Just south of Alton, we transited the Mel Price Lock. A short while later, the Missouri River entered the Mississippi, completing the “Meeting of the Great Rivers” including the Illinois, which we had left earlier.
With all the rivers converging, this is a busy area, with lots of tugs with tows.
Now we pass St. Louis, Missouri, on the right descending bank, where a modern bridge is under construction.
Here’s St. Louis’ famous 630 foot-high Gateway Arch. This is the tallest monument in the U.S. and the Mississippi River’s most famous landmark. The Arch is quite a site along the riverbank, providing a focal point for the city. The banks here are mostly industrial, and there were lots of tugs and barges.
Our next stop is Hoppies Marine Services. The “dock” is made up of single barges laid end-to-end, parallel with the shore, and connected to it by a catwalk with wheels on the shore side. The wheels roll up and down a cement launch ramp, as the water rises or recedes. This is a rough and ready operation. The “dock” had power, water and restrooms, but no showers. This time through, we were the only transient at this “dock” all tied nice and snug with our bow into the 3-knot current of the Mississippi River.
Hoppies is at the town of Kimmswick, Missouri, which is on the right descending bank. Just as when we were here three years ago, this small town was celebrating Apple Butter Festival. We walked into town to check it out. Thousands of visitors (as there aren’t many residents!) thronged the streets, with hundreds of vendors selling their wares from tents.
A petting zoo featured, among other animals, a camel, an odd sight in Missouri!
Hoppies’ proprietor Fern Hopkins greeted us. This business on the river was started in the 1930s by her grandfather. The Hopkins men also worked on the river as navigational marker lamplighters for years, long before powered lights were installed. Fern told us the lights needed to be refueled with kerosene every 48 hours, which kept them very busy.
Fern is a lifelong boater and renown for her knowledge of this section of the Mississippi River. She holds daily chart briefings for the boaters, which we were delighted to attend – this time, as the only travelers at her dock! We took copious notes and asked questions, which Fern was pleased to answer. With her valuable local knowledge, we now feel we know what may be around the next bend!
After dark, a big pleasure boat arrived. The next morning we looked over Lady Chateau and met the owners from Stillwater, MN. Then, we cast off and made our way down the Mississippi.
In some places, elegant homes graced the shore.
Along both banks of the river there are hundreds of wingdams or weirs, running perpendicular to the river. These are an attempt to stop what Mother Nature intends for the river.
The weirs are sometimes invisible, submerged underwater, at various depths, but in this fall’s low water were easily visible. They are designed to deflect the river current toward the center of the river, to prevent erosion of the river banks and curtail shoaling of the channel. At Fern’s recommendation, we anchored behind one for the night, and saw how it protected the area from any stray barges which might come loose from the tows – which they occasionally do!
The river has ample navigational marks, and the speed of the current is evident from the “wake” around this stationery navigational buoy. We were getting about a 3-knot current boost, less than our last transit of this area at much higher water.
An attractive town on the right descending bank is Cape Girardeau, welcoming mariners with a levee mural.
At Cairo, we anchored for the night in Angelo Towhead. While it looked wide open and unprotected, it was recommended by Fern, and turned out to be safe from tows and winds, and calm for the night.
The moon rose over the Cairo Bridge.
The next morning, we did a hard left up the Ohio River. Parked barges were stacked up on both sides of the river for the first few miles, creating the illusion of no passage at all. Here, as we are going upriver. We have lost our 3-knot boost and now have a 2-knot head current, making it slow going. In the short section of the Ohio River we will transit, we will not be in the state of Ohio, but have Illinois on the right descending bank (our port side) and Kentucky on the left descending bank (our starboard side).
Just as was the case three years ago, the new Olmsted Lock is STILL being constructed. It’s a huge project, with a considerable land-based staging area, and year’s worth of work.
When completed in 2013, this lock will replace two old-style wicket locks that are upstream.
We enjoy seeing the activity along the riverbanks. Here, many tugs and tows await lockage at creatively-named Lock 52.
We found a perfect place to anchor inshore of Cumberland Towhead Island and well out of the shipping channel. We had stopped here three years ago and remembered the security and quiet of the anchorage. The sunset was beautiful, and we slept peacefully with a 2-knot current to keep us snug on our anchor.
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