Trip Diary for June, 2005

Wednesday, June 1: It was a day of R&R after all our new experiences.  The food at the Fire House Bar and Grill was so good yesterday that we returned for lunch today. IVY had a white table cloth dining room so we made reservations to help Keith and Sharon celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary a bit early.

Thursday, June 2: Pulled lines at 8:50 am with a Beardstown, IL destination. We had only the Peoria Lock and Dam (#7) south of Peoria to lock through. Called lockmaster and was told to proceed forward upon green light. It was a drop of 8' and he required no tie up once in the chamber. We met lots of tugs going north and passed several going south. Upon arriving at Beardstown we found only a barge with yellow painted rails. Now the wind and current were not ideal and the water was very shallow for docking. It was probably the first challenge that Larry and Keith had on our trip down the Illinois River. After going aground a couple times we managed to tie lines at 5:40 PM. The crock pot had been doing its work on the cruise down the river, so a most delicious dinner of rump roast, potatoes and carrots awaited us. After dinner Larry and Keith (like two warriors with billfolds in hand) climbed the hill to see what was along the seawall. They came back carrying milk and a half gallon of ice cream which the four of us immediately ate. It was off to bed early so we could make an early departure Friday. Miles traveled to date: 304.

Friday, 3 June: we pulled lines at 8:35 am hoping to spend the night at Pere Marquette State Park. As the day unfolded, low water prevented us from reaching the park.  We called Mel's Illinois Riverdock Restaurant about tying up at their dock for the night (Hardin, IL). This location had been highly recommended for dockage and filling our bodies with home cooking.  We arrived at Mel's around 6:00 PM. It didn't take long to secure the yacht and get to the restaurant.  Everyone indulged in all you can eat fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad bar with a sixth of a 10" pie for dessert. Feeling guilty, we took a two-mile hike around Hardin.

Saturday, 4 June: We pulled lines at 8:50 AM after a great "farmer's breakfast" at Mel's.  We were at the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi river at 11:30 AM. It is truly a big wonderful world that we live in!  We have seen very little wild life except for geese, a couple of deer, many blue heron and some egrets.  Lola had never seen a duck blind and found them "interesting."  Don't think she is ready to go duck hunting.  We planned on docking in the Portage des Sioux area, but upon arriving found the Venetian Marina out of business.  The next marina didn't have a dock long enough for us and the water was only 3 ft. It was on to plan B (Alton Marina). We were glad that was necessary because the Alton Marina is a truly first class marina.  We arrived at 1:35 pm and did have a difficult time docking because of the 15-20 mph wind. We finally docked on the T-end under the William Clark Bridge (that is beautifully lighted at night). After Mexican food for dinner, Lola, with Larry chaperoning, headed for the Arogosy Belle Casino for a brief education in probability theory.  Miles to date: 407.

Sunday--Tuesday, 5-7 June: Alton offered much to do, so we spent time here and took advantage of the exceptional marina. Sunday began with a walk to First United Methodist Church services at 10:30 AM.  To our surprise, we found this was the next to last service at this beautiful, 175 year-old church!  Church members offered to take us back to the marina, but we chose to walk downtown and enjoy the lunch-only restaurant they recommended, My Just Desserts.  As the name implied, it was special.  After lunch, Larry initiated his promised effort to make contact with key alumni/ae along the way.  Calls to a half-dozen families in the St. Louis area determined our brief stay would match schedules of only one couple, Bob and Linda Shanks.  They came aboard Sunday evening for a sampling of My Just Desserts brownies, a brief river ride, and good conversation about Purdue experiences.  Monday was a day for shopping, laundry and routine maintenance before tackling the difficult stretch of the Mississippi.  We dropped lines at 8:40 AM Tuesday, following a one-hour dockside wait for the Alton lock that was only 1.5 mile downstream from our marina.  Immediately following the confluence of the Missouri River with the Mississippi, we diverted into the Chain of Rocks canal with a zero wait time at its lock.  Upon exiting the lock and re-entering the Mississippi, we began experiencing the tremendous barge traffic around St. Louis and the hazards of floating logs supplied by the rapidly increasing flood flow from the Missouri.  So, despite the thrill of seeing the beautiful St. Louis Arch and skyline from a new perspective, piloting kept Keith and Larry busy.  We reached Hoppies river barges near Kimmswick, MO at 12:55 PM to await arrival by car of Keith's brother and sister-in-law, Melvin and Karann Hawks.  They would stay with us only one evening and provide transportation home for our departing crew, Keith and Sharon, on Wednesday.  The six of us enjoyed a delightful dinner at Old House Steakhouse in Kimmswick, the second oldest town in Missouri.  Miles traveled: 451.

