Big River: Day 16

Today was the most interesting day of the trip so far. It started out at the end of the Dardenne slough at MM 222. We began moving at 8:30 to a brisk and windy November morning… Along the way we enjoyed beautiful bluff views on the Illinois side, who knew Illinois had anything but skyscrapers and farmland?? We were told by the owners of the Lighthouse restaurant that we needed to stop in Alton, IL and eat at Fast Eddies. Alton was about a 20-mile trek from where we spent the night, and we arrived at about 11:00. We stopped at the Alton Marina for fuel and dockage so we could do lunch at Fast Eddies. I spent $200 on fuel and the guy still had the nerve to charge us a $5 docking fee, with noone else around! Honestly people… We walked a mile to Fast Eddies and found out they didn’t open until 1:00, and what do you do with an hour to spare? Got to the dollar store, of course! Interesting neighborhood, we fit in perfectly since we were in jeans and sweatshirts, and haven’t showered for two days!! You know things can get interesting when as one of the customers was leaving the store he yelled to the cashier “I suppose you guys think it is convenient that you have the police station across the street.” The oddest part: He was in the store for 10 minutes and didn’t buy anything… Yet another world’s stupidest criminals got away because it was the world’s worst cashier! And we are not even south of the Mason Dixon line yet!! One hour’s result of the Dollar Store: One puzzle, 6 birthday cards, and one can of whipping cream…

Fast Eddies opened at 1:00; we got there about five minutes to and we were order #32… The senior’s bus beat us!! We stood in line for 20 minutes for a dozen jumbo shrimp, two (1/2 lb) cheeseburgers, and two baskets of fries. Total: $8.25 – and the shrimp was good! The only requirement at this bar is that you have to order an alcoholic drink with the food purchase and there is no carryout! They also support a very interesting cliental: Seniors, Suits, College Students, Fat, Skinny, Mullets, Baldies, Crazies, Sane (us), and the occasional funk smelling soak… All in all the place had great food and a fun atmosphere, we would recommend to anyone traveling through the area. In fact, the bar is known throughout the tristate area…

On the way back to the boat we stopped off at “Rubensteins Dirty Junk Shop”… Of course, Grant had to make a new friend and we heard the owner’s life story… Ends up he was 77 years old and had been buying and selling random items for the past 50 years… Quite the entrepreneur, remind you of anyone (Coleman!! – Grant’s friend) He said he is thinking about retiring and selling the whole lot (Coleman, I can hook you up if you want to get into the porcelain tub and scrap metal business!!)…

Well, back to the boat at 3:00 and decided to get south of Lock #26 and anchor for the night… Got through the lock about 4:00 due to a northbound tow delay. It was a beautiful afternoon and we made the call to try for St. Louis, even though we realized we would probably not pull in until after dark (20 mile trip). We enjoyed a beautiful sunset (the best yet) and headed down. Well, here comes my inexperience…

So, it all started after we got through Lock #27 (the last lock and dam on the Mississippi). The lock is in a narrow canal that is off the primary flow of the river. All boat and barge traffic is required to take the canal due to low water along the primary channel. There is not a conventional dam associated with Lock #27 so they have two lock chambers. Unfortunately for us there was a barge in the adjacent chamber that had a head start, and sure enough got out ahead of us. We attempted to pass him, however it was dark and difficult to see the buoys for the channel. We got about ¼ of the way past him on the Port side and realized he was coming towards us! He was swinging around a corner and pushing us towards the shore! After repeated attempts to contact him over the radio, we backed off realizing that we would have no chance at winning that battle! No problems, we just followed him for the next few miles since we were only 5 miles north of St. Louis anyway… Slight delay.

Once we got into more open water we were able to pass the barge and get a nice look at the St. Louis skyline. Beautiful at night with the arch light up. Under the impression there would be dockage available in downtown St. Louis (Dad!), we kept an eye out for a municipal dock, or at the least a marina… Only one problem… There was nothing!! Only barges, barges, and more barges! Here comes the scary part, it was pitch dark (new moon), the river was moving twice as fast as we were used to, there were trees (yes trees) floating down the river that could tear a gaping hole in the side of the boat at any moment, and the barge traffic was so heavy that the boat was rocking violently constantly. Ok, so Grant may have gotten a little over confident about his piloting ability!! Decision time. Where do we go for the night? We can’t see, and are a 20 miles from the nearest marina, north or south… First choice is to head back north about 6 miles against the heavy current and try to find a place to anchor a mile or so up the main river where the boats are not allowed to traverse (hopefully not going too far as to hit the low water)… Well, we get up to where the main channel and the canal we came from meet and… KLUNK! Oh, God we hit a log in the river! Looking back we see a 6 foot log split into three pieces… With a quick check, we determine there is no apparent damage, and decide that even though the nearest marina is 20 miles downstream, we should try for it. After all, with the stronger current and heavy barge traffic, who knows if the anchor would hold. Best to be safe and get a good night’s sleep. Tabbie heads down below to call ahead to the marina and alert them to our late arrival, and Grant turns around to start heading south again. Well, being a novice, the best plan Grant could come up with was to follow a barge south through all of the industrial hoopla. There were literally 3-4 dozen barges, some with 15 tankers and others with only 1, but they would zig zag across the river without any concern for a foolish pleasure craft… Somehow, our luck stayed by our side and the barge we chose traveled almost the entire distance through the mess, and at a fast pace. Grant finally found the channel that the barges monitor and spoke with the one in front of us, and he helped by letting us know if we were in the way, or needed to move. After the major part of the industrial section, we still had 10 miles of water to cover to get to the marina, in the middle of darkness. Fortunately we were able to use the two spotlights we had to find the channel markers, and made our way slowly but surely, finally arriving at the marina at 10:00, over 12 hours since we left our last overnight spot.

Inside Fast Eddies (he is pointing to the Key West plate)