October 30-31 Columbus Marina, Columbus Mississippi

Jostled around a bit this morning after a peaceful nights sleep but finally everyone had their engines running and ready to leave.  Just Fakin It and Good Grief were rafted a short distance away, and since Jeff didn't have an operational port engine he and Good Grief left together with Good Grief acting as a tow boat with Just Fakin It tied along side.  Just Fakin It had some maneuverability problems with only a single engine and in the tight confines of this river/creek it was just prudent to be towed out.

After Field Trip and Arin-E un-rafted from us we got our anchor up and ran out of the creek with out an issue.  Although I should mention that the previous night we put out our stern anchor and over the course of the night we must have drifted back and over it since I was able to pull it up this morning from the swim platform.  Basically, it didn't serve any purpose other than soaking the line and chain in fresh water.  Oh well....

We ran the 30 miles through one lock and lovely river scenery.  Fall colors you know.  Ended up running with a boat, Easy, which is a Great Harbor 37!  They came from up river and we ended up locking through with them and ultimately staying in the same marina.

Entering Columbus marina

Got to Columbus marina around 2:30 and after navigating the rather weed chocked channel, were tied up and secure at the dock.

The owner threw a little party for us this evening with free barbecue and fixings.  Really nice! 

There are about 9 transient boats in here, all heading south on Friday which may present a problem since the marinas and anchorages are few and far between for the next hundred miles and none of them can accommodate 9 boats.  So we may be here an extra day.  

Tied up in the marina

We have a van for tomorrow at 10am so we can go shopping and stock up.  It supposed to be an interesting town but with the rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow we maybe limited in what we can see.  And tomorrow I will squeeze myself into the bilge and try to permanently re-attach a bilge outlet hose to the pump nipple.  I'm giddy with excitement at the prospect of splashing around in 3 foot high bilge compartment with a few inches of unsavory bilge water.  Oh the joys ...  

October 29, 2013 Canal Cutoff mile 366 Tom-Bigee Canal

We left at a reasonable time this morning.  About 9am and the lock was ready and waiting.  In fact we had locks ready and waiting all day.  Ok, there were 3 locks, but still!

Pretty river again.  Do I keep saying that?  The fall colors are just beginning to be prevalent down here and combined with the calm river it's really scenic.  We didn't see any tows and other than a few fisherman no pleasure craft.

Armory Lock

We went through three locks.  All were locking us down which is much more relaxing than up locking.  We did have one potentially scary issue in the last lock where we had to grab a bollard very near the lock gate.  Turns out I had to back the boat up to make sure the lock gate cleared our bow.

Just Fakin it and Good Grief coming into anchorage

Our goal today was the Canal Cut-off anchorage at mile 366.  Its a basically a river flowing into the bigger river.   We nosed in and, with some advice from some local duck organization guys, sneaked our way into the river (river is more aptly described as creek) .  We anchored pretty much where some of the cruising resources we rely on said we should.  Our anchor and three boats.  But calm current and I thing I have the boat oriented between the wind and current according to the data NOAA has published.  We'll sleep well tonight!


We rafted with 3 boats this time.  Just Fakin it had an engine over heat problem after the last lock so they anchored near us with Good Grief, but not rafted to us.  Bob from Good Grief was able to lend some expertise to Jeff in solving the problem.  Turns out to be either  bad hose or bad circ pump.  So now instead of 5 rafted boats we have only three. Seems rather lonely!  And  less of a party aboard, but a party none-the-less!

We'll be heading to Columbus marina in the tomorrow and stay there a few days to wait out some storms passing through.

And still hoping for more of Diane's chocolate chip cookies!

October 28, 2013 Midway Marina near Fulton Lock

Leaving the anchorage

Our group of 5 boats remained plunked where we were.  No dragging!  We had agreed to leave around 9 but since we did have to contend with a lock we actually were able to leave abruptly at 8:30.  Did I mention aside from a few earlier risers the majority in our group favor the mild light of "not-so-early" over the harsh brightness of sunrise.

