The End of Leg 1

Departed Washington at 0730, 70 miles to the Mississippi River.  Arrived at Mel Price Locks and Dam, on the Mississippi, around 1600.  Called them on the radio and they said they would have the doors open when we got there.  Much debris to go though, both into and out of the lock.

Here are my able bodied seamen (at least one able bodied)

Once we were out of the lock it was smooth sailing, with no swirling current, the autopilot required minimal adjustments to get us to Grafton Harbor Marina.

We put JULI-IV into her 3 week slip, and made haste to the Marina Refreshment Center, also known as "The Big Kahuna", there must be some trend this week as the music there was Jazz/Blues once again, Joe was in 5th, 6th, and 7th Heaven.

We have now traveled 447 miles.

Be back in a few weeks.

Survived Coopers Landing

Hoedown ended early, they decided Joe had too much fat content for prime smoking meat, and they were concerned about his ankle giving the finished product a bad flavor. We fired up the engines at 0730,
But Mike Cooper, of Coopers Landing asked if we wanted breakfast. We decided to oblige and 1 hour later departed. Weather was mild breeze at our back but 56 degrees. Electronics were fouled up, fuel flow meters were off line, radar was off line and my lapto will not boot. It seemed like we tool a lightning strike, but there was no lightning, and we were not hooked up to shore power. Got all boat systems back on line after a hour. Laptop still dead. Arrived Washington, MO at 1830, current was fast, dock was pushed at a bizarre angle, we made a hard landing and got all secured when Nate, former Commodore of the Washington Boat Club appeared and offered us the use of the Club dock, which was much better for the existing conditions. Picture below. We moved to the new dock, went to town, and encountered the Street Blues and Barbecue. Crowd was sparse due to wind and cold. A couple of photos. Back at boat at 2100, tried to watch Captain Ron, the movie, but it kept stopping and restarting at the beginning. Departed the Dock at 0715, headed to Grafton Harbor where we will leave the boat for three weeks. It was sunny and 38 degrees when we departed with a lot of small debris in water . More later

We Hear The Theme From Deliverance

Departed Glasgow at 0800, conditions were cold an brutally windy. The debris has reappeared and Joe has no explanation. Arrived at Coopers Landing around 1300. Joe cooked rib eyes to supplement the macaroni and cheese. Refueled, took on 76 gallons of gas @ 3.99 per gallon (a bargain). We have now completed 252 miles. Joe will be ceremonially smoked tonight in this cooker to kick off the weekend hoedown.
At 1600, Jeff, whose 60th birthday is today, attempted to water ski. As i said earlier, the debris was thick and water is cold, he jumped off the boat and immediately jumped right back in. He said that to ski today was not his best idea. This place has not changed much since we were here 4 years ago.
Joe has made friends with this guitar player (who home built this guitar)
Time to get ready for hoedown.

A New Day

Departed Sugar Creek at 0645, it is an entirely different day, there is little to no debris anymore, I do not know where it went, Joe says it sank, but Mark and I are disbelievers.  We had to put the windows up on the bridge, it sprinkled on us a little, but cleared up, wind was in our face at 20-25 mph all afternoon, used the autopilot most of the day, it really saved wear and tear on our steering muscles. Here is Mark resting up after his grueling shift at the helm.

Arrived in Glasgow, MO at 7:30 PM, went to Becketts Restaurant and had a fine meal.

This is what we have been driving thru, pretty is it not?

After dinner we stopped at a fine beverage emporium and met these new friends, our best one is "Tank" holding his assistant.

End of Day 1

We struggled, weaving in and out of endless debris all day long. To save fuel, only running on one engine at a time.  Starboard engine overheated after 2 hours.  Went back to running on Port Engine till night stop.  Joe grilled burgers, while starboard engine raw water pump was removed.  Inlet of pump was packed full of zebra mussells.  They suck!  Stopped for the night at ths fine facility in Sugar Creek, MO:

Departure Date

We launch Tuesday morning at Atchison on the Missouri River. River is rising 9ft overnight, so have to have the railroad bridge opened as we are too tall.