right of way over northbound traffic and they stay well out of the way. I essentially stayed on his path and didn’t sweat any of the meetings.

I also want to report that there’s almost no debris now. I only had to dodge once or twice and wasn’t obsessing over log spotting.

I also had a lot of opportunity to play with my new plotting and tracking capabilities. They also really helped me refine my intuitions about crossing courses on the bends. I was finding the bends disorienting watching the tows, but watching it play out on the plotter really helps. The drifting is very cool. I was watching this from a good view point.

https://youtu.be/IWll6vg-FlA

I’m looking forward to tomorrow. More of the same and warmer.

Tonight’s sunset

A few more pics. Hope the detail on the tows comes through. I’ve got a little screen and don’t look to closely at them. My new phone seems to take decent pics.

I’ve been puttering around today, did some biking and walking around Memphis. Picked up a new capacitor for the generator.

But mostly I’ve been thinking about the last couple of days. I knew in the abstract what to expect, sort of. I’m not risk averse, figured I’d survive, and really wanted to experience it. But the realities made me a bit uncomfortable the last couple of days. Mostly an acute conciousness of the raw volume and power of the river, but also the volume of tow traffic, and the maneuvering constraints they’re under, particularly southbound.

To be clear, I am confident that I’m not in any more danger here than I have been elsewhere in my travels. There are risks inherent in operating solo that I’m quite comfortable with, and that I try to manage. But I’ve had to get my head around a new set of risks.

Mostly I’ve had to make a new plan in case I lose power or steering. I’ve come to realize that the chance of the boat surviving may not be great if that happens.

Once I made that clear in my mind the focus shifted to individual survival rather than saving the boat, and that’s relatively easy to solve for.

Here’s my plan if I lose power suddenly and/or unexpectedly.

1) Declare an emergency and ask for help. Pull that red tab on the VHF immediately.

This is going to be really hard for me. My instinct is always to buy time. Sometimes I can fix problems, and I have abiding faith in self healing. But in this case there is no time, and it truly is an emergency. Take any help and advice offered. Let the pros tell me what to do. I can try to resolve the problem while this is in progress.

2) Be prepared to get into the dinghy and get to safety if things do not look good. Choose my moment. Get off well before the boat hits the bank or a barge.

So I have an action plan for tomorrow and then I can leave here happily.

a) get the genset running, operate for a while under load. Make sure no water in separator.

b) change fuel filter. My fuel system is very clean but it’s been more than a year.

c) make sure my spare rode is ready to deploy.

d) pump up and launch the dinghy, take it for a spin around the marina. Tow it downriver.

e) have a ditch bag with VHF, passport, etc.

There! I’m as well prepared as I feel I should be. This actually lifts a great weight. I’m ready and excited. And it’s going to be warm enough to hang out on top 🙂

Of course I’m going to remain vigilant in dodging debris and piloting, as well as the usual monitoring of systems. Honestly I think the biggest risk is having debris damage the prop or rudder, but it’s hard to imagine complete incapacitation from that.

My plan is to slow down, stop anywhere that looks interesting, and do more moderate days. The rush is over.

I’ll sleep easy tonight. Leaving Wednesday. This is so cool.

Pulled in to the Memphis Yacht Club mid afternoon yesterday. Good spot to get off the river for a couple of days.

Yesterday’s travels were reasonably uneventful. I’ve had to keep a careful watch for large tree trunks and other debris in the water. There’s lots that I’d rather not run into/over. Between that and meeting a big tow every half hour there’s not a lot of time to relax.

I had one uncomfortably close encounter with a northbound tow. Normally they stay on the inside of bends to avoid the strong current and I pass outside. This one looked like he was wide and I talked to him on the radio. I probably should have stopped until he was through but we agreed that I’d pass on the outside. I ended up getting tossed around pretty badly in his wake.

These towboats are running 10,000 hp on three props. The wake from the tow isn’t bad, but the prop wash is ferocious. They really leave a lot of turbulence directly behind them. I could have gotten a little closer to the bank but when traveling at 15 mph downstream that can be a bit disconcerting. Anyway, I survived. Only damage was that I broke my favourite coffee mug. Miles can get me a new one for Christmas 🙂

After fuelling up I did an oil change and pulled the capacitor on my generator. It’s dead, and the likely cause of failure. I’m hoping to find a local replacement.

Fuel consumption from Alton was 57 gallons for 39 hours on the motor and 19 hours on the generator, 374 miles traveled. At this rate I’m not constrained by fuel capacity, with about 600 miles to Morgan City.

I think I’ve finally escaped winter weather. I had 1000w of heat on last night, but didn’t really need it.

I’m feeling pretty relaxed about the remainder of this segment. I’m meeting my friend Mark in Louisiana Dec 7, and don’t feel under any pressure to make time between now and then. Think I may stay here for a couple of days then proceed downriver at a more leasurely pace.

