It's All Upstream. . .

. . . From Here

  

Carina is still moving south through the rivers along America’s Great Loop, traveling for a while with some trawler buddies. We were the tortoise, they the hares. We’d leave early from an anchorage or marina, they’d zoom past us, and slowly, steadily we’d catch up at the end of the day, after they’d stopped, of course.

An early morning sunrise casts an eerie glow on Angelo Towhead anchorage and our
trawler treasures. A mile-and-a-half after leaving here, we started up the Ohio River.

Until the Ohio River, we’d gone downstream on rivers.  Turning left off the Mississippi River onto the Ohio was the start of upstream motoring the rest of the way home.  Upstream is harder. Add to that challenge the main chambers of a couple of locks being closed for repair, creating a barge backup.

Ohio has wicket dams still used at two locations. The first Ohio lock that we faced was one of those.  At Ohio’s Lock 53, all the wicket gates were down. That speeded up traffic to the second lock since we didn’t have to lock through the first. It also speeded up the river current against us. 

A wicket dam (according to Google) is a series of gates attached to the river floor that rise up, creating individual dams. When used together, they are one big dam.

Trawler Trash No More

Our trawler buddies ahead radioed us that the current over the first lock had slowed some of them down to one mile per hour and that they worried about us making it through at all. The largest of the trawlers, Free at Last, with Steve and Meredith, were kind enough to offer to help. They turned back and towed us through the first lock and even up to the second lock. Without their help, we wouldn’t have made it through the Ohio River section in a day. We vowed never to call them “trawler trash” again. They are now our “trawler treasures.”

Steve on Free At Last races sailboats off the coast of California and 

is accustomed to towing boats, a skill for which we are grateful.

For a little perspective, another larger sailboat we met in Paducah tried the first time unsuccessfully to cross over the first lock. The current took him 8 miles per hour backwards!

Paducah -- Steamboat City, Atomic City

Tired from a stressful day, we were about to bypass Paducah until we saw a spot open on its free city dock. But first, we had to wait for the American Queen steamboat to leave Paducah. The American Queen took the place of the Delta Queen on the riverfronts.

The American Queen steamboat was launched last year by a company in Memphis. Her smokestacks were folded before leaving Paducah to enable her to get under bridges.

In short walks near the river, we found murals showing Paducah’s important atomic and nuclear history. Who knew that this small Kentucky town grew from the 1950s to house the nation’s only uranium enrichment facility. 

We shared the Paducah dock overnight with Tequesta, a sailboat from the Boston area on the Loop (and the boat that went backwards through the first Ohio lock). Together we left early, early to travel up the Tennessee River to Kentucky Lock and Dam. All of us sailboats look like gypsy boats with our masts down.

Oasis for Loopers

Another Looper said that he thought the Illinois-Mississippi-Ohio River section was the hardest on the Loop. We don’t know if we totally agree. It’s hard enough though that just about every Looper sees Green Turtle Bay Marina as an oasis. Green Turtle Bay Marina is at the top of Lake Barkley near the Land Between the Lakes.  

In the fall, the air is thick with Looper flags. Here is just a portion of Looper row. Canadian snowbirds were starting to arrive, too. They are usually in sailboats traveling to Cuba and the Caribbean.






Most Loopers stay several days.  We stayed five to regroup and see good friends. We’re kicking ourselves for not getting pictures of dinner at Patti’s Restaurant with Ken, Stan, Annie, Dan and Peggy, sailing friends whom we met through Catalina 22s.

But at least we took a picture of Dan and Peggy before they left on their cruising C-Dory, Lake Effect. They plan to do the Loop in sections, as many we’ve met are doing.

“I’ve Never Seen That Before”

Run in the opposite direction if someone raising your mast says those words. What he’d not seen before was an in-boom furling system and the flange it takes on the mast. All other times the mast was raised or lowered in 90 minutes maximum and was very thoroughly done. It was probably as thoroughly raised this time, but it took four and a half hours!

And once again, Carina's a sailboat! And we're on our way south again.

Back in Tennessee!!

At MM60, we crossed the state line into Tennessee. One minute we were dry, the next wet. The rain front hovered over the state line.

After raving about other states, we were surprised at the beauty of West Tennessee.  West Tennessee had always seemed to get the short end of the stick in beauty to us. This section of the Tennessee River proved us wrong.

Ladyfinger Bluff was where a pioneer woman leaped to her death to escape Indians.

Chalk Bluffs (they aren't really made of chalk) is part of the Highland Rim, a geological formation found in all four directions around the Nashville region. The Tennessee River cuts through part of the Southern or Western Highland Rim – we aren’t sure which. Whichever it is, its bluffs are simply beautiful.