The journal of Betsy, Rick, and Beamer as they enjoy the 2009-2010 journey around the Great Loop of the Eastern United states aboard their Glacier Bay 2690 Catamaran, the Rick 'N Roll II.
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09-21-09 Green Turtle Bay Marina IV
We did finsh cleaning the boat.
Most of our looper friends did leave Green Turtle Bay today. They are proceeding up (even though they are going south) the Tennessee river. Remember, on the Western Rivers, if you are going against the current, you are NORTHBOUND and if you are with the current, you are SOUTHBOUND. There is no East or West. You are either going North or South. You may recall that the Legendary Delta Queen did not even have a compass onboard. In fact, due to the meandering nature of the Mississippi River, at one point we were going southbound, but the boat compass read due north.
We had been planning to go to Nashville. But, today, we decided to skip Nashville and concentrate our next month on the Tennessee River. We were in Nashvillle last year and still remember it quite well. On the Tennessee, we will go to at least Chattanooga and maybe further. We have a month before the AGLCA rendezvous in October which begins on the 25th.
More on the throttle tomorrow....
09-20-19 Green Turtle Bay Marina III
The Western Rivers. This term applies to the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, the Arkansas, and all the other rivers that basically flow into or parallel to the Mississippi. This term began in the early 1800’s when Lewis and Clark were exploring the west. At that time, these were, in fact, the Western Rivers. Nothing about California and the real west was known. So, these were charted, named, and rules were written for navigation. The term differentiates them from the eastern waters like the Hudson. Quick example of differences. On the western rivers, the buoys are red and green, but they are NOT numbered. On the East, they are red and green, but always numbered.
Dams, Wing dams, and Weir dams
The Corps of Engineers is building these dams and structures to reduce dredging. Their goal is to eliminate dredging on the Mississippi, The Illinois, The Ohio, and the Missouri. A lofty goal to be sure…..
There you have it. Do you feel smarter???????
09-19-09 Green Turtle Bay II
We visited the River Museum in Paducah and found that they have a camera on their building recording the river, 24-7, and the tape goes back a week. We rewound to yesterday morning and sure enough, there are the 9 boats in our flotilla going by the Paducah waterfront. Quite unexpected and very interesting.
We visited the National Quilting Museum. Betsy and I have been there before on one of our river trips. It is a fascinating place. I cannot adequately describe the quilts here. Many were voted as the top 100 quilts in the 20th century. A special exhibit shows WOODEN quilts. Sounds crazy. But artisans carve and shape a piece of wood into the shape of a quilt, with folds, creases, etc. Then they carve designs on the wood. They finish by coloring the designs. It is amazing. One of the exhibits is WWII Bomber jacket and hat, made completely from wood. They did not allow photographs, so I have no pictures. However, if you are ever in the area, go to this museum.
09-18-09 Green Turtle Bay Marina, KY
We arrived at the Barkley Lock and Dam, were raised 60 feet and exited onto Lake Barkley and motored the mile distance to Green Turtle Bay Marina. This is a nice marina, charges only .75 per foot, yet we get all the amenities. They have free wifi, pool, cable TV, and decent restrooms and showers. They are a big sponsor of the AGLCA and we always try to patronize the looper sponsors. There are about 15 looper boats here, and for one couple, the end of the Great Loop. They are back home. We made arrangements for a technician to look at the throttle on Monday morning. We were glad to be tied up to a dock for the first time in 3 days, glad for a hot shower, and glad to be off the lower Cumberland River.
09-17-09 Lock 52 Ohio River
(Pictured to the left is "Still Busy" with newlyweds Jack and Pia Griffin from Charlotte, NC)
We met or overtook several barges along the way, the biggest of which was 6x6, for a total of 36 barges being pushed by one tow boat. After a slight altercation between one of the pleasure boaters and a tow captain yesterday, today’s tow pilots were super friendly and in fact complimented us on our professionalism as we headed down. As the caboose of the pack, we generally would call the barge to let them know we were the last pleasure craft in this bunch and they were all very appreciative.
We hit the junction of the Ohio River and the Mississippi at about lunch time, and our speed was cut in half immediately. We have to travel upstream on the Ohio for about 70 miles altogether, and did about 45 miles of that today. Now we are heading into a current of about 2 MPH, and also into a strong headwind. We’ve had a little trouble with the starboard throttle ever since the beginning of the trip, and in fact had it adjusted while we were in Virginia. Over the past several days it has really started acting up again, and at times I had to use both hands full strength to pull it back. We planned to have it looked at again this coming Friday once we arrived at a full service marina, but in the meantime it had gotten so bad that I tried to make an adjustment on it today. The last guy that worked on it showed us how to simply adjust a screw to loosen it up, so I tried that today.At first I couldn’t tell adjusting the screw made any difference, and all seemed well. Then we entered a lock and things went bad. This locking experience would have been bad even with a good throttle, though. The lockmaster had all nine boats come into the lock, but he told us to just drift in the lock rather than secure ourselves with lines. He assured us there was plenty of room to maneuver…wrong!!! I don’t think anyone ran into anyone else, but it was
extremely nerve-wracking trying to hold position in a very confined area with the wind blowing and a boat in front and one in back of us also trying to maintain position. We all started out in a straight line as seen in the pictures here, but by the end it was chaos. It seemed like it took forever for us to rise the 6 feet…we didn’t time it but surely it was 30 minutes. About midway through I realized that the starboard throttle was doing basically nothing, so I was maneuvering with only one engine.
