Chapter 4 - Day 4: Hoppie's Marina

5:30 am
Tuesday September, 07, 1999
Day 4

We covered 140 miles yesterday, and made it all the way to Hoppie's Marina in Kimmswick, MO.

It was a great day, full of sunshine, and a breeze from the north that most of the day was on our backs.

Day 3 highlights:
* Left our cozy slip (tied next to the barge at La grange lock) at 6:15 am
* Sunrise was at 6:30 and it was beautifull
* Traveled 80 miles to reach to Mississippi at almost exactly 12:00-noon
* Lots, and I do mean lots, of boat traffic
* Once we hit the Mississippi we picked up about 1.5 mph from the current
* Went through two locks before reaching St. Louis-in and out pretty quickly
* In the second lock we noticed that the starboard engine was putting out white smoke each time I put a load on it. It would stop quickly though.
Don't know what that means.
* Once we got out of the second lock we joined the current from the Missouri river and gained a total of over 3 mph of current
* It was neat to go through St.Louis, but you can't imagine the commercial traffic, and the number of barges parked everywhere. If you have ever seen a rail yard with hundreds of rail cars on the tracks beside one another---it comes pretty close. They are 7 or 8 wide, and 10 long. Like Darrell said "How do they find a certain one when they need it?"
* Reached Hoppie's at about 5 PM
* Put in 200 gallons of diesel--- $282, including $30 for slip fee for the night
* Deb made fresh bread, and an AWESOME pasta dish, and we started to watch a movie-I went to bed at 8:00-so I'm not sure what happened from there.

This morning (Tuesday) I slept in till 5. It is dark out now, and we are tied to a long barge (Hoppie's Marina) not far off the main channel of the Mississippi. As I write this I am looking south, and watching a tow boat heading north. He is still a long way off, but I can see his lights. It's a great sight, and it gets me excited about the day ahead. The weather channel says it will be 90, and sunny, and in just the last couple of minutes the sky is starting to brighten up in the west. By the time that barge gets here it will be light out.

Today's plan is to head out shortly, and either stop at mile 48.6 and drop a hook in a small river there, or go all the way to Cairo, and drop a hook about 1 mile north of the Ohio river. It will all depend on how we feel.

By the way we are now at mile 158. The mile 0 is where the Mississippi meets the Ohio at Cairo, IL. Why this is mile 0 seems strange, because the Mississippi goes on to Memphis.
So that's it for now. I need to go check all the engine fluids, and clean the strainers before we leave. I'll also top off the water tank so we will have plenty of water tonight while we're at anchor.

The sun is just starting to show itself, and that tow boat is still down river.
Looks like maybe we'll meet him as we go by.

I don't think my dream was this good............

BK