Quarantining on a Boat

When I was talking a fellow Looper, Charlie McVey few months ago, he mentioned that he and a friend were planning on a boat trip he was calling The Down South Loop. (see the post, Rain, Race, Sunshine for part of my travel with Charlie and Robin).  The trip plan was to leave his home marina at Pickwick Lake and travel down the Tennessee River to the Ohio River down to the Mississippi River. Take the Mississippi to New Orleans. Cross the Mississippi Sound to Mobile Bay. From there it is just a short trip (470 miles) up the Tenn-Tom Waterway to Pickwick Lake. Wow, that sounds great, I said. Well if Jim backs out, let me know, I would love to go.

Guess what, In January I got the call.  The timing wasn’t going to work for Jim. Sorry for his luck.

I immediately jumped into planing mode. We want to get ahead of the rainy (and mosquito) season of the far southern part of the Mississippi River basin (late April and May). We figure finishing up in mid April is the best option. We estimate that 1,800 mile trip should take about 18 travel days, add a few weather days and we are at 3 weeks.  Weather permitting, our plan was to depart March 20, It could be a chilly start, but we can watch the weather and adjust departure accordingly.

We broke the trip into roughly 100 mile segments, looked at marinas and anchorages at the end of each segment. Since we are a little ahead of the boating season, we needed to make sure we can get fuel at a few key points. Yep, the marinas are open for fuel. Some of them may not have water turned on yet, we we can get fuel and tie up for the night.

In the meantime, Charlie is getting the boat ready. Oh, did I mention this trip is going to be in his pontoon boat?  He put a new engine on the boat and added a second bimini to cover the front of the boat. We both purchased a cot with a canopy over it for sleeping. It is going to be like being on a three week primitive camping trip, except for most nights you cannot get out and walk around.

All this planning was pre-COVID-19. We debated the the go/no go, but decided that we could self quarantine on the boat. We would have very little contact with other people. So, March 23 we left from Aqua Marine on Pickwick lake and headed out for our three week adventure.

The Official Down South Loop Burgee

It was a little chilly on the water as we headed down the Tennessee River

Some homes along the river bank

Kicking up a wake, with a nice push from the river current

Somewhere along the TN River

Someone left their camper to close to the bank on the Tennessee River 

Snug in a slip at Cuba Landing, TN.
We made 103 miles and made it trough one lock on day one.

Waiting out the storm and Paducah Bound

On day two of the Great Down South Loop (a.k.a. Quarantine on a Boat), we were woke up by a thunderstorm that rolled through about 4:00 AM. I was laying there dosing off and on letting the rain on the tin roof above us lull me back to sleep. And then mother nature jarred awake with a lightning strike that was no more than a quarter of a mile away. Fortunately it was the only strike that was close. I fell back to sleep until Charlie got up to make coffee.

The rain continued off and on all day. Which was the forecast, we planned to stay two nights here. We busied ourselves with some reorganization of the boat. walked the docks to look at other boats (a favorite pastime of boaters).  Nice to have showers and facilities. But we were leaving just in time. The restrooms were to be closed on Wednesday, as a part of the quarantine orders. We are leaving Wednesday, so all is well.

Wednesday was a nice day, mostly cloudy. It would have been a warm day on land, but on the water it was cool. We had our sites set on Grand Rivers, KY were we would get gas and spend a night. Maybe order a pork chop from Patti's.

We made good time to KY lake. We found that fuel at Moors Landing was 72 cents cheaper, so we decided to stop a Moors Landing to fuel up. It was only 3:30. We called the KY Dam Lock to see about locking through this afternoon and we could head on to the Paducah City Dock. As usual the KY Dam Lock suggested that we go through the Cumberland Lock, which adds 20 miles to the trip to Paducah. KY Dam Lock said it would be at least a couple of hours before they could lock us through, and we felt like that was not a guarantee. We headed for the Cumberland Lock. The current was swift and we made it to Paducah a little after 6:00.

We got tied up and order a pizza and had it delivered to the top of the ramp. Life is good.

Old Railroad Bridge on the TN river

This was a familiar site

A little mist in the air, but if you look hard you can see the Eggners Fairy
Bridge, Hwy 68 between Cadiz and Murray KY.

