October 14 Up the Ohio

 Kerm here,

It's up the Ohio today for a stop in Paducah, KY.  After a good night sleep at an anchorage behind a wing dam we headed out at 6:30 with only 7 miles of the mighty Mississippi to go.  While we averaged about 11.5 mph going with the current on the Miss we are now sitting at around 6 headed up the Ohio.

In Paducah we are meeting up with Bob Shapiro who we first met on the Erie Canal during our first loop.  Bob lives in Paducah and we last saw him at Green Turtle Bay in Ky towards the end of our last loop.  When Bob did the loop he did most of it on his own aboard his Mainship 39 called Dream Quest.  For those that panic at the sight of a lock just think of Bob doing it nearly a hundred times on his own.  The first thing I think about when I see these people do it on there own is,  how do they take a pee or worse yet...

All was fine in the engine room this morning.  I really think, other than the fuel penalty, the higher RPM's  we have been running is better for the engine.  Oil consumption is down and it just sounds better although diesels to me always sound like they are rattling themselves to pieces.

It's still cold in the morning so this morning Chris and I treated ourselves to an hour of generator time to provide electricity to the heating unit.  Joe Riley, wipe that smile off your face.  You see, at the marina Joe couldn't believe that we didn't have a generator and at every opportunity possible he kept on pitching the advantages of having one. 

Chris here

Yes, the generator is proving to be a delight.  We even made toast this morning which used to entail using the broiler in the propane stove.  Now we just pop that bread in the electric toaster and slam bam...it's a miracle.

What a difference between today and yesterday cruising wise...flying down the Mississippi at 12 mph and now slogging up the Ohio at 6 mph against the current. Yesterday we traveled 112.5 miles and today we are aiming for 53.2 to get to Paducah.  We heard good news, however, about Lock #52 which was reported earlier as having a huge delay of commercial traffic.  The wickets are down...this means that the water level has risen enough to allow boat traffic to pass over the dam...no delays.  YAY.

I am going to get a camera in Paducah. I know taking pictures with my phone is possible but I haven't been happy with the results amd I miss putting them in my blog entries as I used to.  Luddite, Luddite.

Seeing Bob from Dream Quest will be fun...he was a very colorful character and we enjoyed his company.  We have not run in to too many Loopers so far but I expect when we arrive at Pickwick Lake we will run into more Looper traffic.

Until later
Love to all
Christie