July 24 ...Our view of the dam...wish you could see the jumping Asian Carp. They don't have many redeeming qualities. No one eats them and they eat everything...all they do is jump. Sometimes even into the passing boats. Folks down there are looking for ways to get rid of them.

Yep, this is us all tied up at the Kaskaskia Lock and Dam, Wednesday night, July 24.

July 24

Our longest boating day...10 hours running time. We left those jumping Asian Carp in our wake and scooted back into the Mississippi right in front of the tow "Randy Eckstein". He was behind us ALL day. We are starting to cath on to the tow lingo on the radio and it was interesting to hear them chatter to Randy about the river conditions and where they were. Kept us informed cause we sure felt like we were the only folks on the river. We encountered very few folks on our long stretch. Those we did encounter were pretty huge and pushing lots of barges. We even got so we could tell if they were empties or full. Heavy showers outsdie of Cape Gireardeau made us really glad we had the canvas up. Those new zippered windows worked great. New to us though were all the whirlpools in the water. In some areas you just couldn't avoid them. Many were dangerously large and deep...yes, made me skittish. We decided to push alittle and traveled on to the Angelo Towhead for the night. We are in the area behind an island just off the US 60 Cairo Highway. Anchoring was a piece of cake...Linda at the helm and Floyd managing the anchor line. Then came the fun of transferring the 50 gallons from Big Bertha. We had a siphon and some hose that didn't really match up...but with a little duct tape and we were good to go. Only took us about 40 minutes. We've got gas and water to spare...one more night out and two full travel days til we reach Green Turtle Bay on the Cumberland River. It will be slower going as we'll be headed up river with current against us. We are trying to maintain 14oo rpm to monitor and conserve fuel. We figure that'll be a whopping 6 miles per hour....I'm reading a good book. Let us hear from you by logging on to the comments bar. We are missing our friends.

Day two- we are having fun

As you can see we have a new traveling companion...Big Blue Bertha contains 50 gallons of gasoline. We can't get fuel between where we were and where we were going. So 350 lbs of gas sitting on the aft deck should guarantee that we'll get there. No Smoking or use of the grill allowed until she departs. Oh, the things we are learning. Just get a load of those pretty dock lines...the first mate has mastered the art of cleat knots, using the boat hook, and even adding that touch of good taste that the Tumbleweed has come to expect. Hey, even the gas drum is the right color. Tonight we are tied up to the guide wall at the Kaskaskia River lock and dam. You would not believe the fish that are jumping. If they don't stop soon we won't get any sleep. We've also spotted an eagle and a small coyote. Pretty darn cool. Today's cruise included a portion of the river that many folks consider to be the most dangerous...wing dams, turbulence, sharp turns, and, of course, the tow boats with barges. We managed just fine. Needless to say, we are just pretty darn proud of ourselves. Tomorrow we should make it to Cape Girardeau.

We made it...day one

We did it...those locks that look so scary were a piece of cake. St Louis was breath taking from the water. And we managed to dock at Hoppie's without hurting anyone or wrecking the boat. An absolutely gorgeous day to be on the river...cloudy and about 80 degrees. We saw and/or passes about 30 tows. Some pushing barges 5 wide and 6 deep. The funniest thing though has to be the fellas on a true Huck Finn raft floating to Baton Rouge. They caught up with us this evening. They left Davenport Iowa and say they average about 30 miles a day just floating along. They are currently walking to the Walmart store, 6 miles away for supplies. The bad news is that this is the LAST gas stop for us. Since we still have 248 miles to go, a gas tank that holds 240 gallons, and we need a little more than a gallon per mile...we got issues. For now, the marina manager is planning to get us a 55 gallon gas drum, some hose and a hand pump. We'll secure all that on the aft deck, and pray for a strong current to help us out. We'll let you know how that all works when we get to Green Turtle Bay.

We are outta here.

We are planning to leave Polestar Marina, St Charles, MO around 11:00 this morning, July 22nd. Headed to Green Turtle Bay Marina on the Cumberland River 313 miles downstream. We’ll travel around 70 miles a day, and hope to average 12 mph. There is very limited fuel and even fewer marinas for overnight docking along the way. Floyd is busy with last minute cleaning (gotta look good going down river), fueling, adding water and getting a pump out. Though really, we are just waiting for the FedEx guy to deliver the spare fuel filters that we might need on this voyage. We figure better to be a few hours safe than a few days “sorry” on down the line. Here’s the plan (you knew there’d be one): Today’s travel will include the Melvin Price lock and Dam, the Chain of Rocks Canal and lock and dam, St Louis. We’ll spend the night at Hoppie’s Marina in Kimmswick, MO. Our last marina night until Green Turtle. Wednesday night will be at the Kaskaskia river Lock and Dam where they say there is a place for mariners to tie off to a free floating guide wall or a small cove for anchoring out. Thursday night we’ll be at the Little Diversion Canal. Friday we’ll have reached the Ohio River where we can tie off on some free mooring buoys. Then Saturday, good Lord willing, we’ll arrive at Green Turtle Bay. Hoppie’s and Cape Girardeau are the only fueling spots. I’m more than a little skittish about all this rope throwing and knot tieing. Floyd, on the other hand, is grinning from ear to ear and hoping the FedEx guy comes early. Between here and Green Turtle we’ll have to stop where we can, not necessarily when we want. It’s an adventure. We’ve been talking about it, analyzing it, planning for it…and now it is started. Woo Hoo…boogadie, boogadie, here we go.

All systems are go. We plan to depart Polestar Marina, St Charles, MO, around 11:00 this morning,July 22nd. We are doing the last minute cleaning (gotta look good floating down the river), getting fuel, water and a pump out but most important waiting for the FedEx guy to bring us the spare fuel filters we might need on this voyage. Better to wait a couple of hours now than be a couple of days sorry later. Here's the plan for this week (you knew there'd be one):

Tuesday we will travel almost 64 water miles down river, go thru the Melvin Price lock #26, enter the Chain of Rocks Canal and through the Chain of Rocks Lock and Dam #27, past St Louis before docking at Hoppie's Marine in Kimmswick, Mo. Because we are going with the current we hope to get about 12 mph. We had heavy rain last night so the current might actually be stronger. We'll see. And doesn't that whole Chain of Rocks sounds just peachy....I'm more than a little skittish...Floyd on the other hand is grinning from ear to ear and is itching to get started.

Wednesday and Thursday are longer days with no marinas for night docking and very little access to fuel. We plan to spend Wednesday night at the Kaskasjia lock and dam where they say mariners can tie up to a floating guide wall or anchor in a small cove. On Thursday we can get fuel in Cape Girardeau but there is no overnight docking for transients. We