A couple of eagles hanging out near KY Lake

On the way to KY Lake

Barge terminal near Paducah

Safely tied up at Paducah Dock

Sunrise from the Paducah Dock

Heading South

Day four of the Great Down South Loop (a.k.a. Quarantine on a Boat), we are heading south. Paducah, KY is our most northern stop on this Loop and we are looking forward to heading south. That means warmer temperatures, right.....

Our first challenge for the day would be the Olmsted Lock on the Ohio River. The last time I passed through this area was on the sailboat doing the Great Loop. I was going up stream and the current was not quite as strong as it is now, but it was a difficult passage (Read: Hoppies to KY Lake - Hurricane Harvey Slowing Us Down). I called the Olmsted Lock the night before and he told me just to call them on the radio when we were about three miles out to let them know that we were coming.

We shoved off  from the Paducah Dock about 7:30 AM. The river traffic was light and we were making good progress. As instructed, Charlie radioed the Olmsted Lock when we were about three miles out. He said: "OK, the lock is closed, just stay in the river channel and go over the top of the dam and enjoy your trip". This was the same as the last time, but in the other direction. They lower the wickets on the dam during high water and let the water flow over the dam. Here is a video on the wickets https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA7aueKsFdA

We made it over the dam and never saw less than 50' of depth. On we go toward the mighty Mississippi.

The Mississippi River is divided into two parts, the Upper and Lower Mississippi River. The Upper Mississippi runs from Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota 1,250 miles to the confluence of the Ohio River at Cairo, IL. The Lower Mississippi runs 1,000 miles from Cairo, IL to the Gulf of Mexico.

We have both done the Great Loop, which includes 218 miles of the Upper Mississippi, Grafton, IL to Cairo, IL.  But, the lower Mississippi is is virgin territory for both of us. At approximately 11:00 we made that transition from the Ohio River to the Mississippi ready to see what the Mighty Mississippi has in store for us.

We were making good progress down the Ohio River. The current helping us achieve 15 to 18 MPH, while still maintaining the 4.5 MPG that we need to know we can maintain.  There is a leg on this journey that is 426 miles with no fuel stops available. We carry a maximum of 105 gallons on board, just enough to make it from Greenville, LA to New Orleans, LA. More on that later.

As we made our way on south, the sun was shining and it was warming up. We decided to open the Bimini (the cover over the top of the boat) and let the sun shine in on us. Once we did this we were able to shed the winter gear and enjoy the sun shine. Big mistake. What happens when you get five hours of sun on unprotected skin? We didn't realize until that evening we both got quite a bit of sun on our face. But life was good for a while. Next time, sunscreen.

Along about 2:30 we were on a run traveling about 19 MPH and we felt no wind. The water was flat. We were enjoying life until we rounded the horseshoe bend in the river. If you are traveling 19 MPH and you feel no wind in an open boat, that has to mean the wind is at your back at about 19 MPH. When we rounded that bend things changed. We had the wind on our nose and since it was blowing against the current of the rive, it was whipping up some 4' waves. Water started splashing over the bow of the boat and we were getting soaked. We grabbed the winter gear (which is also water proof) as fast as we could. We slowed to a crawl and kept making way.  After about 45 minutes of this we decided it was time to find a spot to stay for the night. We found a place just south of New Madrid, MO.  It was a sandbar peninsula that offered us protection from the waves and the passing tow boats. Charlie ran the boat up on the sand and I, not so gracefully, jumped on to the land and tied the anchor line to a tree. Not so gracefully, the little piece of the bank that I jumped to gave way and I fell back (at least that is the way I remember it). The good news is the clothes came clean and no other damage was done.

We set up the table and chairs on the sand and cooked supper. How is that for quarantining. 

Mother Nature rewarded us with a beautiful sunset (which I did not get a picture of).
And Sunrise the next morning promised a better day.

Wickets are down on the Dam, Just drive right on over.

The lock walls on the down river side are completely under water.

Captain Charlie at the helm

Some big barge sets on this part of the journey

How many barges do you count?

It got warm enough to take off some winter clothes

Our little island set up

Sunrise from our little piece of heaven

Nope, it's a stick

Paducah, KY to New Madrid, MO

New Madrid to Memphis

Day five of The Great Down South Loop (a.k.a. Quarantine on a Boat). The lower Mississippi River is a twisting-turning river. There are a lot of ox bows in the river. We looked at one on the chart that is less that a mile across at the base but 11 miles around the bend. I am sure these barge companies could go in to buy the land and cut a channel through the narrow part. But I guess that would cause a whole new issue with river flow and what not.  I guess if they cut out all the ox bows that would have to redo all the mile marks for the river. Oh well, we just take them in stride. We know we have 840 miles on this river.

