In the morning there were parts all around us that will make up the new Dam. They were all in various stages of completion. I couldn't even identify what most of the sections will be used for but there sure was a lot of activity.
We raised anchor and headed toward Lock 53. Along the way we passed by Metropolis, home of Superman. All I saw was a Casino, no birds, planes or speeding locomotives.
Cindy's Observations: Woke to a sunny morning with no fog so off we go. The Ohio river is very wide. There are fewer day/mile markers. Used in addition to these marks are: power lines ,power plants, boat launches, bridges, railroad trestles, state parks you get the idea. I must say Superman had quite a casino to R and R at Metropolis. If one checked the sky closely, you could see contrails at about 30,000 feet. I'm guessing they're his guarding his turf.
Lock 53 is a dam that can be lowered if there is a lot of water flowing, and it was. Which meant we could just go straight over the Dam without slowing down. We thought this was great and should get us to our anchorage earlier than the day before.
Wrong!! We called ahead to Lock 52 and he told us to proceed to the dam and wait just below the Locks, that we would be next to go up. Well, there was a short tow (9 barges, 3X3) trying to lock down in the chamber that we were going to use. He managed to get the tow almost sideways to the lock and the dam. He struggled with it for an hour or more. At times it almost looked like he was coming over the dam right at us. Finally he managed to get it straightened out and into the lock.
Cindy's Observations: See Bob? Bobs not happy. Hands on hips just waiting. Same as us. We played "Ring around the Rosy" way too long. If that tow was going to loose it and go over the spillway, YouTube was getting an exclusive.
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| Sno Daz waiting at Lock 52 |
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| Sideways Tow coming to Lock |
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| Hey!! This is a Dam, not a lock!! |
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| Spillway at Lock 52 |
Great! That should make us next to go up, right? Wrong again. The lockmaster turned the lock around and WENT BACK UP EMPTY!!! After I composed myself, I politely called the lock and asked him if he forgot us. He said that he had not and that we would be next (again). This time the tow coming down was a lot more adept at entering a lock and he went through quite quickly.
Finally it was our turn. We had waited a total of 3 hours motoring or drifting around below the Dam. I don't know about Sno Daz, but I burned a few gallons of fuel waiting.
The lock doors made quite a racket when they were closing. Later that evening I found out that Bob on Sno Daz and I were thinking the same thing; "One more time, Just one more time". we finally got through the lock at around 4:00 which was going to make it another long day to get to our anchorage at Cumberland Towhead.
Cindy's Observations: The doors sounded like that of an ancient castle dungeon. Maybe this is my reason for disliking them so. The roar of the spillway increased as we raised to the top of the chamber. Niagara Falls on a miniature scale. Passing Paducah a riverfront festival was taking place. Similar to Cape Giradeau they both have murals painted on their flood walls. Just passed the walls floating in the river oddly enough was a storm door. I am familiar with a welcome mat. But I guess things are done a little different in the south. They have an open "floating" door policy.
We sped on (8.5 mph) and finally got to our anchorage at around 5:30. After getting both boats anchored, we let them drift close and tied them together (rafted) so we could visit. We got a tour of their boat, and they got a tour of ours. We fixed something to eat, had "doctails" and visited until it got too cold and the mosquitoes got too bad.
Cindy's Observations: Once again we were glad to "drop the hook" and relax. On this voyage we will have many "firsts." This nite would be one. Rafting was new to us. Once set we had a show of little silver fish jumping out of the water, a sort of welcoming committee. Taco salad was for dinner after that another first,"doctails". It's a combination of cocktails and story telling of adventures on the loop.
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| Cumberland Towhead |
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| Sunset at Cumberland Towhead looking at the Ohio River |
Tomorrow we would make the run up the Cumberland to Barkley Lock and then into Lake Barkley to arrive at Green Turtle Bay or GTB as it is known.
Cindy's Observations: As the evening turned from dusk to dark, the nocturnal creatures' cries, calls and whoos were abundant. They too were sharing their days stories.
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