As we finally pulled out of the lock and tried giving it gas, nothing happened. We turned it on and off several times, made sure nothing was fouling the prop, made sure water was pumping through it, tried readjusting the screw in the throttle, all to no avail. Finally we turned it off and went the rest of the way to today’s anchorage, about 20 miles, on one motor.
Up until then, we were confident that we did have enough gas to make it this 250 mile run we’ve been concerned about. Staying with our two companion boats at trawler speed, we would have had a range of at least 400 miles. Now on one motor it looks like we will just barely make it to our next fuel stop, 40 miles away tomorrow. We have two gas tanks, and with only one motor working, we are only drawing out of one tank, with no way to siphon gas out of the other tank. Fortunately there is a Towboat US operator at our next fuel stop, so if we don’t make it we will be towed at no charge, since we are members of Towboat US as well as SeaTow.
So much for that bad news. Now let’s talk about Beamer! It was such a pain to get her to shore yesterday that we decided not to try that again. She would just have to go on the boat. We’ve learned that dogs can go for up to 72 hours without relieving themselves, and that they will never hold it in so long that they cause any damage. So Beamer went all day long today with no bathroom stop, and the amazing thing is she never showed any distress…no whining, nothing. Finally about 5 o’clock this afternoon we came upon a tiny floating dock at a state park, so we pulled over to it and let her off the boat. Needless to say she was relieved (as were we). We knew about this possible stop thanks to one of our cruising guides, and it was just a couple of miles from our final anchorage for tonight so it worked out well. The cruising guides aren’t always right, so we were glad to see this was a good stop.Tonight we are rafted up again, though not as tightly as last night. There are still nine of us, but we have a lot more room than we did last night Several boats are individually anchored, and several are rafted up just two or three boats. We are rafted to Meander, and were pleased to have a home cooked meal on their boat tonight…Chinese, delicious. Thanks Marji! Meander is pictured at left.
Our anchorage is right before our 2nd lock on the Ohio, and we will plan to go through that lock hopefully about 7:15 tomorrow morning. The lockmaster is expecting us and unless there is a pile up of barges during the night we should be able to go right in. Unfortunately it’s going to be another float around the middle type again. This time we’re going to insist on being in the back so we’ll have more room to maneuver with our one engine. I think all the other boats that have only one engine have bow thrusters, so we’re definitely at a disadvantage.
So as you read this Friday morning, say a little prayer that we make it to the marina safely tomorrow afternoon. We have about 50 miles to go.
09-16-09 Diversion Canal – Cape Girardeau, MO
Tomorrow, we leave at first light for Paducah, KY. 90 miles and 2
Betsy adds: Regarding the dogs: Jimmy’s dinghy is tiny and he has a 2.5 horsepower motor. He carried Evan from Pookie II along with his two medium sized dogs all the way across the Mississippi to the opposite shore where there was a sandy beach to step off onto. But the current was fierce and it was quite a chore for him. So when he came back to get Beamer and me, I said let’s just go to the bank where the canal meets the river…there was a large rocky area there at the conversion of the waters, and it looked like if I could get off the dinghy onto the rocks I’d be able to make it up a hill with Beamer to an area with greenery. We carried Beamer in her softsider carrying case…remember she is a psycho dog that doesn’t get along too well with other people and I felt this was the best way to handle her in the dinghy. At first I put one foot off the dinghy and sank ankle deep into the mud (I had on my shower Crocs). So Jimmy took me a little closer to the rocks and I stepped out again and then lifted Beamer, in her case, off the dinghy. Once I got my footing Jimmy left to go all the way across the mighty and swift Mississippi to pick up Evan and his dogs. I let Beamer out of her case and we worked our way up the rocks until the ground was a little more firm. Problem was my Crocs were full of mud so even on rock or firm ground I was very unsure of my footing as I was slipping inside the shoes.
Beamer pee’d plenty, but would not do the serious business. Finally Jimmy got Evan and his dogs back across the river and back to their boat, then came to get us. I had put Beam back into the case and handed her into the dinghy, then carefully climbed back in myself. Once back to the raft-up, Evan was there with hose ready to wash the mud off my feet before I stepped onto the boats. As I write this, poor Beamer is banned to the back of our boat because Mississippi Mud is still caked to the bottom of her feet. Tomorrow we will work on training Beamer to “go” on the boat like some of the other dogs do. We made a feeble attempt at this last year, but now it is going to be a necessity, because I’m not dinghying her to shore again!!
09-15-09 Hoppies Marina Kimmswick, MO
Jimmy and the Levee High Apple Pie.