CUMBERLAND RIVER to The TENNESSEE RIVER

We departed Paducah, Kentucky in the morning and traveled 10 miles on the Ohio River. After 10 miles we veered left onto the CUMBERLAND RIVER. There wasn't a drastic change of conditions between these two rivers. After about 35 miles on the CUMBERLAND we entered The Barkley Lock. This was our one and only Lock of the day. In The Barkley Lock we were lifted 57 feet up!

Soon after the Barkley Lock, we arrived at Green Turtle Bay Marina. We filled up wth diesel and then docked for three nights at Green Turtle Bay. Our time at the Marina was productive, but rather routine. Yes, everyone needs a few "catch-up" days every once in a while :)

We used the courtesy car to find a place to refill our propane tank. The propane is used for cooking in our oven and two stove top burners. With Looper friends we made a trip to Walmart for basic provisions. At the Marina we did about five loads of laundry and filled Thistle's water tanks.

The best part of staying at Green Turtle Bay Marina was dinner at Patti's 1880's Settlement Restaurant. The Restaurant is famous for their two inch pork chops and homemade pies. One night we dinned at Patti's with Lesley and Jim aboard Tyre-less (darn no picture?). Another night we went to Patti's with a group of Loopers! It was just as good the second night, but no wish for a third.

The next morning we departed The Marina by ourselves. The last few weeks we have been buddy boating ... it seems like everyone has a slightly different plan the next few days. After a mile we entered Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River. We enjoyed a gorgeous day traveling 96 miles to Pebble Isle Marina.

It was a really long travel day! We were very excited to finally dock at the Marina as we planned to meet with our Gold Looper friends Steve and Sheli aboard Pura Vida dos (their beautiful new boat). We buddy boated together two summers ago in Canada. We had pizza delivered to the Marina... and enjoyed each other's company laughing well past Looper midnight (9 pm!).

The next day we buddy boated along the TENNESSEE RIVER to a perfect anchorage at Mile Marker 169. The four of us took a dinghy to a nearby island with wine and appetizers to watched a pretty sunset together. Then ended the evening with a pot luck dinner aboard Thistle.

On our Great American Loop adventure we have been blessed with the opportunity to see and experience so much! After spending the last two days with our friends...we realize, at times like this, the very best part of Looping is the everlasting friendships you make along the way :)

The following morning we got a head start to Pickwick Lock. There were six Loopers hurrying to the Lock, in order to lift up before an approaching tow. All six of us made it before the tow. Exiting the Lock we entered Pickwick Lake and docked with our friends at Pickwick Landing State Park. The four of us rode on Pura Vida's dinghy to dinner at the State Lodge. It was a beautiful full harvest moon on the short dingy ride back back to the Marina.

The next morning we finished some chores, said our goodbyes. Thistle departed for Florence, Alabama on the TENNESSEE RIVER.  Pura Vida dos departed for another Marina. We hope to buddy boat again together this winter.

LooperTip: Pickwick Landing State Park is a hidden gem! (Most Loopers head to other marinas in the area.) We enjoyed the State Park atmosphere.

The red line was our navigation course the last few days on the CUMBERLAND and TENNESSEE RIVERS. The green dot is Green Turtle Bay Marina. The blue dot is Pebble Isle Marina. The yellow dot is Mile Marker 169 anchorage. The purple dot is Pickwick Landing State Park.

Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. 

Yes, there are lots of real turtles in the water! 

Dinner at Patti's ( We shared :) ...two inch thick pork chop, flower pot bread with strawberry butter and homemade pie! 

The Looper dinner at Patti's. 

While trying to find propane, we tried Catfish for Sunday brunch... surprisingly good :) 

Departing Green Turtle Bay Marina on the CUMBERLAND RIVER. We only traveled a short distance on the CUMBERLAND RIVER. The river is 690 miles long. Nashville is  190 miles up the CUMBERLAND, we decided it was too far for a quick side trip on Thistle.

We headed onto Lake Kentucky. The Lake was created  when dams were built  on the TENNESSEE RIVER. 

 The TENNESSEE RIVER is 650 miles long and we will traverse about 190 miles. We only saw two barges in the last four days (Can't  say that we miss them?). 

Because the Lakes were man-made, there a few buildings and bridges underwater.

Pebble Isle Marina in Tennessee, gives Loopers fresh homemade cinnamon rolls every morning :) 

A tranquil day on the TENNESSEE RIVER.

The water level on the rivers is still very low, but almost every house is built on stilts.... for a reason!

