Grafton down Past St Louis

Grafton to St Louis.

We headed down the Upper Mississippi towards our next destination – a marina that has been set up on 3 barges secured to the bank. This Marina is run by the Son and Daughter in law of the founder who opened the business in 1934, they are both well into their 70s, or more. Fern who is operating the Marina while her Husband recovers from surgery, is a likeable but very tough and confident operator. Fern is nationally known, among the boating fraternity,she gives a briefing to boat Captains every afternoon,on conditions they will face and latest river information. Marinas & anchorages become scarce here & mileage between them begins to stretch. You also have to take into consideration the many tows & the locks that we need to go through. Fuel becomes a problem for gas guzzlers. There are only 3 stops on the 218 ml run down the Mississippi & none on the Ohio. The currents run at between 3- 4 knots so we were racing along @ 10.6 – 11.1. This happens when the Missouri meets the Mississippi. There are also wing dams or weirs that are built out perpendicular into the river to keep water flowing and the channel clear of sand as it shoals up south of weirs but are not always easy to find if the river is running high. They are stone walls. - yikes!!They are marked on our charts but it's another thing to watch for.

We do not travel down the Lower Mississippi as it is very commercial with huge tows. We saw a 30 barge today & they are huge. Especially if they suddenly appear around a corner which leaves no room when the front barge is near one bank & the back barge is near the opposite bank -leaving no room to pass on a corner. The AIS which I spoke of in an earlier blog helps you identify, name of barge, distance away & speed so you can calculate when you may be approaching. We don't have it but both our travelling boaters do, so there is no problem.

We passed St Louis & it has a great water frontage - especially the Arch but unfortunately there is no way of getting ashore – no dinghy tie ups or docks. We passed a swimmer swimming the whole length of the Mississippi – maybe he inoculates himself every day. We also passed through the longest lock so far 1200ft.

We took an evening walk down town Kimmswick where Hoppies is based. All shops are closed on Mondays (we were there Tuesday) and no restaurants are open in the evening – even though the Blue Owl has a wide reputation for its good fare. We saw a famous estate for horse riding therapy set up by a beer brewing family – it was their original homestead.

The next stretch had to be 110 statute miles to get to an anchorage – there were no marinas & when we got to Little Diversion Channel near Cape Girardeau there were only 2 other boats there & the 4 of us fitted in easily – rafting up in 2s. The water is calm & the insects are singing away.