Speeding to the Whitten lock with its 84 ft. drop

But we were all in line and making speed to the lock and just behind us was a commercial tow.  Commercial tows do have priority over us puny recreational craft but in this case the tow boat captain was gracious and elected to wait while we locked through!  .

Down 84 feet from where we entered

After another lock we were lucky enough that Acapella, who had left well before us, was in the lock and told the lock master we were all coming and they'd be willing to wait.  So we were able to lock right through again.

Entering Midway marina

We had debated the anchor out or marina question on the radio and ultimately decided to just stay at Midway Marina.  Old place, with some sad looking wooden docks but the dock guys were simply great!









So here were are, 17 miles from Elvis Presley's birth house in Tupelo and no easy way to get there.  So instead of seeing where Elvis was born I fixed a loose bilge pump hose and started investigating an anchorage close to here.

In a few hours we will be having cocktails on the upper deck of Good Grief where Dianne has freshly baked cookies waiting.  Rum and cookies?  Well, we'll see!

October 27 2013 Five Fingers anchorage in Bay Springs Lake

Down the channel and entering Pickwick Lake

Sunday morning we (5 boats including us) started preparations to leave.  All of us needed a pump out and some took on fuel.  So we had  a little line of boats leaving the dock and moving over to the fuel dock.  This took awhile but we were all finally out in the channel and proceeding south by 10am

Passing a barge

Through Pickwick lake it was really stunning scenery now that the tree's are all turning.  We passed a barge or two and a few power boats went by us.  One, a boat I helped in late last night remembered our boat name and commented on my fish blue felt pants which have been serving as my only long pants during this dismaying cold snap.  I'm becoming famous for my individualistic fashion styling I guess.

Anchored in 5 Fingers Palm

Our destination was an anchorage in Bay Springs Lake and the best choice for us was The Five Fingers, which is a bay with 5 or more branches projecting off of the main bay in a finger fashion.  We anchored in the Palm of the bay in 20+ feet of water and stellar scenery.  Only one other boat was anchored there already.  Lo and Behold it was Jeff and Karen on Acapella.  We rafted up 5 boats on our anchor in 20+ feet of very still water.  Wonderful!

We initiated our usual planning meeting and then ate dinner.  I fired up the generator and made water and had the satellite on so Mary could watch the Packers for a while.  At half time everyone left and we, die hard partyers that we are, went to bed.

October 26, 2913 Grand Harbor

We spent the last several days either driving the ice "cream truck" van they lent us to various places or cleaning and working on the boat.

We did spend a half a day going to Rogers Propane to fill out grill propane tank and then on to two liquor stores and a grocery store before heading into Walmart.  But we purchased everything we needed.... or didn't need but we have them now.

$6.49 for a 5 gallon propane tank refill aint bad.

I changed the oil in both main engines and during one of our Van excursions stumbled upon a 1 inch swing check valve at Lowe's!  I can now replace the corroded one(s) we have on the bilge system.  To refresh your memory every time the bilge pumps water, the old check valves start up a staccato clanking until I let a little air in the system via a access screw.  Fun!

Course they only had one of them.  And it only took me 18 states to locate one.

Field Trip with Bob and Martha

Tonight we witnessed a boat name ceremony, a somber occasion where-in someone reads a bunch of  well worn phrases and we toast a few times and then break ranks for a party.  Somewhere in there, the previous boat name was spirituality banished and the new name was recorded  as its replacement.

The night before we were surprised to see Barefootn rolling the marina.  We spent a few wonderful hours with them remembering previous encounters (back in June/July).  Old friends equates to good times.

After we left Barefootn we stopped in briefly to see Pat and Chip and the rest of the boaters we were traveling with.  Another few hours of fun.

I was taking my late night stroll tonight and ran into the security guard who was waiting for a boat to arrive  at the marina.  He had no radio so I ran back and got one of our handhelds for him to use as a boat emerged from the dark heading in towards the marina.  Turns out it was a delivery skipper looking to stop for the night.

