Ok we left off at our anchorage in Little River Diversion; where we tucked ourselves into a creek that flows into the Mississippi. Getting back into the creek was a little tricky as the current on the Mississippi was flowing quite swiftly so you have to go past the creek and double back then power through the current. Once past the mouth of the creek the current go pretty close to slack. The little creek flows about one mph into the river. Rolo was able to go to shore not much area to explore though; but a great place to stop for some shut eye. We shared this anchorage with one other boat.
There are limited places to stop for the night along this stretch of river. We felt with the pace we travel we would need to spend three nights anchored along the river before we would arrive in Lake Barkley. At that point we would have "good" anchorages and many marina's to choose from.
We headed out of Little Diversion at sun up headed for the Ohio River. So I guess that big ole' mississippi cat is gonna have to wait til our next time through. Our final stretch of the Mighty Mississippi was windy and once again full of barge traffic. This stretch was also the curviest part of the river. Tows would call ahead on the radio and South bound tow's have the right away due to the current pushing them. On coming tow's would pull off and give way to the south or down bound tow's.
Once we intersected with the Ohio River we made our turn to upbound; which means our channel markers changed to red on our starboard side and we would now be upbound another words we would be fighting the current a 2 mph current. Caro, Illinois was the first city we passed through. A very industrial city where barges are anchored everywhere & small tows push single barges to and fro.
As we continue upriver the area is filled with many different types of items transported via barge. You could smell the grain elevators & we saw large items being transported by tug boat. There was also a new lock under construction which made for a great deal of turbulence where the dam was being constructed.
The locks along this area of the Ohio River use Wickets for dams. Wickets are horizontal dams are raised and lowered as the river system needs to be controlled. When we arrived at the locks the Wickets were down so we did not have to lock through. A real time saver for us, it just made for a bit of extra current to battle while crossing the the wickets.
Our second anchorage was on the open river, a wide area however the current was flowing real fast due to the wickets in the down position. It was getting dark and we needed to stop for the night. Due to the fast current during our time on anchor and the dingy ride to shore for Rolo's potty break he had to wear his life jacket and be on a leash just in case. We had a good set however with the night barge traffic and the fast current sleeping was difficult. We left this anchorage as soon as it was light enough to see in the morning.
We knew we could make it to Green Turtle Marina on Lake Barkley by 5 pm if the Lake Barkley lock was not busy. We decided that we would rather have a short day and take the Cumberland Toehead and anchor of the day relax and spend the night before continuing on to Green Turtle. The toehead it where we would take our turn off the Ohio River into the Cumberland River.
We anchored up and took Rolo to shore for a good run on the shore. He frolicked on the shore and played in the mud and got to be a real boy for the day. So glad we have plenty of fresh water so he could have a good bath once we got back on board.
Our run the following day was short and sweet we tied up at Green Turtle in Grand Rivers, Kentucky where we are going to spend the week.
So far during our visit in Grand Rivers, KY we have taken in a musical, enjoyed visiting with some folks we had met during our last visit. Attended church and went home with Miss Alma for lunch. She shared stories of her youth, her marriage, raising her family & many many interesting opinions and stories of her 84 years of living. Miss Alma is a real inspiration a God loving woman that gives so much of herself. Our youngest daughter had the opportunity to meet Miss Alma 9 years ago. Miss Alma left a big impression on her; she continues to leave her mark on the many people she meets. I for one am glad our paths crossed.
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