Wednesday--Thursday, 8-9 June: As Hoppie had forewarned, the Mississippi rose almost four ft. overnight due to increasing inflow from the Missouri River.  The increased flow had a corresponding increase in debris.  The supply of logs was truly incredible.   A leisurely morning culminated with a Hoppie's recommended brunch at the Blue Owl Restaurant before the Hawks departed for IN.  It certainly lived up to its reputation as an outstanding place to eat with exceptional desserts!  Following brunch and a brief shopping tour of Kimmswick, Larry and Lola returned to the boat and began catching up on homeland chores (bills follow wherever you go in today's electronic world).  Early bedtime left some business unfinished, so it was 10 AM Thursday before we could drop lines.  The river had risen another foot.  Alone for the first time since starting the trip, we were both busy dodging debris as we moved downriver at 13 mph, aided by the 5 mph current.  Except for the occasional huge tow (we saw one with 44 barges, each with the hauling capacity of 96 semi-trucks!), several power plants and the occasional landing/loading areas for barges, the view was mostly forested river banks.  As well documented in our guide book, there are no recreational boating facilities along this stretch of the river.  Tonight was our first true anchorage about 104 miles downstream from Hoppies at Little River Diversion just south of Cape Girardeau.  We arrived at this excellent anchorage about a quarter mile off the Mississippi at 8:20 PM, appreciative of leftovers from our evening at Old House in Kimmswick that provided a quick meal after a long, often tense day.  To complicate matters a bit, the generator started, but the line that powers the air conditioners had no voltage!  Fans were a most welcome "plan B" on a warm, humid evening.  Miles to date: 560.

Friday, 10 June: With a long day ahead, we weighed anchor at 7 AM and started dodging logs for the next 49 miles until the confluence with the Ohio River at 11:35 AM.  The weather was again warm, but beautiful.  We've had only a trace of rain one day during the past two weeks and most areas we passed are showing water stress.  Contrasts between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers were stark: water was much less turbid, current was about 3 mph (but we're now fighting it instead of being helped), it was wider and the barge traffic around Cario, IL and especially Paducah, KY was very dense.  We've noticed a vibration with the starboard prop (a Mississippi memento), so we ran on only the port engine, making ground speed less than 7 mph.  Water on the Ohio was sufficiently high that the first lock "has its wicket down."  That means the lock is not needed as we pass directly over the location of the dam.  We're not so lucky at the next Ohio lock #52; had a wait of 95 minutes that we really needed to make the next suitable anchorage at a reasonable time.  While Lola pilots, Larry begins diagnostic work on the generator-electrical system.  He discovers, fortunately, the problem is not with the generator, but with the boat's fuse panel.  The master circuit breaker that feeds power from the generator to all air conditioners had one of its posts broken off. With a bit of improvising, he managed to solder it back onto the breaker and reconnect all wires.  As evening approached, so did the thunderstorms, but they weren't severe and we kept going.  Nevertheless, it was totally dark at 8:55 PM when we anchored at the confluence of the Cumberland River.  A combination of darkness and misleading GPS information in the guide book caused us, we determined the next morning, to anchor at an incorrect and more tenuous location than we should have used.  Fortunately, the anchor held and night-running tows all missed us!  Miles traveled to date: 668.

Saturday, 11 June:  We didn't have far to go today to reach Green Turtle Bay Marina on Lake Barkley, but bucking the 3-4 mph current on the Cumberland and using only one engine nets only 6-7 mph.  Thus, we weighed anchor at 8:05 AM in light rain.  The lower Cumberland is much more scenic than either the Mississippi or Ohio and there was little barge traffic.  We enjoyed the more leisurely conditions and saw our first eagle, many blue herons, a deer and several weekend fishermen.  There was zero wait time for the 57 ft. Barkley lockage!  We arrived at the huge Green Turtle Bay Marina (GTB) at 1:20 PM and appreciated having a solid tie point and shore power for the first time in 3 days.  We took advantage of our courtesy Green Turtle Bay Yacht Club membership to enjoy a fine dinner at the clubhouse, complete with live fashion show.  Miles to date: 704.