Ready to take off at 9 am tomorrow.  Yes we are all  wooses  waiting these last several days for the cold air to move east.  We're planning on anchoring somewhere in Bay Springs Lake before tackling the 5-6 locks the next day.

October 21-23, 2013 Grand Harbor marina

Looking out the entrance to the marina

No one in our little group rose early except Jeff so we didn't get ready to leave Pickwick Landing marina until almost noon.  Since we had pulled into the slip bow first, backing out of the slip and turning would be a trifle difficult with the dinghy hanging off the swim platform.  We were going to tie it off to the starboard side but in tight quarters getting the lines in and the tow line played out can be difficult.  So we decided to just haul it aboard.

It was in its cradle and I finally noticed what Mary mentioned before.  The prop.  It was superbly mangled.  Most likely a consequence of going aground twice while running over to the little swimming cover we found a few days earlier.  We have a spare though and I got it changed out in ten  minutes hanging 15 feet above the dock.  Nice view from up there.

Heading down Pickwick Lake

We, along with Arin E, pulled out leaving Just Fakin It and Good Grief behind since they needed to fuel.  They joined us later in the day along with Castaway. 

Pickwick Lake is really gorgeous.  It reminds me a little of the Wisconsin river near the Dells. Numerous little coves and inlets with high bluffs of what appears to be sandstone.

Grand Harbor

It took us about an hour cruising down the lake to get to Grand Harbor.  Very crowded but a marvelous place.  We're tied up near the fuel dock facing the marina store.  Convenient for sure.  Just Fakin It is tied up right behind us and Good Grief is across the dock behind Once Upon a Time.  Party dock!

Tied up

The next day we took one of the courtesy vans to the local grocery and hardware store.  Even went to WalMart.  The van is a little Ford pseudo mini-van that reminds one of those ice cream trucks that grind around a neighborhood enticing small children and blaring insipid music.  We stuffed 6 people in there and then returned with 6 people and 17 bags of groceries.  But not before we made a stop at the local hardware store where I bought a battery charger for the dinghy battery.   Six squished seniors and 30 minutes later we were back at the marina with all 17 bags of groceries intact.  Then four of us embarked on a 30 mile trek to Walmart.  We bought a lot but I cant remember why we needed to buy anything at all.

Larry talking to us at Pittsburg Landing

We made plans to visit the Shiloh Battlefield with several other boats that we've met along the way.  Two vans, 14 people.  We started out and ended up in the Corinth visitor center not the park service battlefield park.  Ooops.   We all know how to navigate the waterways.  Roads in Tennessee, not so much.  But we finally managed to find the correct place and pulled up just in time to see the 40 minute movie prelude.  Then we met Larry, the tour guide, a private guy we collectively hired to take us around and provide some detailed history.  He was great and incredibly knowledgeable with obscure little factoids about individuals involved in the battle as well as the battle itself.

Sunken road at the Hornets Nest

An even more startling realization for me was suddenly discovering I was standing on a fire ant nest while listening to Larry describe the battle at peach orchard.  He interrupted his talk briefly while I danced around the parking lot in bare feet brushing off fire ants.  Thankfully I was wearing shorts.  And yes, I ignored the many helpful suggestions regarding ants and underwear.  There's a rule against mooning in National Parks.

The Catfish Hotel restaurant 

All told we spent about 4 hours at the battlefield.  After Larry departed we all were getting hungry and headed over to Hagy's Catfish Hotel  restaurant which is really just a place to eat on the river.  Ribs and Catfish.  Pretty good too!   We all came back and ran into our boats to fire up the heaters.  A crisp clear evening on the river.




The next few days are forecast to be frigid.  As in  27 degrees frigid at night.  Maybe all these navigation instruments are broke and we're really traveling North?   Well anyway we're debating on whether to stay here another two days and endure the worst of it plugged in and running heaters.  Even though our mail arrived I think the consensus of the group is to stay warm here for a few days before venturing out into the cold river.  Well ok, the river water is a balmy 73 degrees.  But the air temperature is in the 40's.  Even rum cant dampen the chill!

