We were up at 7 and were hoping to get an early start, but we were fogged in. It was very cold and Darrell started the generator so we could get some heat.
We had anchored in a very narrow creek off the river and by 8 we could see the river and across to the other side. It seemed as though the fog was lifting and the 2 boats rafted to us left at 8. It was 10 minutes later, after raising both bow and stern anchors, that we followed. We were surprised when getting to the main channel the boats had stopped and were waiting for us. The
reason was extremely heavy fog. We found that the fog had burned off only in the areas the sun was hitting. There was still fog in the shaded areas. We had radar and crept ahead of them so we could lead. It was rough going for about 15 minutes. The pictures are when the fog had almost lifted.
Here is another example of how this river twists and turns. After we had been traveling 1 hour 15 minutes we had gone 9 river miles. It was 1.4 air miles.
We arrived at out last lock (the Coffeeville Lock &
Dam) a little before noon and were fortunate again that we didn’t have to wait for any commercial traffic. We were out of our last lock at 12:20. That’s a grand total of 107 locks.
After this lock we were only 4’ above sea level. The tide can now start to affect us.
We have met and passed many tows on this trip. Because all pleasure boats can maneuver easier than a tow in tight quarters, you always call the tow and ask them what side they want you pass on. For example, when meeting, they will let you know whether to pass on the 1 whistle (port to port) or the 2 whistle (starboard to starboard). They know the river much better than any pleasure boater and you do what they say. Generally when passing on a turn they have you pass on the inside of the tow.
We got to our anchorage at 4:30. It has finally started to warm up. It was absolutely beautiful this afternoon.
1 lock – total 107
