Before we got back to Port Charles, we had noticed that the bow thruster sounded kind of sick and the batteries were showing low voltage. Joe was concerned that the battery charger and the batteries for it had gone kaput. The charger…
Tag Archives | Great Harbour
St. Charles, MO to St. Petersburg, FL (Sept. 25 to Nov. 11, 2014)
Before we got back to Port Charles, we had noticed that the bow thruster sounded kind of sick and the batteries were showing low voltage. Joe was concerned that the battery charger and the batteries for it had gone kaput. The charger…
Heading South
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Oct. 28. NO PHOTOS at this time. A few days ago, this MacBook Pro leapt from the table, made some deep gashes in the floor, and rendered the lower 1/2 of its’ screen unusable. While in Mobile, the plan is to find someone to make it whole again. And then the box to click ‘add’ will magically re-appear and the blog page will be complete!
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the gateway to the ‘goofy 200’. We were
told at Hoppies’ Marina that the River had crested (wouldn’t be rising any
more) at 20 feet above normal. We
decided to give it a day to slow down, and so stopped at the Kaskaskia River Lock,
an easy 35 or so miles from Hoppies.
working at that lock wall before, but this time, Charlie was pumping water out
of the floating cells that make up the long lock wall. Twice a year, he
says, this is necessary due to condensation as well as rain collection and, of
course, leaks. Of course. Charlie, bless him,
checked with Matt, who was in charge of the lock. Result? We were invited to climb the ladder and visit
the Visitors’ Center.
‘Twas an interesting
adventure. Made more fun by two
facts—one is that the lockmaster always says
“Don’t climb the ladders” when we arrive. tee hee. The other is that we could be considered by some (certainly not us!) to be slightly less than
spring chickens, and we wonder whether or not the invitation would have come,
had Matt known…
it only accommodates tows that are two barges wide. Southern Illinois coal was its’ major
shipment out before federal regulation sharply diminished the use of high sulfur
content coal. Now, limestone goes into Southern Illinois via the Kaskaskia Lock,
and is used to remove the sulfur dioxide from the emissions at the local power
plant, where the local coal is burned.
Business and industry are very complex.
lock wall by Brian and Terry aboard POSH.
They quickly left us in their wake the next morning when we both set out
for the debris-filled scoot to Cairo.
And a scoot it was. High speed
(for us) and hand-steering (vs setting the autopilot and watching…) as the logs and
trees coming at us were constant. We reached the turn into the Ohio River at Cairo, IL at
5:05 pm, and 8 miles (at a sudden speed drop to 8 miles per hour) later were
peacefully anchored for the night. We
averaged 10.5 mph for the 11 hours we were underway!
once again at Green Turtle Bay, and caught up with CAROLYN ANN, Joe and Punk Pica.
Concern about the deluges of rain became a
thing of the past, as we’re now in waters
whose levels are managed by dams with locks for us to pass through.
Tennessee River—a Cyprus tree growing several feet from the shoreline (today,
at least—shorelines are quite movable!) whose knees make it appear to be
sitting on a table.
We marveled at the
difference in housing on the two sides of the river. On our left (the Right Descending Bank—rivers
are so designated as they do not run cleanly from north to south. But they are always flowing downstream, so we
are ‘upbound’ on the Tennessee, as it is hurrying toward us as fast as it can go,
so it can spill into the Ohio and then add to the fun on the Mississippi) is a
manicured, high maintenance, lovely home with multiple garages and a multi boat boathouse. On the opposite shore, a flood-protected
dwelling—built on very high stilts, also with outbuilding–for an RV, not a BMW.
the Shiloh battlefields of the Civil War, we entered the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway for our seventh excursion to Mobile.
first, then downright foggy,
but we were able to proceed with confidence as we
were motoring (with radar) up the 20+ mile long Divide Cut—the largest undertaking to date
by the Army Corps of Engineers. The cut
is just that. A chasm sliced through the
land and dug to a water depth of at least 9’ to accommodate towboats. A major project where only land had to be
moved, a huge undertaking to allow the trains to continue on their tracks…
time we traverse it, and the 12 Tenn-Tom locks (the “Not-so-dirty-dozen” according to Fred Myers’ guide
book) seem like a breeze after the 27 ‘less user friendly’ locks of the Mississippi!
