We left our anchorage shortly before 7:30 am and continued down the Mississippi. We thought we might make it to the Ohio River today. During the pre-cruise check, Gale was examining the engine and noticed the drive shaft was turning even though the boat was in neutral. At first, he thought we may be having transmission problems, but soon realized that the swift current was actually turning the boat’s propeller which explained why the drive shaft was rotating. The current on the river was so fast that if either of us fell overboard, it would be impossible to swim back to the boat. Our only option would be to make a downstream diagonal course to the nearest shoreline. The current on the Illinois River was significantly less than what we’d experienced on the Mississippi River. A safety precaution we opted for while swimming in the Illinois was to tether a float to a 50-foot polypropylene line tied to the back of the boat. The line floated and its bright yellow color allowed it to be seen easily on top of the water. If a swimmer were pulled too far downstream by the current he could grab the line and pull himself back to the boat.
Today we saw some very large tows – towboats pushing 25 to 30 barges. On the Upper Mississippi River bordering Iowa, the largest tow we are familiar with is 3 wide and 5 long; a total of 15 barges. Because the Mississippi River below St. Louis has no more locks and is much wider and deeper, the tows grow. It is not uncommon to see barges six wide and seven deep; in fact, tows nine barges long and nine barges wide have been seen on the Lower Mississippi River. Tows require most of the river in a sharp bend and need more than a mile to come to a full stop. Here is a little “towboat etiquette”: A tow does not usually tow, it pushes. And a tow is never called a tug. Tugs may pull or push ships in harbors, but on the rivers tows push barges, and the entire train of tow with barges is called a tow.
After lunch, we began looking for a sandbar to anchor near so Lucy could have a good run. It wasn’t long before we saw a very large sandbar with an area where we could get out of the channel. We anchored, let the dinghy down, and were amazed at how swiftly the current was moving. As soon as we released the dinghy from the lines, we were taken down current. We let Lucy ashore and she was able to run to her heart’s content. Gale threw a stick in the water for her to bring back to us, but he was careful to make sure the stick landed upstream a little bit so that she wouldn’t have to fight too much current. We had to work very hard to get the dinghy hooked to Blue Heron again. We were very grateful to have a reliable outboard motor on the little boat!
We left the Upper Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois, late in the afternoon and began our short journey on the Ohio River. We will travel upstream on the Ohio for approximately 45 miles to Paducah, Kentucky, where we will decide whether to continue on the Ohio for another 10 miles and then take the Cumberland River to Lake Barkley or enter the Tennessee River at Paducah and take that to Kentucky Lake. The Tennessee River route is about 25 miles shorter but Kentucky Dam Lock is known for long delays due to the commercial traffic.
It was nearly 7 pm when we were out of the heavy commercial area of the river and able to find a suitable anchorage for the night. We took a few nice photos of the sun setting behind the grain elevators across the river and settled in for a nice, quiet evening.
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