We’ve been in St. Louis by car the last several days visiting 2 of Richard’s daughters, Valerie and Cara. I also met Jason, Richard’s only grandchild. He is adorable and quite a character. We took him to see the movie Monster’s Inc. I think Richard got a bigger kick out of the movie than Jason did.  We had a very enjoyable visit and he has wonderful kids. We met Valerie’s (Richard’s youngest daughter) fiancé, Steve. Cara is his oldest daughter and she has a great Husband Jim, Who is a major in the Air force and stationed at Scott Air Force base  outside of St. Louis. Jason is their 5 year-old son.

So after spending a couple of days again at Green Turtle Bay, we are headed out early this morning on our Journey to Little Rock. We pulled out around 8:30 after I put some chicken breasts in the crock-pot and Took Abby for her last shore walk. We had just pulled out of the harbor and I went below to start the generator but guess what, it wouldn’t start. We had no option but to turn around and go back to Green Turtle Bay. We had planned to spend the next 2 nights at anchorages so we had to have a functioning generator.

As it turned out the generator battery had to be replaced and the marina crew there were able to get us up and running with a new battery. We decided it was too late in the day to head out so we stayed put for the night.  

The Captain had a bad night with fever & chills but this morning he said he felt better. We pulled out and went through the Barkley lock with only a 20-minute wait. We are finally on our way to Little Rock and off the Tennessee. There’s a lot of tow traffic on the Cumberland and Ohio and in some places the rivers are very narrow so keep your eyes peeled. The 2^nd lock was Lock 52 and we had a 2-hour wait. We finally slid in and managed to get down. The rain began just after we locked down and followed us till we got to lock 53 at mm 962 on the Ohio (Grand Chain, IL). It was dark and the lock was open and not operating. We hailed the lockmaster on the radio and he very graciously allowed us to tie to a barge there at the lock. It was too dark to travel and the rain made visibility zero. Another pleasure craft “NOMADS” tied up with us on the barge. The captain was Harold Dick and they started in Toronto. We will probably see them again in Florida. The Captain seems to be feeling better but neither of us felt like having dinner, so we just read a while then off to bed for an early day tomorrow. It’s very chilly lows in the 30’s tonight.  

Friday, November 9^th, Day 179

We were off at 0730 this morning after taking the Abby for her walk. It’s still chilly but clear thank goodness. We hoped to make it to Carruthersville, MO before dark and on the Mississippi, our options are very much limited. We pulled in to the Carruthersville Harbor and found many barges tied there. We eased up to the last barge hoping that there was a way to get Abby to land by walking over the barges. But it was a no-go. I even took her down on the barges and let her walk around hoping she would go but she didn’t. We then dropped the anchor just past all the barges and had an uneventful evening watching TV and to bed Early. Poor Abby, she’ll either have to go on the potty pad or explode.

 

Up at 6:30 and up anchor by 7am. The only problem we encountered was with the buoy attached to the anchor trip line, we couldn’t see it. After pulling up the Anchor the line was still there and I was able to retrieve it with a boat hook, but the buoy had been ripped from the end and was nowhere in sight. We felt the wake of a couple of boats as they passed us early this morning. I hope they didn’t run over our line. We planned to make Mud Island today and meet a friend driving over from Little Rock, but Richard is still under the weather with fever and congested chest.

Abby still has not pottied and is acting pitiful. I keep showing her the potty pads, and she just looks at me with big sad eyes.

When we finally made it to Mud Island Marina around 3pm, Abby and I dashed for the grass at the top of the very long boat ramp. I think I actually heard her speak and say ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

James that works at the Marina allowed to borrow his van and we headed to a small Grocery store a few blocks away in a beautiful neighbor hood of condo’s and houses in New Orleans style. The market there had very fresh vegetables and a nice deli with home cooked food. I purchased meatloaf and twice baked potatoes so I wouldn’t have to cook tonight. Richard was still not feeling well so we’ve decided to stay at Mud Island Marina another day. He was asleep by 7pm and still feverish.

Richard had a very rough night with coughing and fever. So he slept in till almost 10am. It’s definitely a good thing we decided to stay here another day. We watched football and movies all afternoon. Richard took a long nap and I roasted a chicken. It was a nice quiet day without any rush or worry.

