Ohio River, Olmstead

Day Two

Q) What do skeletons say before eating? Give up yet?..A) Bone Appetite! Anyways, LOL..I thought I would start the morning out with a cute joke. What? you want another one…Okay maybe later. After Bryce was done working for the day, we had to get ready to go South on the Mississippi. We googled gas stations in the Mound City area and found one within walking distance from shore. There was a boat launch ramp so Bryce could tie the jet-ski up. We figured we might as well top off our Diesel tank. Bryce called the gas station first to make sure that they sold diesel. We are excited. That means our plans to go South on the Mississippi was a go. The only thing we are lacking on is freshwater. We can cut down our usages. By the time we were done for the day it was already to late to head out so we decided to stay anchored one more night.

We are anchored about 4 miles down stream from the ongoing construction of the Olmstead Lock and dam. Looking through the binoculars, we can see a number of tows waiting to get through the Olmstead. Apparently, they have the lock doors open and traffic is required to navigate through the quite high current in the lock chamber to get up stream to Lock 53. We could see the huge plumes of smoke coming from the tows engines as they strained to push their barges through the rushing water. The lock master mentioned we would need quite a bit of power to get through. If we couldn’t make it through the lock chamber, we would be routed through an opening in the wicket dam. But the depth was only 7 feet. In 2015 when we came through this area, we were routed through the wicket dam.

You can just make out the Olmstead Lock/dam behind the river boat in this photo.

This is the google map for the Cut Mart Gas Station. The small boat launch ramp is cut off near the right edge of the picture.

Bryce took the jet-ski to Mound City to get fuel.

In Bryces words: “I took the jet-ski to the launch ramp and proceeded to tie to a huge tree trunk washed up near shore. A southern gentleman of many experienced years on river tows warned that a tow wake could easily wash the tree and jet-ski away and suggested that I tied to something a bit more secure on shore. I followed his advice and struck up a conversation with him. He lives across the river in Kentucky. He was landing his fishing boat at the launch ramp and headed home for the day. He graciously offered to take to the gas station, then bring me back. How could I possible resist an offer like that. We talked about the river on the way to the gas station and back. He was mentioning that the river had risen 12 feet in the last week due to the rain. Apparently tows were having some difficulty in the low water. He asked me if we were the sailboat anchored on ‘The Bar’. I said yes, he said that water over the sand bar was only about 3 feet just a week ago! Even though the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers were not extremely low, the Ohio River was very low. He provided me with additional advice and places of interest on the lower Mississippi. He dropped me off, I gave him a cruising card and we said our good byes. As I was deeply engrossed in conversation, I am embarrassed to say I forgot his name. Jane would have written his name and snapped his photo. Guess that’s why she does the blog.”

This is Bryce coming back. Bryce dumped the 10 gallons of diesel in the tank filling it up. He then took the cans back to refill them.

In Bryces words: “I took the jet-ski back and tied to the same large block of concrete. Another southern gentleman was landing his fishing boat and asked where I was headed. This time I got his name: “Jim Young”. Once again, I struck up a conversation with him and he showed me this huge catfish he had caught. Jim is from across the bridge in Missouri. He was mentioning he prefers to fish the Ohio as it is a bit cleaner water. Once again, southern hospitality graciously provided me with a ride to the gas station. We discussed the rivers and he offered me advice on local places of interest down stream. These are the type of people I just love to meet.”

Okay, this shows our Priority’s beer and diesel..LOL (Patch) the name of the jet-ski is so awesome in the current. A lot better than our dinghy. Here Bryce is moving the jet-ski onto the lift.

With lock 52 down, there wasn’t much movement on the water today. We did see three twos and barges go up the river early morning. These guys are staging between Lock 52 and Lock 53 in anticipation of Lock 52 opening.

Not sure where this monster came from, but she was the only boat to come down stream. Perhaps she was trapped between the locks. She is The American Queen Riverboat. I read that it is the biggest river steamboat ever built. This vessel was built in 1995 it has 6 decks. She has about 200 state rooms. She is powered by Steam engine and diesel electric. Bryce noticed the huge smoke stacks were on hydraulic cylinders and pivots so they could be rotated down to go under low bridges!! For some really interesting info go to: www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com