October 20, 2013 Pickwick Landing Marina

Dressed for anchor retrieval 

We had planned to all leave Beach Creek Island anchorage by 8am this morning but didn't count on fog.  We had spent a wonderfully quiet night rafted together on our anchor.  When I went out to check the anchor at 4am I couldn't even see the bow of the boat the fog was so thick.  It didn't lift until around 9:30 and we didn't leave until 10am.

I offered our dinghy to Bob so they could run their dog ashore before we left but alas I couldn't get the engine down.  The battery was weak and in the 38 degree temps it just couldn't manage much.  Bob had a charger so he hooked it up and we let it charge the dinghy battery for a half hour.  The motor came right down and it started right up.  Guess I'll need to buy another dinghy battery.

It was a brisk, but clear and sunny day.  Very calm and scenic again.  A lazy river day.

Pickwick Lock entrance

We made it to the Pickwick lock around 4 pm and had to wait about an hour an a half before even getting into the lock.  It raised us up 80+ feet and took about 30 minutes.

When we finally exited the lock but the plans we had for Grand Harbor marina about 10 miles down river were abandoned for Pickwick Landing marina about a mile from the lock.  Luckily Kurt and Marilyn had already arrived there and in the dark they helped us in.  Marilyn's waving flashlight was a beacon.

Day time view.

We all got in and tied up but Mary and I had to go into a slip way to small for us. Our bow hung over the whole main pier and our stern was hanging out 10 feet into the fairway.  I put an orange light out on one of the anchors to warn anyone they'd better duck.   But luckily we know the people on the dock likely to walk down the pier and we wont be staying here tomorrow.

So after that night time adventure most everyone went off to dinner.  We stayed on board and ate and headed to bed pretty early on the evening.

We were sort of hanging over the dock

Tomorrow we're thinking of  going on to Grand Harbor marina where they have a van waiting (so they say) so we can tour the Shiloh Battlefield which is a few miles away.

October 19, 2013 Beach Creek Island (Mile 153), Tennessee

The next morning it began raining around 7am.  Good Grief went off to the nearby marina to fuel up while we waited in the sudden rain storm.  It was very cool, dark, dank and rainy.  Have to endure the bad while enjoying the good.

Good Grief returned after about an hour and we paraded out of the creek with me in the rear since we require a foot more water than the other boats.  No worries though.  We made it out and resumed our journey south in cloudy skies and brisk temperatures.  Luckily we have heat on the fly bridge so it was comfortable for us.

We made water and did some laundry after I started the generator.  Met a few tows and I talked with several boats we met going North and one going south.  Busy waterways and chatty boaters. 

Entering Beach Creek Island anchorage

Our intended anchorage was Beach Creek Island at Mile 153.  Since we had left a little later we didn't arrive there until 4:30.  But the anchorage was very deep and wide. And empty! Perfect!  We came in and dropped about 150’ of chain and put on the snubber and the other boats came in and replicated the rafting arrangement we had the previous night.  No planning party though.  We just agreed to leave around 8am and that someone would blow their horn around 7:45 to roust anyone still sleeping in.  It was a quite night.  Guess all these placid travels on the river can be exhausting.

Anchored and rafted up

Tomorrow we head to Pickwick Lake and through the lock there to a marina, Grand Harbor. 

October 18, 2013 Birdsong Creek, TN

We were up around 8 am and ready to leave except there was a heavy blanket of fog.  Couldn't see 20 feet.  So we waited until it began to burn off around 9 am.  Southern Belle was anxious to leave so we jostled around to let her get out first and then we all managed to get up and running out the cove within a few minutes of each other. 

It was another peaceful lazy river day with only a single tow but increase in pleasure boat traffic.  It was a Friday so I guess long weekend were on the minds of many.

