State of Confusion: Leaving MO on the MS to the OH on to KY

Day 127  | Cape Girardeau, MO to Paducah, KY  |  10.3 Hours  |  84 Miles  |  1 Lock 

Alarm clocks rang out early on the five Looper boats anchored in the Little Diversion Channel. Everyone was up and ready to depart at 6:30. The sun seemed to have turned off its alarm, rolled over, and gone back to sleep. The morning was heavily overcast and dreary as we all re-entered the Mississippi River bound for the Ohio River, fifty miles away. It seemed that the tow captains were a bit more chatty this morning. Several wished our group safe travels and told us to be safe. One captain finally clued us in to the fact that there had been an accident the previous evening involving a fast-moving 46-foot SeaRay and a barge. The sunken wreckage could still be seen on the shoreline as we passed by. We move far slower than that boat and have much more time to examine the area and react to possible issues. With visibility of less than a mile, it takes a lot of effort to see the little boat under the bridge, even at a slow speed.

Since we entered the inland rivers at Chicago, we have been traveling downstream and have been aided by a current of as much as four knots. When we made the turn and headed up the Ohio, we not only lost our boost, but we had to fight against a two-knot current. This caused our boat speed to go from 13.2 knots, down to 6.5 knots. Life was moving in slow motion. Tow traffic on the Ohio seemed much busier than that on the Mississippi. Ship to ship radio communication was never silent. We had one lock to pass through today (Olmstead). This is a new lock/dam which replaced two smaller and older units. Today was our lucky day as the water level was high enough that the dams were down. We cruised right on through without stopping.

Rain fell heavily for a couple of hours as a line of thunderstorms followed us down the river. Eventually it let up as we approached the city of Metropolis. Yes, it is the home of Superman. No, we couldn't see any of the Superman-themed downtown from our position. I did spy the Hope Light, a replica lighthouse dedicated to cancer awareness, onshore at the Dorothy Miller Park. At this point in the day we were very happy we could see the shore.

Further downstream, but still in Metropolis, was Fort Massac State Park, the first state park in Illinois (1908). The featured statue was of Albemarle, VA native George Rogers Clark, who was the leader of the Kentucky militia in the American Revolution. The original Fort Messac was built by the French in 1757 for the French and Indian War, then rebuilt as part of the historic site in 2002. By the time we passed under the Irvin Cobb Fixed Bridge, the rain had moved through and the sun was out. Its blue color reminded us of the Norris Bridge over the Rappahannock River back home. We moved over to the far right side of the river, and tied up to the long floating dock at the Paducah (KY) Town Marina. Several other Loopers had come in yesterday and everyone pitched in to receive dock lines and tie us up.

It was a very long day and we ate dinner onboard and relaxed instead of walking into town. We will stay here for a few days and visit some museums and whatever else we may find. Kentucky is the 11th state (yes, I realize Virginia and Kentucky are technically Commonwealths) we've visited on our Loop adventure and we're looking forward to seeing as much as we can while here.