We see huge fallen trees on the river banks, if the rivers were at a high level, these trees would be floating down the river? 

Happy to be anchored at Mile Marker 169 on the TENNESSEE RIVER.

Our private island with goats! 

The Baaaaaayer's were a little nervous that the goats would jump in the dingy:) 

Greg took a dip in the TENNESSEE RIVER.

Our view for the night :) 

Sunset! 

Pickwick Landing Lock. Greg and Reenie wear headphones to communicate ( privately!) when locking and docking. 

The Fall colors are just starting.

Thistle docked at Pickwick Landing State Park.

Friends XO

OHIO RIVER

We spent two nights on the OHIO RIVER. 

After departing Little Diversion Channel, we traveled about 50 miles with three other Looper boats and then turned left on the OHIO RIVER. The convergence of the Mississippi and OHIO RIVER was quite exhilarating! All of the Loopers passed safety onto the OHIO RIVER (with a few stories to tell during cocktails). The OHIO seemed much cleaner and smooth, but lots and lots of traffic and parked barges along the river banks. We were previously warned at Hoppies about all of the tow traffic on the OHIO RIVER, but it's even more than we anticipated.

Even though we were warned about all of the traffic... it was a bit overwhelming! The river systems were the original highways of the new world. The tows can be pushing anywhere from one to fourty-two barges linked together. An average tow of fifteen barges can carry as much 1,500 tons of cargo. This amount of cargo is equal to a three mile long freight train, or a line of semi trucks thirty five  miles long! The barges transport almost any type of cargo from port to port. Some typical cargo could include: coal, grain, oil, chemicals, trash, sand, gravel, timber or other materials.  

On our Great American Loop adventure we have the opportunity to see and experience the unexpected...traveling the River system has been very educational and incredible! We are both amazed by the amount of goods transported on the River Highways of the United States.

Once on the OHIO River we traveled about 20 miles to the Olmstead Lock and Lock 53. These two are connected and the Loopers cleared both together in about a two hour time frame (that was very fast for PC's).

After we cleared the final Lock of the day, we fired up our engines and hurried to our planned anchorage at Mile Marker 948.5.  Our Looper friends on Tyre-less were already at the anchorage. After a long day, we appreciated their local knowledge guiding Thistle over the sandbar to a safe anchorage for the night. Once anchored we saw the sky turn pink, orange, red for a spectacular sunset.

Tomorrow we head to the Cumberland River.

Departing Little Diversion Channel we saw Bridges, Barges and Beaches (with nice white sand).

When we entered the OHIO RIVER there was a turbulence warning on our navigation system.

WOW... it was extremely turbulent! 

One of our buddy boaters said, "He felt like a toy boat in a bathtub when the drain was released!"

Our buddy boater did an unexpected 360 in the middle of the river?

Thankfully we were warned :)

It was a unique experience when we left the muddy Mississippi by turning left onto the OHIO RIVER.  There was a distinct line in the water where the two converge. The Mississippi was muddy brown with turbulence, and The OHIO was blue/green and smooth.  We changed our navigation reminder stick to Red Atons to the right on the OHIO RIVER. 

We were warned about the heavy tow traffic on the OHIO River. This is a picture of our AIS. Thistle is the blue triangle with the green dot, the orange rectangles are other PC's or tows near us!

We entered the Omstead Lock (with three other Looper Boats).  The Lock is under construction.  With only a slight delay we were escorted through .

We were very lucky with our Lock timing, as there was a waiting list of about 24 tow boats with multiple bardges. 

Then up Lock 53, this Lock is connected to The Olmstead Lock. We waited on the wall for about an hour then "floated" (not attached to the lock wall) up the huge lock.

Finally at our anchorage for the night, Mile Marker 948.5. The anchorage was on the starboard side of the OHIO RIVER, protected from river traffic by a sand bar. 

An absolutely spectacular sunset :) at Mile Marker 948.5. 

Photo credit a Tyre-less ( Thank You !) 

Lock number 52 in the morning!

We are here!

The City is walled due to frequent high water on The OHIO RIVER ... the wall is decorated with murals explaining the towns history with information plaques under each mural. 

The annual Barbecue On The River was in full swing. There were 100's of BBQ, beer and craft booths with multiple stages and live music! An estimated 40,000 people attended the three day event. We ordered fried green tomatoes... Yum! And decorated Thistle with a bouquet of two dozen red roses.