Sunday-Tuesday, 12-14 June: It began raining last evening and by morning appeared as though it would continue all day (which it did).  Thus, last evening's plan to walk about a mile to church in Grand Rivers didn't seem so attractive.  We called the Grand Rivers United Methodist Church and they sent a van to the marina to pick up us.  Attendance was modest (about 40), but what one might expect in a town population of 350.  The congregation was exceptionally friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  A light lunch saved room to enjoy sharing the famous 1 lb., 2" thick pork chop dinner at the town's signature restaurant, Patti's 1880 Settlement.   We capped that outstanding meal with a piece of their Chocolate Boatsinker pie.  Monday morning was housekeeping time in preparation for the arrival of our new crew, Ken and Carolyn Spillman from Manhattan, KS, who arrived about 2 PM.  With the availability of wheels again, Tuesday was a shopping day in Paducah, KY and Lola "got her nails repaired."

 First Detour!  Wednesday, 15 June:  The morning began with an 8:30 AM haulout to determine the source of prop vibration that developed on the Mississippi. Bad news!  Two blades of the starboard prop were damaged, the strut was bent, the shaft bearing was damaged, and the shaft slightly bent.  Prop repair, even on an "emergency" basis, was backlogged for at least 2 days.  Since re-floating the Lola Marie with the two inch hole left by removing the shaft was certain to far exceed the capacity of our bilge pumps, we rented one of Green Turtle Bay's condos for a couple of days. To take our mind off the problems, we drove to Paducah in the afternoon for more shopping before returning to the condo to cook steaks on its gas grill.

Thursday-Sunday, 16-19 June: With the boat in drydock, we decided to seek local culture.  We drove east from Grand Rivers to Eddyville (an outlet mall; this is culture?) and then on east to Princeton, KY.  At Princeton we visited the outstanding Adsmore Museum.   The quality and quantity of furniture and china collected from around the world and the "in character" guide that described family life in the early 20th century made this a memorable stop.  Friday was spent in the marina to anxiously await the arrival of repaired props and a straightened shaft.  They made it back after lunch and the GTB marina staff worked until 6:30 PM in order to get us back in the water and out of the rental condo.  We celebrated with a late dinner at Patties that was also a 46th anniversary celebration for Ken and Carolyn.  Saturday was time for getting things transferred back to the boat, reconnecting equipment disabled during repairs and joining in the GTB Beach Party for a light dinner.  Father's Day began with church in Grand Rivers, a barbeque lunch and then sea trials to test repairs.  We expect to have a final engine alignment tomorrow morning before resuming the trip up Lake Barkley and the Cumberland River.

Monday, 20 June: Consultation with the service staff about yesterday's successful sea trial concluded further engine alignment was not advisable, so we departed GTB at 10 AM for Kentucky Dam Marina (KDM) where Spillman's would leave their car for a month.  We will return to KDM upon completing our Cumberland River tour to park the Lola Marie for a month while attending our 50th high school class reunion, the Amer. Soc. of Agric. and Biol. Eng. annual meeting in Tampa, and culminate our brief return with grandson Nickolaus Leitem's wedding to Jamie Buttry on Aug. 13 in Evansville, IN.  After a refueling stop at Eddy Creek Marina for $2.10 fuel (a bargain for this area), we continued up the lake to Lake Barkley Marina and Park.  With this beautiful 75 mi. trip, we arrived at 7:40 PM.  To our surprise, an entirely new marina welcomed us.  Incredibly, they began March 1, 2005 completely tearing down all old facilities and building an entirely new giant facility!  Everything was complete except Internet and TV cable connections; it was so large, they provided complementary golf carts.   Just prior to enjoying a buffet dinner at the beautiful Barkley Park Lodge, we walked to the top of the hill in front of the boat and saw about a dozen deer only 500 ft. from our vantage point.  Miles traveled to date: 748.5.

