For the past week or so, we have been travelling down the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers. Again, surprisingly, there isn't much civilization anywhere on the banks of the rivers due to the propensity of flooding. Not really too many places to pull in (other than Hoppies, mentioned in the Captain's Log - Part 4), so we have been on the anchor most of the week. This necessitates finding remote little inlets or snuggling in behind an island to get away from the strong currents and 24/7 river traffic (tows, barges & the occasional paddle wheeler). While we have not had WiFi for a number of days, we've had great TV reception! Our solar panels are boosting our batteries during the day and we have lots of power aboard. We're happy!
The Mississippi was running high and fast due to upstream flooding. This means lots of debris (logs, trees etc.), and necessitates a keen eye at all times to avoid a collision with larger debris. We were excited to pass St. Louis, MO and the welcome arch ... only to discover that there is no public docking along the riverfront. You have to anchor well north or south and rent a car to discover the city. Oh well, it looked nice from the river!
Getting off the Mississippi and onto the Ohio River was a welcome change. Much cleaner and smoother with no debris. In the photo, we made a wide turn to port (left), and started along the Ohio River and under the bridge.
We arrived in Padauch, KY last night - at the confluence of the Ohio & Tennessee Rivers. We anchored just outside of town and settled in after a 9-hour day on the water. At sunset, all of the river traffic lit up and you can see these floating 'villages' all along the shoreline. There is a 3-day wait for these tows & barges to get through some locks so they just park and make the best of it.
Today, we headed south with only one lock in our path (a short 3-hour journey to Lake Kentucky). Unfortunately, we ended up waiting 4 hours to transit the lock! There is so much commercial traffic and these large locks take forever to drain & re-fill. Not to worry, we put down anchor just off the channel and had a relaxing lunch and read books etc. Once through the lock, we were only a 10-minute ride to the Kentucky Dam Marina & State Park where we are now tied up for 2 nights of relaxing. We deserve it! We even ordered a pizza, delivered dockside, for dinner :) Such a nice treat.
Tomorrow we will use the marina's courtesy car to visit a Super WalMart and pick up supplies. We may also have dinner out, but we'll bring our own wine since we are now in a 'dry county'. Good thing Catan brings her own supplies!