Columbus, MS—once again spoke with but didn’t see Jan and Dan Barnett, my Aberdeen,
SD classmate and her husband– and Demopolis, AL, where the new Kingfisher Marina
was pretty full of Loopers, and those hanging out above 32 degrees of Laittude until the hurricane season ends on Nov. 1. (Our insurance allows us to be wherever we dare to be). The phase two portion of the Marina is also well underway!
the 216 miles between Demopolis and Mobile. We found two great anchorages
before the Mobile skyline appeared on
the horizon. We covered about 80 miles per day! Fast for us!
In Mobile, the Austal Company has the usual big, ugly boat out in front, but close inspection
showed it to be number 6, not the number 4 we photographed a year ago.
Guess they are working! Work is progressing on the new Maritime Museum, and the Cruise Ship dock. We’ll have to be tourists and go see!
Marine in Mobile. Will again leave YOUNG
AMERICA here for a few days while I have a reunion with Nursing buddies Maureen
and Freddie in Albuquerque. Fred will go
to Newburgh to hang out with daughter Linda, who is recovering at home from a knee
replacement.
and do continue to breathe!
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Heading South
—————————-O————————-
the gateway to the ‘goofy 200’. We were
told at Hoppies’ Marina that the River had crested (wouldn’t be rising any
more) at 20 feet above normal. We
decided to give it a day to slow down, and so stopped at the Kaskaskia River Lock,
and easy 35 or so miles from Hoppies.
working at that lock wall before, but this time, Charlie was pumping water out
of the floating docks. Twice a year, he
says, this is necessary due to condensation as well as rain collection and, of
course, leaks. Charlie, bless him,
checked with Matt, who was in charge of the lock. Result? We were invited to climb the ladder and visit
the Visitors’ Center.
adventure. Made more fun by two
facts—one is that the lockmaster always says
“Don’t climb the ladders” when we arrive at the lock wall. The other is that we are slightly less than
spring chickens, and we wonder whether or not the invitation would have come,
had Matt known…
it only accommodates tows that are two barges wide. Southern Illinois coal was its’ major
shipment out before federal regulation sharply diminished the use of high sulfur
content coal. Now, limestone goes into Southern Illinois via the Kaskaskia Lock,
and is used to remove the sulfur dioxide from the emissions at the local power
plant, where the local coal is burned.
Business and industry are very complex.
lock wall by Brian and Terry aboard POSH.
They quickly left us in their wake the next morning when we both set out
for the debris-filled scoot to Cairo.
And a scoot it was. High speed
(for us) and hand-steering (vs setting the autopilot and watching…) as the logs and trees were constant. We reached the turn into the Ohio at Cairo at
5:05 pm, and 8 miles (at a sudden drop to 8 miles per hour) later were
peacefully anchored for the night. We
averaged 10.5 mph for the 11 hours we were underway!
once again at Green Turtle Bay, and concern about the deluges of rain were a
thing of the past. We’re now in waters
whose levels are managed by dams with locks for us to pass through.
Tennessee River—a Cyprus tree growing several feet from the shoreline (today,
at least—shorelines are quite movable!) whose knees make it appear to be
sitting on a table. We marveled at the
difference in housing on the two sides of the river. On our left (the Right Descending Bank—rivers
are so designated as they do not run cleanly from north to south. But they are always flowing downstream, so we
are ‘upbound’ on the Tennessee, as it is hurrying toward us as fast as it can go,
so it can spill into the Ohio and then add to the fun on the Mississippi) is a
manicured, high maintenance, lovely home with boathouse. On the opposite shore, a flood-protected
dwelling—also with outbuilding.
now cruising in tandem with CAROLYN ANN, Joe and Punk Pica. We paused at Aqua Harbor, a few miles from
the Shiloh battlefields of the Civil War, and then we entered the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway for our seventh excursion to Mobile.
first, then downright foggy, but we were able to proceed with confidence as we
were motoring (with radar) up the 20+ mile long Divide Cut—the largest undertaking to date
by the Army Corps of Engineers. The cut
is just that. A chasm cut through the
land and dug to a water depth of at least 9’ to accommodate towboats. A major project where only land had to be
moved, a huge undertaking to allow the trains to continue on their tracks…
time, and the 12 locks (the “Not-so-dirty-dozen” according to Fred Myers’ guide
book) seem like a breeze after the 27 of the Mississippi!