Tuesday, 21 June: To reach a suitable dockage today we needed to travel 75 miles.  Given our 9:40 AM departure and leisurely speed of about 8 mph, it was 7:40 PM when we docked at the Clarksville Boat Club .  Scenery during the day changed from the wide water expanse with numerous islands of the upper Barkley Lake to the still beautiful, mostly forest-lined narrower Cumberland River.   Wildlife, other than many blue herons and other birds, was not as plentiful as we had expected.  Tow traffic was quite sparse compared to the Illinois, Mississippi and Ohio rivers; however, there continued to be numerous power plants.   In general, the serenity of river travel compared to our many years of boating on Lake Michigan with its wind and waves continued to impress.  Also, with our slow pace running only a single engine we attain nearly 3 mpg!

Wednesday-Thursday, 22-23 June: Today's destination was Rock Harbor Marina, one lock (with floating "bits" or "bollards" for tie points) and about 8 miles (16 river miles) from the center of Nashville.  We departed Clarksville hurriedly at 8:55 AM just in front of an approaching tow.  The intent was to avoid having to overtake and pass, plus we hoped to arrive at the Cheatham lock (about 14 miles upstream) far enough ahead to get through before his arrival (commercial vessels have priority).  We succeeded in beating him by 2 hours, but the lock was busy passing a large 2-stage tow.  The tow we "raced" arrived as we waited; fortunately, an exchange between the lockmaster and tow captain allowed us to lock through while the tow waited.  Above the lock we noted another large pleasure craft, the 36' Electra from Indianapolis, about 2 miles ahead traveling slightly slower than us.  Radio contact established they were experiencing engine and steering problems, but also hoped to make Rock Harbor Marina.  We agreed to slow down and accompany them in case their problems became more severe; fortunately, they didn't.  We arrived at 5 PM.  This marina was large and sited in a picturesque old rock quarry.  Arch Kelly purchased this marina only two year ago and is hard at work making it into a great marina.  He and his exceptionally helpful staff advised us about good eateries and then generously provided transportation to and from J. Alexander's, about 3 miles from the marina.  After dinner we decided to extend our stay for another day.  Thursday we rented a car to enjoy a bit of local culture.  It was noon before we could have a car delivered, but after lunch we drove to the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's 1100 ac. plantation that has been a museum for more than 100 years.  After touring the visitors' center, Hermitage home, and the Jacksons' tomb, we stopped at the Opryland Hotel for a walking tour of this incredible facility with its several huge arboretums. We stayed for dinner at Rachel's.  Only an hour's shopping time remained (Larry and Ken were accused of planning it that way), but we made a couple of stores in Opry Mills outlet center before returning to the marina.  Miles traveled to date: 866.7.

Friday, June 24: After showering, grocery shopping while we still had wheels, returning the car and fueling, it was 11:45 AM before we departed Rock Harbor with reservations to return for 4 days when we come back down the river.  We had reservations on the city dock in the heart of Nashville for this evening, so we needed to make only 18 miles on the water.  The weather remained warm (95 was the high), but wonderfully nice.  We have experienced only a single day of rain since departure on May 27!  The Nashville skyline view from the river was delightful. Adjacent to us at city dock tonight was another AGLCA member, Tom and Gerry Clare aboard Sea Knight.

Saturday, June 25:  With a lock and 48 river miles to cover today we departed Nashville city dock at 8:05, accompanied by Sea Knight.  The Old Hickory Lock is 3.5 hours away at our net speed of 7 mph.  Old Hickory has a reputation for only modest tow traffic, so we expected a swift, high (60 ft.) lockage.  An idle hope.  We waited 4 hours to lock through into the large (30 mi. long) Old Hickory Lake.  Given the hour, the wide lake, and the need to make another 26 miles to the Cherokee Marina near Lebanon, TN, we decided to run at cruise speed (18 mph) for the first time since Lake Michigan.  This lake was really busy with weekend pleasure boaters and several tows.  After a 5:30 PM arrival and 1.5 hr. wait, we enjoyed an excellent dinner at the marina's regionally famous Cherokee Steak House.  Uncharacteristically, dockage was a flat $12 with electricity regardless of boat size.