Arin E led us to Birdsong Creek where we were intending on anchoring for the night.  Our usual operation was to have us go in first and set the anchor and then everyone rafted off of us.  We have a large anchor and all chain so we pretty much stay where we drop the hook.

We entered the creek armed with directions from multiple cruising guides which directed us to make a turn to port after the second red buoy but that put us in very shallow water.  So we turned around and headed to the first little cove we passed coming in and promptly hit 3 feet of water.  We were able to back off but decided maybe this wasn't quite what the cruise guide authors meant.   So we were idling in the very narrow channel trying to figure out what to do.  Not so good.

Bob on Good Grief said he had good charts with depth contour lines and volunteered to lead the way.  He threaded his way through us and started up the very windy and narrow creek channel.  We were showing depths as low as 5 feet.  Not fun.  Arin E spotted a rather deep area near a little bay/cove about a mile up the creek.  So Bob led us there.  Our little forward looking depth sounder indicated a good area of water 8-13 feet deep.  Noting the apparent lack of current we orientated the boat to face into the southerly wind and dropped the anchor in 10 feet of water.  It immediately stuck in the thick mud and everyone else came along side.

Then, 30 minutes after we were all secure the boats swung 180 degrees into the current that wasn't there (I swear!).  and the wind simply vanished.  An affirmation of my startling skills weather predication skills.  Oh well. 

Luckily the anchor was stuck in very thick mud so we weren't  in any danger of dragging although the next morning we had literally swung around in a complete circle.   The windlass struggled getting the anchor and the 100 pounds of  mud off the bottom.  The mud was a large ball stuck on the flukes and Mary had to poke and pry at it until we gave up and lowered it into the water a little ways and simply dragged it along as we motored out the creek.  It washed it out pretty thoroughly. 

October 17, 2013 Cypress Creek, KY

After a “planning meeting” (code for cocktail party) the previous night we were all prepared to leave in the morning.  We pulled out of the slip and to the fuel dock for a pump out and while that was being completed I fetched the dinghy and hooked it up so we could tow.  And then we were off with Airn E in the lead followed by Just Fakin it and us.  Good Grief followed later in the day.  Southern Belle was also traveling with us and had left before we did so they were leading about 2-3 miles ahead of us.

The river was calm and very scenic.  It was a little cool, a warm fall day by my guess.  Not much boat traffic, only one tow and a few other pleasure craft.  So it was a lazy day on the river broken up by occasional outburst on the radio between us.  We were all using channel 69 to talk amongst our selves.

Entering the Cypress Creek Cove

We eventually arrived at Cypruss Creek and waited as Southern Belle maneuvered in to the cove and around a Mainship 40 already anchored.,  We followed in and rafted up to them but didn’t drop an anchor since they already had one down.  We eventually got everyone together, a raft up of 5 boats. 

Scenic cove

Had a party shortly after and invited the occupants of the Mainship 40 over too.  Turns out they were from Canada which delighted Jeff who’s also a Canadian.  It was quite the fun evening.  The moon was out on a clear night and we were in a quite cove with no other boats around.  We all broke up around 9pm and headed for bed after a few hours.

October 15-16, 2013 Green Turtle Bay Marina in Kentucky

We're still enjoying the marina here.  We wont be leaving until Thursday.  Seems my mail delivery calculations neglected to take into account Columbus Day so we have to stay an extra day .  Oh well.

Downtown Grand Rivers

Over the weekend we went to the Grand River Fall Harvest festival.   Small town celebration.  No rides but many tents set up selling all manner of trinkets and other odd's and ends.  

Adopt a pet

They had a dance club of older adults doing all these dance things to country music.  And much to Mary's delight there was an "Adopt Me" area setup where cats and dogs were on display to tantalize those looking for pets.  No, we didn't but it was close.  We hung around long enough for Mary to sample two hot dogs before leaving to go back for drinks in a different gazebo with the other boaters in our group.