The Memphis Pyramid is one of the first things you spot arriving by water. It is one the iconic landmarks in Memphis. Built in 1991, it was originally built as a 20,000 seat arena. It now houses a Bass Pro Shop. But why a pyramid? The city of Memphis was founded in 1819 by John Overton, James Winchester and Andrew Jackson. They named it after the ancient capital of Egypt which sits on the Nile River. Since the city's namesake in Egypt is known for its ancient pyramids, why not a pyramid.

Day six was another rain out. The forecast was fore severe thunderstorms, so we decided to stay another night at Memphis Yacht Club. Although the rain didn't come until late in the evening, we were glad we exercised extreme caution. We pretty much had the dock to ourselves and enjoyed the day reading and self isolating.  A few people came and went throughout the day, but everyone was practicing good social distancing. Phillip and Amy were on the boat right behind us. They sat on tithe back sun deck of their boat while we sat on the dock. We found that he is dreaming of doing the loop. We discussed our experiences while doing our loops.

Phillip told us about Mud Island Park, which is adjacent to the Marina/Yacht Club. Inside of the park is a scale model of the Mississippi River. We walked over to the park. It is a beautiful park. The scale model of Lower Mississippi is about a third of a mile long. It is very interesting model. The detail is incredible. This was done in 1982, before 3-D concrete printing any other digital help.

By the way, Mud Island is no longer an Island. A levee was built up on the north end of the island.

We wished we could have gone down to Beale Street, but the Coronaviris isolation orders had it all closed up. We did enjoy some ribs and brisket from Rendezvous, thanks to Uber Eats.

Day seven of the Down South Loop we hope to conquer another 100 miles of the Mighty Mississippi.

An Example of an Ox Bow on the Lower Mississippi

Part of the scale model of the Lower Mississippi River
at Mud Island Park

Scale model of the Lower Mississippi River
Look at that ox bow in the top right corner. 

See Memphis in the distance?

Ah yes, there is that famous pyramid of Memphis. 

Approaching Mud Island

Our setup at the Memphis Yacht Club

Our RV

Sunset from Mud Island Park

We had to get the tourist shot.

I feel like we dodged a bullet on the way to Memphis

Cabin on the Lake Stop

We left Memphis on the morning of day 8 of the Down South Loop. It was a beautiful morning, which was welcome after the weather of the night before.

If you recall from the last post, when we pulled into Memphis we saw rain in the forecasts (we look at 3 weather apps to see if there is agreement about the forecast) for Saturday. We told Andy, at the marina office, that we would probably be staying two nights. He was also able to put us in a covered slip.

The rain held off most of Saturday. It was very windy but no rain. That changed about 8:30. Some rather thunderous storms passed over the top of the Memphis Yacth Club, where we were hunkered down. We were under two different tornado warnings that evening. Both were short lived and the actual tornado was several miles north of us.   By 9:30 the worst of it was over a,nd we had light rain for a couple of more hours. We were glad to see the sun peeking out Sunday morning.

The goal for today is to reach Bob’s cabin on Desoto Lake, which is right off the Mississippi River. Charlie has been to Bob’s cabin a couple of times, so he thinks he will be able to recognize it from the water. We looked at Google Earth and he was able to pick it out, well he is pretty sure that’s it, well maybe 60% sure. Maybe if we get there we can FaceTime Bob, if you are not sure. He doesn’t do FaceTime, Charlie says.  Well we just do the next best thing: If you get lost you just gotta pull in somewhere and ask directions. Right, Captain Ron?

The trip to Bob’s went well. We had good current all day. With the push of the current we were able to maintain 18 to 20 MPH for most of the trip. We passed the casinos at Tunica, MS a few hours into the trip. It was eerie to see empty parking lots around the casinos.

The tow/barge combos are getting larger as we go down river. The largest we have seen so far is 35 barges (5 wide and 7 long). I have a feeling this not the largest set we will see.

The only other town we passed today was Helena, AR which gave us Harold Lloyd Jenkins (a.k.a. Conway Twitty) and the longest running daily radio program, King Biscuit Time.  There is no city dock, so will have to take a rain check on the Sundial Museum (and that would not be proper social distancing, so maybe next time).