Sunday, June 26:  Another 8 AM departure following overnight showers.  The forecast was for rain today, but it didn't look like it as we dropped lines.  We're at the upper end of Old Hickory Lake only 3 miles from the narrower widths (500-800 ft) typical of this river.  The next 10 river miles became increasingly beautiful with many fishing boats and the occasional duck blind.  Much of the time one of the two river banks consisted of high limestone bluffs, some as high as 250 ft., and often almost obscured with trees and bushes.  It surprised us that almost always the opposite bank was low and flat.  One saw almost no homes or other signs of civilization along the banks; another surprise.  The river was often 30-50 ft. deep with a current around 1 mph.  We dropped anchor at Bartlett Bar, about 20 river miles below the Cordell Hull lock and dam.  It was a delightfully peaceful and private place behind one of the islands that are becoming rather frequent in this part of the river.  Dinner tonight was garden salad, baked beans and hamburgers grilled on the new propane grill given to us at the Purdue Agricultural and Biological Engineering retirement party.

Monday, June 27: Departed anchorage at 7:30 AM in order to make a scheduled 10 AM Cordell Hull lockage.  Pleasure craft must schedule a specific lockage date/time at least 24 hours ahead because the lockmaster position is part-time; the advantage is no wait upon arrival.  Current picked up to 2 mph and more as we moved upstream.  There has been no commercial traffic at this lock for the last 15 years as the coal mined in the area had too much sulfur and the oil from the Celina region was diverted to a new nearby refinery and transported by truck.  Four miles upstream of the lock we arrived at Defeated Creek Marina (DCM) (the Lola Marie is just at the end of the ships' store) on the incredibly beautiful lake at 11:30 AM.  We needed time for laundry and other boatkeeping chores, so didn't plan to make much distance today.  Experienced a few scattered rain showers this morning, but nothing significant.  We lost cell phone service yesterday afternoon and don't expect it again before late Wednesday.  Mileage: we break our first thousand: 1011.

Tuesday, June 28: We decided the calendar wouldn't allow us to continue all the way to Celina, the last navigable point on the Cumberland for non-trailerable boats; thus, today was a "day trip" from and back to DCM.  We left at 8:05 AM and traveled about 25 miles up the lake to Salt Lick Creek, a Corp of Engineers campground, before turning back downstream (total Cumberland river miles traversed: 338).  Due to its vastness, it's very hard to capture the beauty and serenity of this fantastic area.  It certainly lives up to its billing as "the little Switzerland of TN." On the return trip, we stopped at Granville Marina for a delightful lunch and made it back to DCM by 4 PM.  Allen and Carolyn Vires, new proprietors of DCM since last November, generously loaned us Carolyn's Audi A6 (quite a high standard for other marina's to match!) to visit nearby Carthage and gain local culture.  After stops at overlooks along scenic TN 263, Wal-Mart, and a grocery, aided by local advice we drove past Al Gore Jr.'s home place. Visiting the local area by road showed much more economic development than was perceived by water travel (from which only an occasional homestead was visible).

Wednesday, June 29: After an uneventful scheduled 10 AM lockage back through Cordell Hull lock, we continued back down the Cumberland to Old Hickory Lake, aided by a 1.5+ mph current, to Gallatin Marina, arriving at 5:15 PM, just in time for much needed showers before they closed at 6 PM.  Weather continued to be beautiful with a very warm high of 90.  Today's 84 miles were enjoyable, but not quite as intriguing since we passed this area only 4 days ago.  The area around Gallatin has many homes of country and religious musicians; there was a denser concentration of incredible homes here than any place we've been on the Cumberland. Total miles to date: 1141.

Thursday, June 30: It was a really hot, muggy day, but we only went 20 miles down the lake to be nearer the Old Hickory lock so we could better time our passage to avoid the 4 hr. upstream wait.  Creekwood Marina is similar to Gallatin, one of several large, good marinas on Old Hickory Lake.  Immediately across the road from the marina is Steamboat Bill's Cajun Seafood restaurant; we followed good local advice to have a wonderful dinner there.  Our first full month of cruising comes to a close; it has been delightful!

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