Sept. 22, 201; From Peoria, Ill. to Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, Ky

Brown-eyed Girl entering small chamber  of Miss. R. lock

"See ya on the 1's....y'all!

Tow (not toe) boats, wingdams, weirdams,wickets, RDB,LDB....We have been immersed in the language of the Mississippi River!

But first, the Asian carp! An ugly, thin-skinned, bottom geeding, prolific fish that has invaded the rivers, thanks to Asian barges that brought them here. When stirred up, they jump all over, onto the swim platform, into the dinghy, etc. Because we were traveling slowly, Free To B had minimal contact. We could hear them banging on the bottom and sides of the hull, but that was it. Nova and Blond Eyed Girl scraped them off the back of their swim platforms. At one point, Brown Eyed Girl radioed that he was dealing with a lot of "carp crap". I radioed back that it was a wonderful play on words. The Coast Guard then radioed that Ch. 16 was a hailing channel, only....Oops! (They have no sense of humor!)

There is an eighth of a mile long, underwater, electrical barrier in the Sanitation Canal to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan. Since there are some claims of carp DNA in Lake Michigan, there are several lawsuits attempting to close the waterway. So far, there have been no opinions in that direction.


entering the carp electric barrier on the Ill. R.


We spent a few days at Grafton Harbor Marina in Ill. relaxing, replenishing supplies, and enjoying the company of several loopers.

On Sept. 15th, we began our trip on the Mississippi River. There would be one more marina stop for fuel, and then we would travel 220 miles relying on our own resources.We would be able to tie up to one lock wall, but would have to anchor out, often in iffy places as we made our way to the Cumberland River.

We spent the first night at Hoppies Marina in Kimmswick, MO.; one step up from a fish camp marina (and some of you know about my aversion to fish camps), but a legendary must stop for Loopers. The "marina" was made up of three barges attached somewhere, It is owned by a couple in their eighties who have lived there forever. Fern, the wife, handles your lines and tells you how to dock; and you had better listen to her. Her husband, Hoppie, looks like he has had a stroke, and handles the lines with one hand and some balance issues. He comes from generations of old time river lamp lighters, and is probably the last in the lineage. Fern then tells us we will meet with her at 4:30 for the latest info on the Mississippi...We took copious notes, getting the most local infoabout the rivers

Off we went the next day, still intimidated by the rivers. We were to have a four knot current pushing us along; the Captains were excited at the fuel we would be saving! (That euphoria would disappear on the Ohio River when a two knot current would be against us!

Lucky for us, one of our traveling buddies has an AIS, a device that can see barges, with their names, from miles away.After hailing the barges, the towboat Captain, with their deep voices and Southern drals, would tell us to pass on the ones or the twos. Knowing this passing system is much easier than figuring out port and starboard.


double chamber lock



the arch in St. Louis, Mo.

The travel on the the rivers was slow and tedious in many parts. The locks are monstrous, with two chambers; one for barges, the other for "recs" and small tows. We gratefully arrived at the huge and lovely Green Turtle Bay Marina on the Cumberland River in Grand River, Kentucky. The marina is full of Loopers: Crossroads, My Way, Salt n Sand, Godspeed, DuSchein, Harem, North Star, Happy Hours, Brown Eyed Girl, and Nova.


Green Turtle Bay Marina. Grand Rivers Ky. on the Cumberland R.


Then, there is the boat, Jumbo, probably the most photographed boat on the Loop. It is 26 feet, was built in Switzerland, and is owned by a fun loving German couple. They had the boat shipped to the US. When they notified a barge for passing instructions witheir name, Jumbo, the captain wanted to know if they were a barge. Fred radioed back, thatno, they were really like a mosquito!


Jumbo from Germany


So, enough already!We all have a van for the day and will be heading to Paducah. The ladies are going to the National Quilt Museum(one of the highlights of the trip for me). The Captains don't want to "look at blankets", so they are going "shopping".


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typical wingdam



double tow and a heavy load



I think my lines are a bit tangled

The boat will stay here; we are heading to Nashville to sightsee. I'll fly home on the 25th. Gene is going to DC and Toronto. We'll be back on Oct.6th.....Stay tuned....Ginny