Paraiso is on the loop!

Sunday, September 13, 2015

bye bye p99                                                         Hello crab shack

At 2:15 PM we shoved off the Pier 99 docks and our Great Loop Adventure began! Carol gave us crocodile tears as we pulled of the P 99 dock. Some day she will joins us on the loop. Larry and Jeff were also there to send us off. Thanks to everyone who helped us get the boat ready to sail.

Our first stop was for fuel and pump out at Turtle Creek Marina (Mile 529 on the Ohio River).

The Markland Dam lock took a bit longer than expected because when we called in they were dealing with a barge coming up river and we think they forgot about us heading down river. We cleared Markland Dam at 4:19 PM. We chose to cruise at 1300 – 1500 RPM which is about 8 – 10 miles per hour. Our goal was to log enough hours at that speed to get a good est of hourly fuel consumption.

We were just north of Madison IN. at 7:04 PM.

Our next decision was to stay in Madison, find anchoring spot or to keep on with a night cruise to Louisville, KY. Our goal was to get to Louisville by 9:00 AM so we can have our mechanic help us with oil change and over view of the engines. We decided to try to anchor out. There was a nice spot with good water at mile marker 563 near Hanover, IN. However, when we tried to lower the anchor it would not move. Not sure why this happened it work a couple times before without issue. It was 8:04 PM and now was becoming dark. We decided to see if we could find a small dock on the way to Louisville where we could tie up and then get up early and head to Louisville. The small docks we found were very small for us and we did not feel that we could rest easy if we tied up to them. The night was clear and so far no fog so we decided to just go for it and continue on to our destination. We encountered three barges during the trip but no issues getting out of their way and around them. When we came in to Louisville it was beautifully lit. They have an inactive railroad bridge with LED lights that changed colors with frequency. The docks we were looking for were near the city part by the KFC YUM! Center. We found them and eased our way in – only one more problem – entering the water level was very low 2.8 feet but 5 ft in the slip – we stirred up mud. We will have to check our strainers and such and then get this boat in to deep water to clean it out. 1:30 AM we finally got something to eat then crashed out for a few hours. Wish I took some pictures.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Nice sunny day. Waiting for the mechanic to show up – having coffee on the top deck. Life is Good!

10:00 AM Smokey Marine a mobile mechanic arrived to change the engine oil and filter and to also look at our generator because it appears that we may have a clog in the water intake. There was one fuel filter that was on order but it had not come in as of the AM but it did come in the afternoon so we were able to get all the work done. The generator had a walnut size restriction in the water intake. It took a while to fine the clog but they finally used a large screw driver to “poke” it out. All was done about 2:30 PM – we got some advice from Smokey who knows this part of the river. He suggested that we just wait until AM and then push off. The head of the Waterfront Park Docks was there when we finished and Smokey Marine knew him and cleared us for one more night. So all is good now – HAPPY HOUR! We intend to relax and walk up to downtown Louisville for dinner. Tomorrow is a 112 mile trek so we will begin early in the AM.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Paraiso pushed off at 7:36 AM. The first challenge was the McAlpine Locks. We had to wait for two barges to go through. It was a very busy day for the lockmaster. There were two southbound and four northbound barges that he was working with. You just cannot assume you can hurry through a lock. We finally cleared the lock by 9:35 AM (Eastern). It was an 11 hour boat ride, but it was beautiful weather – not a cloud in the sky. The country side was very nice and there were a number of places we could anchor out at but we need to get to Lake Barkley area so we can be back at Boone’s Landing Marina for the weekend. We made a decision not to travel on Monday evening to Brandenburg – when we went by the Brandenburg dock was small but could have held us. We landed at our destination – Rocky Point Marina at 7:05 PM (Central). Paraiso arrived just a sunset, all was good.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

We had a good breakfast at the small restaurant at Rocky Point and had a nice conversation with a local couple. We refueled taking on 155 gallons. We have changed time zones so now we are in central time and the sun sets at 6:50 PM (too early). Cannelton Locks were first up and we got right through. We cruised at 1500 – 1700 RPM. We cleared the Newburg Lock at 3:26 PM and then headed to Inland Marina where we would stay for the night. The Tiki Bar was open and had $2.00 beers – can’t beat that!

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Another long day – we pushed off at 7:30 AM. Inland Marina is in Evansville IN. There is a lot of industry just south, but once out of Evansville the river is pretty again. We cleared John T. Meyers Lock at 12:36 PM Central time. This marked the half way point for our cruise today. We cruised at 1800 – 2000 RPM. The river was wide and had a nice countryside view. We saw the land change a bit and become less hilly and sandier soil. We passed a ferry and it reminded me of Anderson Ferry near Cincinnati. There was a point of interest we saw from the boat “Cave in Rock”. You can see the cave and the walkway for people to go into the cave. We arrived at Golconda Marina. They had a nice covered slip for us to use. The water depth was only 3 foot so we were stirring up some mud. We grilled out and rinsed the boat off. Tomorrow we will be reaching Kentucky Dam Marina.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Golconda Marina had showers and laundry. We decided to take showers since the water pressure is stronger than what is on the boat. We had breakfast and then pushed off at 9:35 AM – a bit of a late start but we only have 55 miles to go today. We got behind two barges first thing. We were able to take a “short cut” round an Island and get in front of them. The Lock Master had a lock ready for us and we were able to clear Smithland Lock at 11:40 AM (Central). A barge was coming out of the other lock at the same time. It is a bit intimidating due to the size, but there was plenty of room and they went slower than us so we could get around them. There was also a lot of small islands and manmade dikes in this area of the river. We had to stay on the sail line and make a sharp left to head up the Cumberland River. We left the Ohio River at mile marker 906. We followed a barge into the Cumberland River. It was slow going. The barge allowed us to pass them on mile 3. It was tight because the river is about 1/3 the width of the Ohio River. The Cumberland River has a number of rock quarries and barge loading areas the first 10-14 miles but then it becomes more rural and is beautiful countryside. As we were traveling we got “buzzed” by a 4 prop cargo plane. It reminded us of our son –in-law who is a Load Master for the US Air Force. We were going against the current at 2000 RPM only 9-10 miles/hour versus 12 miles / hour with the current on the Ohio River. We reached out destination at 4:00 PM (Central). It was windy and we were glad that we had four persons helping us get into the slip. We confirmed that our boat needs 17.6 feet to clear a bridge, because the slip opening was 17.3 and our anchor light was bend down as we entered.   It is fixable.

Once we got settled we retrieved the rental car and began our 4.5 hour drive back to our Marina. We will continue our adventure