The marina here is interesting, built to function through a big range of water levels. Will try to post more on that before I leave. For now it’s off to see the city, lay in a few supplies and a bit of cleaning and maintenance.

Wow. I knew there was a reason I’ve always wanted to do this. But also Woah. I could make one mistake and disappear without a trace. It’s a big powerful empty river.

So I’m anchored here

https://goo.gl/maps/mWAMHxSnGYA2

It’s lovely by any standard. Very little current, well off the river. Nice evening. I was sitting in the cockpit for a while at dusk. Had a beaver swimming around aggressively slapping its tail.

This is at mile 819. So I covered 111 miles. Left at 0615 and got it here at 1600. So average 11+ mph. My throttle setting gives about 7 mph.

Last night’s choice of stopping point was not ideal. It’s easy to recognize that in hindsight. But essentially I was sitting in the full flow of the river. I won’t do that again. It was ok the night before on the Upper Mississippi but there’s a lot more stuff in the water here, and you’re a sitting duck. Lots of a clunks in the night.

I was listening to the prop freewheel last night. Funny thing was that it never stayed the same speed. Went from whisper to roar. It seems like the river is alive.

There’s a guy who works on a towboat who has been taking pictures of Loopers and sharing them on Facebook. He got this one of me last night

I thought I was way off the channel. But after spending today essentially doing switchbacks I have a much better understanding of the paths the tows take through the bends.

Biggest tow I saw today was 42 barges, but they were empty.

I should also say that the weather was glorious, comparatively. High teens C, and hasn’t cooled off much this evening. I switched my toque for my sun had midday

There is meaning that I don’t understand in these numbers. Here are today’s from Riverweather.

Lotsa big stuff in the water. I was at times dodging tree trunks

Tomorrow’s run to Memphis is less than 90 miles so I expect to be tied up tomorrow night.

Here are a few more shots from today

Well, that’s it. Turned the corner at Cairo and continued downstream. I’m anchored here, at mile 930. The mile numbering is now distance to the mouth of the Mississippi.

https://goo.gl/maps/vratDLdJ1qy

Big news is that my generator stopped working last night as I was going to sleep. I checked a few things, then went back to bed. I looked at it again this afternoon and got some advice from the great folks on Trawler Forum. I’m not going to be able to fix it while underway.

This isn’t as dire a problem as it would have been earlier. It was a nice day today. All the snow and ice is gone. And tomorrow looks like a perfect day. I think I can do without heat.

Back to today’s travels. I got underway at 0600 and had a relaxed day. Bumped up my speed to 1200 because of the generator. I’m in a bit more of a rush to get to Memphis than I was.

I stopped and anchored at the fork of the river for 90 minutes to have a final look at the genset and think about options. Stopped for the day at about 4:30. Total distance traveled 106 miles.

So it’s two more days to Memphis at a similar pace.

A few pics from today

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.

I had some issues last week with the reverse cycle a/c that I’ve been using for heat. See my Peoria entry for the first incident. The system has been on basically for a week nonstop.

I woke up this morning at dawn and found the heat had failed. No water being pumped through. Is was cold last night, about -7c.

I worked on it until about 9:00 and got it working, sort of. The water loop through the unit was full of frozen goo. Should have taken a picture. After I thawed it out I blew it clear, and it was like a thick gray paste. I’m going to shut it down until I get to warm weather and warm water when I’ll flush it out properly.

At this point I decided to stay put for the day. Got a rental car for the day, with pickup and drop off at the marina, and bought a couple of 1500w heaters as well as a few groceries and sundries. Filled the water tanks and cleaned up. Comfy inside now with the new heaters, and silent.

Plan is to get underway early tomorrow. Weather looks cool but clear. It seems most Loopers go to Hoppies next. I don’t have plans to stop there. Playing it by ear. Two locks to get through early in the day.

I wandered into to town, as is my habit, to find dinner. Had an excellent Cobb Salad, three glasses of Diet Pepsi, and a slice of cheesecake at the Bluff City Grill. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

This is one of my favourite parts of this travel. In fact, I’m to thinking I should modify my mission statement to somehow include to this.

To eat out in every river town.

The marina is quite something. Everything floats. The office, fuel tanks supplying the pumps, even the swimming pool

And what I didn’t realize until I walked out is that the poles holding everything in place are like 50 feet high

And on the shoreward side is a giant berm. There’s a pedestrian walkway that crosses the over the old flood plain between the berm and the downtown on the steep bank, which is now railway, highway, and parkland.

I’m familiar with docks and marinas in tidal areas, but this is pretty remarkable. The river is at normal stage now. But there’s a lot of engineering to deal with high water.

Neat.