Segue's Voyage on the Great Loop: Havana, IL, to Metropolis, IL (Superman, where are you???)

On Monday, September 29 they lifted the restrictions on the Illinois River from mile marker 101 to 80. It was afternoon that day when the announcement came so we decided to stay at Tall Timbers until the next morning to leave.

We'd had time over the past couple of days to check out the town. A cute place with some gorgeous homes. I walked most of Plum Avenue one day and took pictures of some of the houses. We breakfasted on Monday morning at the Lunch Box Cafe, then I visited the Havana Public Library for a quick pass through their book sale.

Tuesday, September 30 - Six boats left at O'dark:30 that morning (well, it was really more like 6:45 AM): Mistress, Grettatude, Marbles, Segue, Our Turn, and Blue Max. We set out for our 120 mile trip to Grafton Marina, mile marker zero on the upper Mississippi. We had one lock to be concerned with, but it was another wicket dam and we were able to move straight through.

The trip was long, but fairly uneventful. Well, let me think about that. Blue Max would beg to differ. They were the last of 5 boats going under a railway lift bridge when the bridge started lowering! What a feeling!! Fortunately, they had time to clear the bridge, but I'm sure they'll never forget THAT bridge!

Then there was the (n)ice pass Our Turn made to Danny's Fault. Danny's Fault, with Judy and Rob, had been anchored out a couple of nights waiting out the lifting of restrictions. During that time they'd run out of ice...and had suggested it might be nice if someone from Tall Timbers bring them some ice on the way down. Ellen and Roy on Our Turn fixed up a bag of ice when we saw Danny's Fault ahead of us that day and Ellen tossed the ice to them in this close pass.

There was less debris than on our trip to Tall Timbers on Saturday, but it was harder to spot. This is what the water looked like for much of the trip. Can you find the debris???

One of the day's highlights was seeing a flock of white pelicans. Susan on Marbles had radioed back their location so I was ready with the camera... Can you believe what cute creatures these are??? And they have such attitude...

We arrived at Grafton Marina at around 5:30 PM...120 miles later. We all gathered up in the restaurant for supper and plans for the next day. This was our last night traveling with Marbles since Sue was going to a college reunion and Tom was staying at Grafton for a week until she came back to resume the trip. We'll sure miss their guiding of the "fleet" as we make our way down the Mississippi...and look forward to catching up with them at sometime in the future.

Wednesday, October 1- October 1st!!?? Gads, we're ready to be on the Tennessee River!

Today we made it down to Hoppies at mile 158. Our Turn, Grettatude, Mistress and Kismet left at around 7 AM, while Blue Max and Segue waited until around 8:15 AM. We all congregated at Hoppies that afternoon after a beautiful day on the water.

We passed by Alton, IL, birthplace of our friend Dana. They have a big riverboat casino on the waterfront.

We saw some of the biggest tow boats and loads that we've ever seen. These tows throw a wake that goes on forever and makes us think of Lake Michigan!

The clouds today were really neat...

Locking through the two locks was quick and painless. (Well, again Blue Max was the adventurous one in the group. When we got to the Chain of Rocks Lock we were instructed to enter the larger chamber. We entered first and went about half way in on the starboard side, aiming at what we assumed was a bollard. When we got to the opening we realized it was a ladder instead...and headed on up to the next spot. We radioed Blue Max but they had already passed the available bollards on our side of the lock so they ended up floating out free in the lock while we went down the 12 ft.! The lock master said it was OK...so another "first" for Blue Max!)

After the locks we went through the busy St. Louis, MO, waterfront area...

And saw the arch...

Hoppies is quite the place...Here are some of my favorite shots from there...

Barges strung along beside the Mississippi River...

and Fern, the legend, to meet with all the new folk and tell them how to manage as they go down the river. Here we are taking it all in...

We met the nicest guy at Hoppies. Jim has been a biking enthusiast for years and has recently decided to take up boating. He made this boat by buying a houseboat hull and topping it off on his own. He has a solar panel, head, galley...all the basics. He's come over 700 miles already from his home in South Dakota by way of the Missouri River and is headed down the Mississippi to New Orleans. What an adventure! Here's Jim's boat...

Thursday, October 2 - All six boats left out soon after 7:30 AM and headed downriver for the anchorage 110 miles down called Little River Diversion Channel. Another good day on the water. We pulled in around 4:30 PM. We let the dinghy down and took Lucy to a nearby shore...very loose rocks, but Lucy managed just fine. Tomorrow we'll look for a better spot. Looks like a lot of mud around here...

Today we passed by Chester, Missouri...home of Popeye the Sailorman, and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, home of Rush Limbaugh. We saw neither. :-)

We also saw a lot more of the white pelicans....

Friday, October 3 - Mistress, Grettatude, Our Turn and Kismet left as soon as the fog lifted (around 8:45 AM) while Blue Max waited for us to take Lucy in and pull up the dinghy.

The trip to shore this morning wasn't pretty. Mississippi mud! I came back with my shoes caked in mud. I got that while "auditioning" a spot for the LuLu. As it turns out, we ended up dropping her off the boat at a likely spot, letting her do her thing, then pulling her back into the boat. The dinghy was filthy! I was filthy! Lucy had filthy feet!

Today we traveled 48 miles down the Mississippi to the intersection of the Ohio River, where we turned up and traveled almost 40 miles on it before we stopped across from the Fort Massac State Park, IL. (Actually only 5 of us went up the Ohio. Mistress headed on down the Mississippi for New Orleans.)

The current on the Mississippi was awesome, again. We were doing over 16 mph at what would normally have been a 10 mph speed. Turning onto the Ohio the mph dropped to 8.5 since now we were going UPSTREAM.

As we neared our destination we spotted a tow boat trolling for Asian carp. They had a net out and were catching the fish as they jumped out of the water. See the fish jumping off the back of the boat!?