      

Reenie visited The National Quilt Museum with fellow Looper Lesley (aboard Tyre-less).

No pictures are allowed to be taken inside the Museum! (These photos are borrowed from their web site.)  My favorite quilts told a story: The 2017 Solar Eclipse (top right), The Beatles, Yellow Submarine (bottom left) and Hot Pad (bottom right).    

We had a farm to table dinner at the Freight House...delicious! We asked about the KY Blue Snapper (never heard of that fish?)..found out that it is Carp.......a new KY marketing strategy! No we just couldn't order....Carp :( 

Good night from the brand new Paducah City Dock. Note how high the pillings are! It's necessary for  the drastic change of water levels on the OHIO RIVER. 

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

We spent three long days on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, traveling 218 miles. That sounds like a lot of miles, but we enjoyed a favorable 3-4 knot current. 

After departing Grafton, we traveled about 18 miles to Alton Marina. Alton Marina is at mile marker "0" on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Alton is a Historic town with a "happening downtown"!  We enjoyed two nights at the Marina with many other Loppers,  sharing lots of information. The Marina arranges transportation to the grocery store for re-provisioning, and the Casino provides transportation from the Marina to Historic downtown Alton.

We pushed off the dock with 8 other Looper boats at about 7:30am, and soon entered the Mel Price Lock! Our platoon of Loopers traveled together for about 50 miles down the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 

It was a very exciting day passing through two locks (Mel Price, 23 feet down and Lock 27, 12 feet down), going through the Chain of Rocks Channel, seeing the picturesque Gateway Arch in person and finally docking at Hoppies Marina.

The MISSISSIPPI RIVER is muddy and full of tow boats pushing barges. The tow boats are pushing anywhere from one to forty-two barges! They are crazy HUGE? We navigate with an application on our ipads called AIS that allows us see the tow boats over the horizon or around bends in the river...The tow boats typically travel slower than us so we hale them on our VHS radio on channel 13.  When passing a tow boat we address them on the Radio: "Saint Peter (Tow Name) this is a PC (Pleasure Craft) passing you...is that ok and how would you like us to pass?" They answer on the ONE or TWO. 

When passing the opposite direction: 

"See you on the one (whistle) " = pass port to port

"See you on the two (whistle)" = starboard to starboard

When passing the same direction:

"See you on the one (whistle)" = overtake on the starboard 

"See you on the two (whistle)" = overtake on the port

The passing is getting rather routine.... but always a bit stressful!

The second night on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER we docked at Hoppies Marina, this is a Looper tradition. The owners give a helpful daily 4:30 pm briefing about future travel days and river conditions.

The next day was a long 110 mile adventure on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.  At sunset we anchored at Little Diversion Channel with six other Looper boats.  That night we enjoyed spaghetti dinner as guests on our new Looper friends GH47 Trawler named Mother Ocean (Thanks). 

The next morning we headed down the MISSISSIPPI RIVER for 50 miles and turned left onto the Ohio River.

Looper Tip: Hoppies Marina is a must stop !!!!!!! The Marina is located in Kimmswick, Missouri. It is basically three old barges tied along the MISSISSIPPI RIVER and has been operated by the same family for 85 years. 

After a week, we are acclimating quite well to Loop life on the river system :)

We are on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!

Traveling 218 Miles down the MISSISSIPPI RIVER from Alton to the the Ohio River.

Thistle docked at the Alton Marina.

Alton is a Historic Town with the Argosy Casino and reported haunted houses!

Fast Eddies is a must stop in Alton. 

Just Desserts is another must stop for strawberry/rhubarb pie. 

Alton was the site of the famous 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. 

History in Alton. 

A sunset Looper get together at the Alton Marina. 

The Clark Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge across the MISSISSIPPI RIVER in Alton. 

  An early start from Alton Marina to the Mel Price Lock with 8 Looper Boats. 

The Mel Price Lock. 

The Lock was full of huge logs and other debris. 

We side-tied to Mother Ocean, with plenty of fenders. 

The Chain of Rocks Cannel.

Excited to see the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis. 

Thistle under The Gateway Arch.

The muddy MISSISSIPPI RIVER, with a favorable current and lots of tow boats pushing barges. 

Docking at Hoppies:)

Apple pie at the famous Blue Owl. 

The Anheuser Estate next door to Hoppies. 

The nightly briefing by Fern (red shirt)at Hoppies. 

Enjoying sunset at Hoppies. 

A 110 mile day down the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 

Thistle anchored at Little Diversion Channel.