Three days anchoring out

Thursday, September 22

We departed from Hoppie's Marina at 6:30am with fellow Loopers, Maine Visions and Passport.  This may be a long day

Captain getting ready to cast off

Captain communing with the Mississippi River before starting the day

We passed the tow 'Daniel J Wise' at 7:04am.  It was four barges wide by five long, not that huge for the Mississippi River but it was one of the biggest we've seen so far.

The Towboat, Daniel J Wise

Fern at Hoppie's had warned us of three very disturbed areas in the river caused by deep waters and fast flowing water.  At 9:09am, we passed the first area of notable turbulent waters located at mile marker 130.  There were whirlpools and wild rapids that threw the Belle around but we made it through okay.

Pretty scenery on the Mississippi

Someone's castle

Cape Giraudoux

Our first possible anchorage spot was a bust due to shallow water so we pushed on to Little River Diversion Channel.  We arrived at 4:30pm and found lots of other Looper boats in the anchorage but there was room for us, too.  We rafted up to 'Gullwing' and then 'Passport' rafted up to us on the starboard.  Getting in to the anchorage was very thrilling because the current was running very swiftly. You had to pass by the narrow opening, then turn up into the current and power your way in, keeping an eye on the depth all the while. 

We traveled 110.5 miles today...our longest distance traveled in one day.

Looking north in the anchorage

We had cocktails with Richard and Nancy on Superior Lady, along with Bill and Phyllis from Gullwing and John and Mary from Passport.  Bill had to take their dog to the bank for a comfort stop and we all laughed at his antics.

Bill and Savannah returning from a potty run on the bank

  Friday, September 23

We were all ready to go by 6:30am but the fog was not ready to let us out.

Mary, from Passport, swabbing the decks...waiting for the fog to clear

Warren staring into the fog, trying to dispel it with his laser vision

Laser vision not functioning...have coffee instead

 Fog finally cleared and we departed at 9:51am. 

Southern Belle under way (courtesy of Superior Lady)

 We left the muddy Mississippi River and joined the Ohio River at 2:29pm. There was a distinct demarcation in the water but we couldn't catch it on camera.

Ohio River, very busy barge traffic

Olmstead Lock, under construction

 Our second night out was spent on the Kentucky shore south of Lock #52.  We rafted with Sweet Pea, Passport, Black Tickle, Oopik, Awe-Spray and Nauti Nel.  As we were having cocktails two young men came by in a canoe.  We found out that John and Ben were on a mission to paddle all the way down the Mississippi. They stayed the night on Passport's flybridge.

We traveled a total of 67.1miles today

The innards of the canoe

John

Saturday, September 24

We left the raft at 7:00am.  

Ben

At 10:19 we passed Metropolis...Home of Superman!!!  Did not see him.

Arrived at Lock#52 at 11:05am but had to wait for an hour before we entered.  Cleared the lock at 12:48.
Cleared the busy area around Paducah at 1:22pm.  There was a ribfest going on in town and we could smell it even on the river.
Reached Cumberland Towhead anchorage at 4:00 and we rafted up with the same group as last night.  It was very difficult to raft up in this spot because the current was running so quickly.
Traveled 42 miles today.

Rafting at Cumberland Towhead

Sunday, September 25

Departed the anchorage at 6:47am, in the rain.  It was cold, too, so a little grumpy this morning on the Belle.  Within the hour we were clear of the Ohio River and entered the Cumberland.  We had to hold up for a barge coming towards us to clear a corner.   The Cumberland is much more narrow and twisty than the Mississippi or Ohio Rivers.  I thought it was very pretty.

Someone's spread

Scenery along the Cumberland River

Cumberland River

Right as we approached Doom's Landing, 20 miles along on the Cumberland, our engine cut out while I was driving.  No bangs, no pops... just nothing.  We got the anchor out quickly.  It was fortunate that we were not swinging into the bank and that no tow boats were coming along.  We called Passport, our 'buddy boat', to report our problem.  Kerm went down in the engine room and checked the racor filter...it was okay...so he said he had to bleed the fuel system.  At this point, Passport had returned and it started to rain.  The engine refired after bleeding.  Then we had some trouble getting the windlass to work properly and raise the anchor.  We got it working and the whole episode was about one hour long.

Although John and Mary in Passport didn't help us in any physical way their presence was reassuring.

I was anxious to do the right thing and help Kerm but at no point was I really scared. I have great confidence in my captain.  By 12:11 we were under way again.

The irony of our problem occurring at Doom's Landing was not lost on me!!

By 1:20pm we were secured to the wall of the Barkley Dam.

Barkley is a big lock

We cleared the Lock at 1:42pm and entered Barkley Lake.  We were safely slipped at Green Turtle Bay Marina/Resort at 2:16pm, after traveling 34.9 miles.  We got slip #2, very close to the bathroom/showers and the laundry room.  We were happy to see clean, big showers with good water pressure.  The marina is a big complex with over 400 slips, condos, two restaurants, health club, ship's store and a major boat works.

After 3 nights of anchoring out, braving the Mississippi and handling our rogue engine problem we were happy to be in relative civilization again...but we had a good time anchoring out and are looking forward to doing more as we explore the Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake area.

Take care all.
Christie