Inland River Cruising

Yes, it was an interesting week!  We had two good days at Grafton, IL Marina - quaint little river town.  Replicas of the Nina & Pinta (two of Columbus' boats on his journey to America) were moored there and lots of school kids and people in town for that.

At Grafton, we joined the Mississippi - lots of water, barges and looking for the red & green buoys (keep the red to the left, green to the right to avoid running aground and wing dams.  Htting bottom can ruin a good day; expensive too!)   About 10 miles down river from Grafton we cruised by St. Louis.  It's impressive from the water - arch and all - Gateway to the West, but there was no place to dock the boat. We took lots of photos.   We stopped for the night at Hoppie's Marine Service below St Louis.  This is a important stop for LOOPers as it is the last place you can get gas for the next 270 miles.   The owner's spouse, Fern, conducts a class every afternoon giving instructions for navigating the next several miles, where to anchor for the night, where not to meet a barge, going through locks, etc. Very valuable information!   We didn't have enough fuel capacity for the 270 mile run to the next fuel stop if we ran at our normal speed of 25mph (3600rpms) so we filled 4-5gal fuel cans and tied them down on the front deck and cruised for the next 176 miles at 8mph (1000rpms).  2 1/2 days of "very boring" - we took turns at the helm to help break the monotony.  We arrived at Green Turtle Bay on the Cumberland River Wednesday noon. What a relief - we plan to stay for a week to rest and heal - Theresa's back, my cold.  This is a resort marina with all the amenities - heated pool, cable TV, spa, great food, etc..

As this is the place where most every cruising couples stop you have opportunity to meet interesting people.  The boat next to us is a young family of four from Virginnia.  Mom home schools the kids (10 & 11yo.) and dad is able to do his work on the computer from the boat.  They have cruised about a year and plan on one more year before they again become land based.  Met a couple last night at a get together for cruising boaters who are taking their sail boat from  Michigan to the Caribbean for the winter.  The most interesting boaters we've met are a couple from Hamburg, Germany who are doing their second circumnavigation of the world in their sail boat "Magic Life".

What most impresses us is how friendly and helpful cruising boaters are.  Doesn't make any difference on the size or value of your boat or your status in life.  Everyone's "just boaters".   A few churches could learn from observing the boating community.  We'll plan to leave and head further south the middle of next week.