Missouri: Kimmswick to Little Diversion Anchorage

Day: 91

NM Today: 96

NM Total: 1928

Locks Today: 0

Locks Total: 80

We were up with the sun once again as we knew we had a long day ahead of us.  Our travel plans changed for the day after Clark talked to the folks on Jammin Jane who had called Lock 52 for a status update.   Our understanding last night was that the lock was backed up with barge traffic and arriving late Friday or Saturday gave us a better lock-through option.  Today we learned that both chambers are operative, so we should come ahead.  That changed our distance for the day from 40 to 96 thus requiring an earlier departure time.  We pulled away from the dock at 8:15. 

Clark snapped a few pictures as we pulled away from the dock to capture the image of Hoppies marina.

Hoppies Marina as we pull away

Kimmswick (Nicest house we have seen in ages)

Kimmswick Bluffs

 All told six of us left to continue our Great Loop journey downstream – Jammin Jane, Knot Sew Easy, Movin On (from Australia), Gimme Time, Bajan Speed, and our boat (Sea Moss).  Two looper boats remained behind at Hoppies Marina – Patriot who requires repair work before they can leave and Adventure III who planned to have friends join them tomorrow.  The six of us that left made quite a parade going downriver.

Once again we found ourselves dodging tows.  We saw the largest tow we have met on any of the river system thus far with 7 long by 5 across (35 barges in all).   The tug was really cranking the engine to push that load against current upstream. 

Largest Tow We've Seen

When we were free of tows, and sometimes when we were not, we had another river feature to worry about – water turbulence.  The wing dams along the side of the river cause the water to swirl and form eddies.  Diligence is required at all times to control the direction of the boat especially since our vessel has no automated pilot; all of our steering is manual.

Water Turbulence due to wing dams

We finally arrived at the Little Diversion River anchorage at 5:00 after a long day on the water and found two boats there before us – Elizabear and a catamaran sailboat.  

Sweet Sensations Sailboat in anchorage

At first we thought we would need to drop two anchors – one off the bow and one off the stern to keep ourselves from swinging in the narrow channel.  As we prowled the area looking for a place to drop anchor, Movin On, called us over and suggested that we raft up next to them.  Jammin Jane and Knot Sew Easy rafted together for-to-aft, and we did the same.  That way one boat’s bow anchor acted as the stern for the other and vice versa.  

Sharing Anchors with Movin On

Unfortunately, we had dragged out the second anchor before their generous offer, so we had that mess to clean up to put the anchor back in storage.  At least we don’t have to deal with that in the morning.  We got the word from the other boaters here with us in the anchorage that it is anchors aweigh at 6:30 tomorrow morning – earliest departure time thus far on the trip.

Needless to say we will “hit the hay” earlier than usual tonight.