Dance Club dancing

Next morning we met with Dennis, a friend of Bob's who gave us lunch and a three hour talk on what to expect down the river all the way to Panama City.  Very helpful.  It seems this segment of the Loop will be yet another challenge once we get further south out of the Tennessee River.  Very desolate areas on the Tombigbee River and there are only sparse facilities and anchorages are few and far between.  But at least we have the proper charts and weather is looking good into next week.  

The fall colors are just barely recognizable but its still warm here.  We discovered a little cove a few miles from the marina while exercising the dinghy and so went for a swim with Jeff and Judy from Just Fakin it.  Went again the following day too!

Grand River is about a mile walk from the marina at it has a post office, and sparsely stocked IGA grocery store and an ice cream stand which is closed most of the time.  I seem to draw the attention of the many pet cats around here.  So I stop and pet them.  Did I mention Mary is allergic to cats. :-) 

Patties

We went to dinner at the local favorite, Patties.  Its the home of the 2 inch pork chop.  Yes I ordered it and  took me 2 days to eat the darn thing.  And it was was really, really good too!  Alas I wish I had a picture.

We've been working on trying to find a fuel leak since I discovered diesel in the bilges yesterday.  I think its a result from over filling the tanks when we fueled the day we pulled in here.  It's not a large amount at all but identifying the source is important.  So the search goes on in small and dark recesses looking for drips or trying to smell the fumes.

As of today (Sunday) no more fuel leaking into the bilge so worries of a tank breach are greatly diminished.  I'm almost convinced the leak occurred at the point where the fill tube joins the tank.  Hose clamps I suspect need to be tightened.

Had a planning / cocktail party aboard again tonight (Wednesday)  for our 4 boat flotilla (one member is away and we have since recruited another looper to temporarily fill the vacancy).  We decided on something but no one quite recalls the details.  We'll figure it out tomorrow morning at the fuel dock.

Our mail, which was supposed to arrive today, didn't.  We leave tomorrow so Mary is going to discuss alternatives with the marina staff tomorrow morning.  I really don't want to linger here another day .

We are once again planning to be on the move before 9 am for an anchorage about 30 miles away.  We'll see how this all pans out.

October 10, 2013 Green Turtle Bay Marina in Kentucky

I can think of  "38" wonderful reasons why this is such a good day (a special certain someone will understand that reference).  And one of them was, after noting the water levels dropped 3 feet overnight, extracting the anchor and being able to turn around in the towhead without any depth problems.  We had dropped the anchor where it was a little over 9 feet deep.  It was 6 feet when we started retrieval operations.  Backing out several yards showed depths twice that so we had no issue turning the boat around and heading out.

Entering the Cumberland river

The Cumberland river was just 1/2 mile up stream.  Its relatively narrow but very scenic with forest lined banks an a wide variety of bird life.  And the calm water was disturbed only a few times by tows so it was a pleasant day cruise.

Entering the Barkley lock

Our continued good fortune with locks remain intact as we approached the  Barkley Lock.  The Lock Master had the gates open and we drove right in.  A 54 foot rise in less than 10 minutes, and were in in Barkley Lake!

Leaving the lock for short journey to the marina

As we drove out of the lock the vista of Barkley lake is pretty impressive and somewhat confusing due to the myriad number of buoys there.  The warnings all indicate a severe rock ledge off the channel.  One of our group of boats cut a few corners short and ended up in 4 feet of water which they safely passed but we, luckily observed that and went the long way around to get into the private channel to Green Turtle Bay marina,

Entering Green Turtle marina waiting to fuel

We had to idle out in the marina basin for about 20 minutes until a spot on the fuel dock became available.  Took on 144 gallons of fuel.  I cant divulge the price per gallon.  Painful.  Oh so painful.

Once fueled up we proceed past Active Captain (again) and drove bow in, into slip 16.  Nice and cozy!