I was down in the Galley and I heard a large round of applause being given to someone on the dock. There were 2 young men in canoes coming up to the fuel dock and lots of people standing there cheering and applauding for them. There was also a news cameraman there videotaping and later interviewing them.

We learned after speaking with one of their mothers, that they are from Memphis and are “Paddlin’ for a cure” for the American Diabetes Assoc.  They started their journey from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, which is the origin of the mighty Mississippi. They plan to end their journey at the mouth in south Louisiana. They stopped here in Memphis to see relatives and friends and quite a crowd had gathered to welcome them. They are paddlin’ for donations and you are encouraged to send a donation to :  American Diabetes Association, 1701 N. Beauregard St, Alexandria, VA 22311 and label your donation in honor of Joseph Bowman (He’s the canoeist from Memphis. We watched them Paddled Off into the sunset after they’d finished their lunch and stocked up. It’s quite an undertaking and I can’t imagine going down the Mississippi in a canoe, it’s difficult enough in our boat with 2 big diesels.

Up at 7:30 and the Captain seems to be feeling a little better so after we filled the water tank, took Abby up the long ramp to do her business and took my computer to the marina office to check my email. We headed down the mighty Miss to Helena AR. Before we left, I put the makings for homemade Vegetable soup in the crock-pot so we were set for dinner. We made it to Helena around 2pm anchored, poor Abby, no shore tonight. Richard took a nap. He’s feverish again. We watched TV; I read a book and the dogs napped then off to bed cause we plan to pull out at 0600.

Up at 0530 and up anchor by 0600 it’s a little cooler today but bright sunshine. Miracle of Miracles, Abby did her business on the potty pads! Finally! Now we don’t have to worry about rushing up the Arkansas to Pine Bluff Island Marina to get her to shore. We have 141 miles to travel today so hopefully we’ll make it before dark.

If not we can anchor again since maybe the Abby has learned Potty Pad sense.

We were cruising down the Miss between Helena and the White river. I was working on my computer when all of a sudden the Captain shouted “What the Hell”. I asked what was wrong and he pointed to the depth gauge, which read 5 feet, yikes. He powered down but we watched the depth gauge continue to go down. He was looking around, and asked what color that buoy was, I told him red. He muttered another expletive and said he’d missed that one. We were about to plow into a sand bar.

The depth gauge was reading 1 foot and Richard was desperately trying to get us back to the channel without grounding us. Finally we made it back to the channel. That was a lesson well learned that missing one buoy, even on the mighty Miss., can have devastating consequences. Whew!

We made it through locks 1,2 & 3 on the Arkansas quickly and without problems. We called ahead to lock 4 when we were within 10 miles because it was almost 4pm and would be dark by 5pm. We were told there was a double tow coming down and the wait would be 2 – 2 ½ hours. That meant we’d be traveling well after dark thirty. This was our first locking experience after dark, but things went smoothly. After we pulled out of the lock, the river was very frightening at night. We definitely utilized all our gizmos to get us there. We were watching the radar for the buoys. We were monitoring our computerized charts and most importantly we were both using the spotlight to see the reds and greens. When we spotted a buoy or red flashing light, we would verbalize it to see if the other agreed. I was proud of our teamwork, but mighty glad when we arrived safely. What a day. The dogs were thrilled to get ashore and immediately did their business. The Captain and the First Mate were exhausted and we conked out without even having dinner.

We woke at 7:30 and headed out by 8:30. We had locks 5, 6 & 7 to lock up today. It is a beautiful sunny day with temperatures to reach the 70’s. We made it through lock 5 very quickly without problems. At lock 6 a small work barge with crane was inside the lock working so we had about a 45-minute wait there. Lock 7 worked out perfectly and I was excited about seeing Little Rock again although I’m not sure I can say the same for the Captain.

We arrived at Little Rock Yacht club at 2:30 and tied up to the fuel Dock. My Dad brought our Jeep to us and our friend John Sparks who lives on his boat here came by to greet us.

Went to our old hangout meeting place “Julie’s” around 6:30 and most of the old gang was there. John Sparks and Dad met us there. We stayed a couple of hours having a great time with old friends then Richard’s fever and fatigue caught up with him so we headed to the boat.

This will be the last note for quite awhile. We plan to stay in Little Rock until January 2^nd for the holidays.