Day 149: Kimmswick, MO to Kaskaskia River Lock, IL
Day 149 Wednesday, September 14th: We were not first and not last leaving Hoppie's Marina. This is our departing view:
The current here was about three knots, adding to our normal cruise speed of about seven knots. Here is what a buoy looks like cruising upstream at three knots:
The limestone (sandstone?) cliffs were now on the Missouri side. That's a freight train on the left:
Here's some background: there are "wing dams" on the banks all along the Mississippi River. These rock dams divert the flow of water from the banks to the center of the river, causing a natural scouring action that clears silt out of the channel. Some of them are long and some are short and some trap trees and logs.
In the lower part of this picture is a short dam with its share of debris. The rest of the picture is one of those impressive cliffs:
The end of the day found us tied up at another unique moorage. We were tied to the backside of a dam guide wall along with three other boats:
See if you can pick us out. Leftmost is Integrity, then Joken (35 foot homebuilt cruiser), then Kokopelli (27 foot sailboat with mast un-stepped) and then R Enchantment (44 foot power catamaran).
OK. Here's a view from the front:
Since it was early afternoon everyone either ate lunch or napped or both. Bill worked on web logs. Ruth napped. Later we did boat tours and story swapping. This was a fun group to socialize with.
Supper was ziti and salad created by the Chef, aka Ruth. Yummy!
Position tonight: N37 58.905 W089 56.640
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