Columbus—once again spoke with but didn’t see Jan and Dan Barnett, my Aberdeen,
SD classmate and her husband– and Demopolis, where the new Kingfisher Marina
is a welcoming place, with great floating docks and a large, clean
laundry-hang-out room!
the 216 miles between Demopolis and Mobile. We found two great anchorages
before the Mobile skyline appeared on
the horizon. 80 mile days! Fast for us! The Austal company has the usual big, ugluy boat out in front, but close inspection
showed it to be number 6, not the number 4 we photographed a year ago. Guess they are working!
Marine in Mobile. Will again leave YOUNG
AMERICA here for a few days while I have a reunion with Nursing buddies Maureen
and Freddie in Albuquerque. Fred will go
to Newburgh to hang out with daughter Linda, recovering at home from a Knee
replacement.
and do continue to breathe!
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Moline to Moline and beyond
almost twins, steaming up the Upper! |
3 Nurses from the Swedish Hospital Sch. of Nsg. Way back when! |
For sure Norwegians! |
There has been a LOT of rain in the past few weeks, and the extra water ends up in the river. So locking was also speeded by the fact that the water is again so high (crested at 20 feet above normal here at St. Louis today) that the lock drop might be 2 feet instead of 10, or 5 instead of 28. As the river level rises the debris on the shores gets picked up, and pushed downstream. Weaving through logs, manny the size of telephone poles, as well as assorted branches and trunks is challenging and tiring. We;re told that the water level will drop 2-3 feet per day for the next 5 or 6 days, and the flotsam will return to the banks.
St. Charles, MO to Mississippi River end of Navigation and back (Aug 15 to Sep 25)
It was finally time to leave Port Charles Harbor, so Young America and Carolyn Ann headed out. The high water, carrying lots of debris, that we saw when we arrived had passed on by. As a matter of fact, we were concerned that the water mi…
St. Charles, MO to Mississippi River end of Navigation and back (Aug 15 to Sep 25)
It was finally time to leave Port Charles Harbor, so Young America and Carolyn Ann headed out. The high water, carrying lots of debris, that we saw when we arrived had passed on by. As a matter of fact, we were concerned that the water mi…
St. Louis to the Quad Cities
SEA DREAM’s bow and YOUNG AMERICA at MSC, St. Louis |
Walking around the lake with Casey, Becca and Ruby. |
While I was away, Fred moved YOUNG AMERICA to the Port Charles Harbor Marina, and there she remained until August 15.
So long, SEA DREAM! |
Two N-37’s in the Muscatine, IA harbor. |
Rock crushes scissors….Joe got the 50 amp. plug–we had to use two 30 amp cords. |
Had a late lunch with my big brother Gene, always a treat!
Jet pilot and Submarinerr. A very special pair! |
He lives about 20 min. away, in Geneseo, IL.
CAROLYN ANN is through the wingdam gap. Our turn. Note the wind blowing the yellow flag. |
The alternative was a long wait at the main chamber as a backup of towboats come downriver after being held up by dredging of a shallow. impassable (for them) spot several miles north. We were happy with the Auxiliary Chamber and all of its’ extras!
St. Louis to the Quad Cities
SEA DREAM’s bow and YOUNG AMERICA at MSC, St. Louis |
Walking around the lake with Casey, Becca and Ruby. |
a |
Matthew awaiting surgery for a shattered heel. |
While I was away, Fred moved YOUNG AMERICA to the Port Charles Harbor Marina, and there she remained until August 15.
So long, SEA DREAM! |
Two N-37’s in the Muscatine, IA harbor. |
Rock crushes scissors….Joe got the 50 amp. plug–we had to use two 30 amp cords. |
Had a late lunch with my big brother Gene, always a treat!
Jet pilot and Submarinerr. A very special pair! |
He lives about 20 min. away, in Geneseo, IL.
CAROLYN ANN is through the wing dam gap. Our turn. Note the wind blowing the yellow flag. |
The alternative was a long wait at the main chamber as a backup of about 14 towboats come downriver after being held up by dredging of a shallow, impassable (for them) spot several miles north. We were happy with the Auxiliary Chamber and all of its’ extras!
Peoria, IL to St. Charles, MO (July 12 to August 14)
The IVY Club was a great stop for us. We got a car from Enterprise and drove to Abingdon, IL where Joe’s aunt Kay is currently living in a nursing home – after several broken bones and two hip replacements. She corrected Joe on her age …