Our slip for a week

Seems there are a number of other looper boats here although we didn't meet any of them yet.  Our little flotilla decided to go out for dinner at the yacht  club tonight.  One small caveat though is the dry nature of this Kentucky county.  One must bring in their own alcohol.  The hostess will take your bottle at the door and place it on your table as you sit down.  Then the waiter comes along as asks everyone what they want to drink.  If you want a drink made with the bottle of wine/beer/booze you brought with you, they will take said bottle and make you a drink.  And then return with the bottle and a rather well mixed drink if I do say so myself.  It does make for an interesting dinning experience.

We intend on remaining here next week to start heading down the Tennessee River.

October 9, 2013 Cumberland Towhead

It was a normal morning departure again this morning.  The very strong current proved not to be as troublesome as I thought.  It just took a little longer to get the anchor up.

Lock 53 as we drive right over the wicket damn

We headed out into the river and made it to lock #52 which, like the previous lock, 53, was open.  In other words we just drove over the wicket damn.  Fierce current but otherwise no trouble.  Much better than locking though these notoriously busy locks.

Anchored at Cumberland towhead

After a few miles further up stream we came to Cumberland Island towhead, our anchorage for the night.  It was a bit early but after the 70-90 miles days we had been logging of late it was a refreshing change.  We again went in first and found deep water nestled in a nice little channel well off the river.  The other boats followed in and tied off to us.  And so here are are in a quiet backwater preparing to enter the Cumberland River tomorrow.

Sweet!

October 8, 2013 Ohio River near Metropolis, IL

The precise area where we have anchored tonight  is here

We all managed to rise and begin departing by 8:30 am.  We with Arin E left last because we had the anchors down.  Finally got out in the channel to meet up with the others and we ran under the bridge and after a brief disorienting moment involving buoys we made the left turn up into the Ohio river.

Rain had fallen in the Tennessee Valley a few days before and it was a large amount.   Debris, both large and small was flying down the river on the punishing current so we were dodging around the whole day trying to avoid the large logs.  The current near the mouth was keeping our speed over the ground down around 5 mph even with the throttle near max.  It was a long day.

Up on the Ohio at the river junction is a very large fleeting area where barges are assembled or stashed for later use.  It took us several hours to clear out of there ... remember we were doing only 5 mph.

The Ohio was as muddy as Big Muddy,  And as wide and with currents just as fierce.  The only difference for us was orientation.  We were headed up stream.

Olmsted Lock

We finally reached Olmsted Lock , which is under construction and slated to replace the 2 existing locks number 52 and 53.  Here is where your supposed to call lock 53 on the radio which we did.  And  we discovered the damn was down and the lock was basically not there.  Well, its there but not functional. The high water levels essentially rendered the lock unnecessary.  We sailed right over the damn and could only see the lock wall posts.  The depths were in the 30 foot range.

Yes, this really is lock #53 but underwater

Since our progress was in the "creeping" range we picked an anchorage at mile 48.5 along the Kentucky side of the river.  Conflicting directions and landmarks made locating the exact area an inexact exercise.  But we found the general area and I went in with the forward looking sonar and found plenty of water.  We selected a spot laid out 125 feet of  chain and the snubber while the others waited in the channel.  The current was swift and it had the anchor chain pulled tight in a matter of seconds.  We wont be worrying about wind swinging us around tonight!

Field Trip coming alongside

Field Trip came in last and tried to lay out an anchor before backing alongside but the didn't work.  So for about 30 minutes all 4 boats were hanging off our anchor which appears to be able to handle the load.  But being cautious folk, Jeff launched his dinghy and took Field Trips anchor out and set it.  Then he and I started to take his anchor out but the outboard died  as we were making our way along the side of his boat!   Luckily, and I do mean LUCKILY we just caught the rub rail of his boat before the current could sweep the dinghy and us down stream.  Whew!  Close one.

Field Trip, Arin E taken from our bow

So with two anchors set we should be ok for tonight.  Although the swishing of the current past the boat is tad loud we aren't moving an inch so I'm hoping it'll be a good night for slumber.  I think I need the rest having acquired a cold which is rendering me hoarse within in hours.   The ensuing cocktail party did help though.

Tomorrow ... well it'll be up river somewhere.