As we approach mile 625, we begin to look for the narrow entrance into Desoto Lake. Charlie remembered it as being a very narrow channel. Because of the flooding, it was no longer a narrow channel, but the gap in the trees was surely it. Thank goodness we had the course plugged into the iPad to confirm our guess.

Goodbye Memphis

Cabins along the river

There is the entrance to Desoto Lake (Bob's Cabin)

The channel is not so narrow with the water up

Sunset at Bob’s Cabin 

Parked at Bob’s

Sample of a Tow Boat 5X5

Sunset from Bob’s

Parked at Bob’s

Bob’s to Cottonwood Bar

When we arrived at Bob's Cabin it was a damp cool day. We were glad to have a warm place to bed down for the night. The weather forecast for the next day was to be similar to the day we arrived, with a slight chance of rain. We will get a good nights sleep and look at the forecast in the morning.

Bob said make yourself home. So we did.  We enjoyed a pork tenderloin from his freezer that evening. We also found a package of sausage that we put in the refrigerator to cook the next morning. There were four eggs in the refrigerator, but no one has been there since January, so we knew they were at least a couple of months old. We weren’t sure how long eggs would keep in the refrigerator. We were pretty sure if we cracked them open, it would be somewhere between egg and chicken, so we passed on the eggs.

We got up the next morning and checked the weather forecast. It was raining, but was supposed to clear later in the day.  We set 9:00 as the go/no go time. Charlie cooked up the sausage we found in the freezer. A hot breakfast is a treat on the Down South Loop.

It hadn't cleared up at 9. So we reset the go/no go time to 10:00. If it doesn't clear up by 10, we are going to stay another night.................At 10:00, it was with mixed feelings that we decided to stay another night. This may sound familiar, we enjoyed a pork tenderloin from Bob's freezer that evening and had a package of sausage the next morning.

The next morning the sky had cleared to a light overcast. We headed out. We weren't sure how far we could make it today. Charlie had arranged to have gas delivered to us in Greenville, MS.  We hope to gas and go.

As we were leaving Desoto Lake (Bob's cabin) we were following our track showing on the chart plotter from when we cam into the lake. We kept hearing something hitting the pontoons. We became extra vigilant about watching for logs in the water. We couldn't see any logs in the water but we kept hitting something. We finally realized it was the Asian Carp hitting the bottom of the boat when we saw them jumping out of the water behind the boat. Problem solved.

Those darn Asian Carp. They are an invasive species of carp that are causing problems in the Mississippi River. You can read more in this article.

The Mighty Mississippi was good to us today. We made it to Greenville in what we thought was good time (5 hours). The Greenville Yacht Club dock was unavailable to use for fueling. The ramp between the dock and land was under water. We found a wall of the parking garage for the Trop Casino that was suitable for docking and fueling. We called Scott Petroleum, who had agreed to deliver fuel to us, and told them where we were. As we got the boat tied up to the railing, a security guard for the Casino came over to investigate. He was about 150 feet away trying to tells us something. He is serious about social distancing. We couldn't hear what he was saying. He finally moved to about 50 feet away and told us the Casino was closed and we couldn't dock there. We explained that a truck was bringing us fuel and we would not be here long. He said he would have to check with his supervisor and left.

The truck showed up with a drum containing 50 gallons of non-ethanol gasoline on the bed of the truck soon after the guard left. We pumped about 45 gallons of fuel into our tank and another gallon into a fuel can.  We paid for the fuel. We all left before the security guard came back to give us permission to fuel up (I am sure that's what he would have come back with).

We headed on down river. Somewhere around mile 501 we made our last pass through Arkansas and now we would be weaving back and forth between Louisiana and Mississippi. So far we have been through parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi. Louisiana and Alabama will round out the list of states that are touched by The Down South Loop.

Near Transylvania, LA we found a great sand bar to spend the night, Cottonwood Bar (mile 468 on the Mississippi). We found some dead wood and built a little camp fire. Enjoyed a quiet evening on our own little Island, ours for the night anyway.

Tomorrow we hope to stop at Vicksburg and get fuel. There are no marinas, but we have a plan..........

Overcast day

Big Tows

That's close enough

Look at the waves behind that tow

Cottonwood Bar

Camp for the night

Ready for the camp fire