Life at 6 (kn) - Sailing the Loop: Hoppies to KY Lake

Lesson Plan at Hoppies "Marina"

Well we finally made it to Paducah. It was an exciting trip. The exciting part started a week ago in Around Kansas City. No we didn't take Lesson Plan to Kansas City, but the heavy rainfall from the KC area a week ago made it its way down the Missouri River to the Mississippi about the same time as we were making our way through St. Louis. By the time we woke up at Hoppies Marina the river was flowing very fast.

Sun rays through the clouds

So our first challenge of the morning was to get off the dock. The currently held us tight to the dock all night long. It was great for sleeping, knowing the current was trying to push you into the dock and not away from the dock. But now, we had to push away from the dock. Turns out its not as hard as you think (or at least as I thought).

Look at this monster coming at us

So off we go down the Mighty Mississippi. We normally cruise about 7.5 MPH with no current, we hit as high as 12 on the Mississippi. I am not sure Lesson Plan has ever seen 12 MPH. We made it to the anchorage just below Cape Gerardeau well before sunset. A 110 mile day was a new record for us. Phantom (the boat we traveled with from Alton) was waiting for us in the canal. We talked with Herb and agreed to get an early start in the morning so we could make it to Paducah early. We slept well at anchorage and got up before the sun. We had a nice breakfast and hauled the anchor just before sunrise, about 6:10 AM. It is 48 miles to the mouth of the Ohio and then 47 miles to Paducah. I told Steve I would steer the first 48 miles and he could steer the last 47, seemed fair to me. Lesson plan was again flying down the Mighty Mississippi and we were feeling good. That's all about to change.

We were buzzed by a helicopter

Party at the beach on the Mississippi

Hurricane Harvey slowed us down. What you say! Yep, I think that's what did it. The remnants of hurricane Harvey dumped a lot of rain up both the Cumberland and the Tennessee River Valley, and to a lesser extent the Ohio River Valley. All that water ends up coming down river and causes the Ohio River to become very swift. Poor little Lesson Plan was making 11 to 12 MPH on the Mississippi. We made the 48 hours in just about 4 hours. We rounded the point to start up the Ohio and our speed dropped to 5.5 MPH. At this speed we will make Paducah in 8.5 hours. It's 10:15 now so we should be there by 6:45, just before sunset (depending on how quickly we get through the locks). Wow Steve's leg of steering is going to take longer than mine. As we make our way up river we come to a more narrow section of the river, we get slowed to 5.0 MPH. Ok, we will be there by 7:40, just after sunset. Genny is giving all she has got, I think of her down there huffing a puffing and saying, I think I can, I think I can.........

Sunrise after leaving the anchorage at Little Diversion

Each bend brings a new calculation, we get to a wide part of the river and we pick up speed, up to 6, then we round anther bend and we get back down to 5. My working the calculator hard. Then we come to the first lock. I call up the lock on the radio and he says the gates are open on both ends drive right on through. A little while later he calls me back on the radio and ask how many horses I have in there (he means horsepower in the engine). I am proud of the job Genny is doing and I tell him 30 and they are working hard (I think obviously he is impressed with my little boat). Then I hear on the radio, The current if flowing pretty swift in the chamber, I'm not sure you can make it. We have been through the current under the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron (remember we got down to 2.5 MPH), I thought sure we can. In the back of my mind I am thinking, we will go take a look and back off if it looks to bad. But I tell him we don't have much choice do we, knowing I am going to back off if it looks like we are going to put ourselves or Lesson Plan in jeopardy. I thought of what my flight instructor once told me, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots".

The I-24 bridge near Paducah

I call the Herb, because he had already gone through. He says it's pretty swirlly but just stay in the middle. Great I am thinking maybe we should abort now, when I hear on the radio: "Northbound Pleasure Craft this is Olmsted, we are going to send out a guide boat and send you through the pass". The pass is a part of the dam where the wickets can be lowered and in times of high water, boats just drive over the dam, through the pass. He said he had 24' over the wicket. So the guide boat came out and sat in the middle of the pass. The captain of the guide boat said just pass me close on either side.

We can see Phantom tied up to the dock in Paducah
from this bridge

Herb was well past the lock by the time we got to there, but he turned around when he heard the radio chatter between me and the lock master. He told the lock master he was going to hang around to make sure we made it through. This is why he was voted AGLCA Harbor Host of the Year, he cares about other Loopers.

We made it to Green Turtle Bay.

In the end it all worked out, but for some reason I was sweating buckets when it was all over, I guess the temperature in the cockpit had risen about 60 degrees in the past 30 minutes. Oh yeah did I mention that when the lockmaster called and said he wasn't sure we could make it through the current in the lock, Steve reneged on our agreement that he would steer the last 47 miles, saying something about your boat, you know it better, blah, blah.

After we made it though the pass, Steve took back over piloting duties. We made it through the next next dam in the same manner, we passed over wickets that were down. The corp is actually in the process of demolishing Lock 52, but they told us to just stay in the marked channel and go over the dam.

Steve hard at work piloting Lesson Plan

So we finally made it to Paducah, 13.5 hours after we left the anchorage on the Mississippi, it was a grueling day.

The next day we headed toward Lake Barkley and Green Turtle Bay, 40 miles, an easy run.... so we thought. First we had to wait on the thunderstorm to pass before we could get started. Then we found that the current on the Cumberland River was as bad or worse than the Ohio. But we made it to Green Turtle Bay by 3:45, 9 hrs to run 40 miles.

Getting started after the storm

The next day we took our time getting out of Green Turtle Bay to make the short run up to KenLake Marina. Steve and I traveled 1,448 together on Lesson Plan. I has been a great trip with him. We met a lot of memorable people and had some great experiences. But, all good come to an end. Lesson Plan will get to rest for a while at Kentucky Lake. I will return October 24 with new partners (Frank and Carol Kersting) for the next leg of the trip, KY Lake to Mobile AL. So tune in again in October for more excited tales of Life at 6, The adventures of Lesson Plan.

Don't forget to take a look at the Map; Travels of Lesson Plan