Good-bye Mississippi…Hello Ohio River

When I last left the blog, we were ready to head down the Mississippi River for about 115 miles.  We left our anchorage at 6 o’clock sharp and arrived at Angelo Towhead at 5:45 P.M.  Yes, that was almost 12 hours on the river, but we were at the mouth of the Ohio River…yahoo!  Angelo Towhead was the ONE safe harbor in that whole 115 miles.  We were “tucked” in behind the river bridge away from the barges and tugs.  The trip down was somewhat uneventful.  When I say we saw lots of barges and tugs, I mean LOTS of barges and tugs.  The river is rather winding at this point, so you give them lots of room and stay out of their way.  My biggest adventure that day was to learn to use the radio.  Another looper woman had told us the tug captains responded more quickly to a woman on the radio than a man, so I was willing to give it a try.  Now I must say, all of the tugboat captains have quite a Southern accent…so I put on my best voice and called the tugs…”Edward G. Ellsworth, this is Sailing Vessel Kathryn asking permission to pass.  On which side would you like us to go?”  He would respond right away and tell us to go on the “1” or on the “2” (river language for port or starboard).J  It doesn’t take much to entertain me!

Tug Boat Pushing Barges on the Mississippi




This photo shows the tug and the first pair of barges. There were four more pairs of barges in front that you can't see. Some of the tows had 24 barges




Anchorage at the junction of the Mississippe and the Ohio Rivers (Angelos Towhead).

Sunrise at Angelos Towhead

 

Yesterday morning, we were up and ready to leave Angelo Towhead just in time to see a beautiful sunrise over the mouth of the Ohio River.  Another boat, Time and Tide, had anchored with us, also, so we all left at the same time.  Our guide book for the river trip said there would be many barges tied to the shore and moored in the river, with many tows working in all directions, stay alert!  Oh my goodness, that was so true! One point of interest on the Ohio is the city of Metropolis, IL.  As we well know, Metropolis is the home of Superman.  They have his picture painted on their watertower.  There were no sightings of his superpowers, I might add. We had to go through two locks on the Ohio (lock #52 and #53). They are notorious for being VERY busy with locking barges.  Well, luck was on our side and we had a brief 20 minute wait at lock 52.  As we went up river, we saw lock 53 farther ahead and Time and Tide were ready to enter the lock chamber.  A tug boat captain called us and told us to throttle down and try and make the lock.  Our “new” friends on Time and Tide talked very nicely to the lock hands and asked them to hold the lock for us, and we slid in there just before they were ready to close the gates…whew!  We would have had to wait at least another two hours if we had not made that lock!  LUCKY US!

Lock 52.  The first lock on the Ohio.  We are rafted off of Time & Tide.



Bill in Lock 52

Next stop for the night was Paducah, Kentucky on the riverfront docks.  We tied up with Time and Tide and were ready for a little happy hour.  When loopers talk, an often asked question is, “How did you get the name for your boat or what does it mean?”  So in our conversation last night we asked just that question of Time and Tide.  I liked their explanation…time and tide waits for no one!  Good choice.

Bill and Nancy at the Paducah Free Dock.

We left Paducah this A.M. and have just made a right turnJ onto the Cumberland River, which will take us through a large lock and then to Green Turtle Bay on Kentucky Lake.  We plan on staying there for a few days with all of the great things a marina offers! Until our next “visit”, so long from the S V Kathryn!