3
IT WAS RAINING AS USUAL AS WE APPROACHED STARVED ROCK LOCK AND WERE TOLD
THERE WOULD BE AT LEAST A TWO HOUR WAIT. WE WATCHED AS TWELVE BARGES AND A
MAMMOTH TUG SLOWLY INCHED INTO THE LOCK. ANOTHER TOW WAS WAITING BEHIND IT.
THEN THE LOCKMASTER CALLED US AND SAID WE COULD SQUEEZE IN IF WE WANTED TO.
THERE WAS ABOUT THIRTY FEET LEFT IN ONE CORNER OF THE LOCK WHERE THEY TUCKED
US IN AND DROPPED US LINES. THE GATES CLOSED AND WE WENT DOWN WITH THE BARGES
PRACTICALLY TOUCHING THE WALLS ON EACH SIDE OP THE LOCK. WHEN WE GOT TO THE
BOTTOM WE COULDN'T EVEN SEE THE LOCK GATES OPEN BUT WE COULD FEEL THE ENGINES
START TO ROAR ON THE TUG NEXT TO US. AS THE WATER BOUNCED OFF THE GATES .JUST
BEHIND US WE COULD FEEL OUR BOAT BEING SWEPT OVER TOWARD THE TUG. WITH LONG
LINES FROM THE TOP OF THE LOCK IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR VERONICA AND ME TO
HOLD THE BOAT. WE FELT SURE IT WOULD SWING OUT OF CONTROL BEFORE THOSE BARGES
SLOWLY BEGAN TO MOVE OUT OF THE LOCK. WE WERE EXHAUSTED AND THE BOAT HAD A
FEW NEW SCRATCHES BEFORE THAT WHOLE TOW LEFT THE LOCK AND WE COULD GET OUT.
IT WAS A SITUATION WE WERE TO EXPERIENCE A FEW MORE TIMES BEFORE THE TRIP WAS
OVER.
FINALLY, ON THE LAST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, WE REACHED THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI.
IT WAS EARLY AFTERNOON BUT WE DIDN’T WANT TO TRY TO GET THROUGH LOCK 26 AT
ALTON AND LOCK 27 AT GRANITE CITY LATE IN THE DAY BECAUSE THEY ARE 15 MILES
APART AND NO PLACE TO TIE BETWEEN THEM AND NO TELLING HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE.
SO WE CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI TO PORTAGE DES SIOUX, MISSOURI AND STOPPED AT THE
PALISADES YACHT CLUB. THEY SAID THEY COULD PROVIDE A SLIP FOR THE NIGHT BUT NO
FOOD OR DRINKS AS THEY WERE FILLING MOVING VANS WITH FURNITURE AND FIXTURES
IN PREPARATION FOR THE FLOOD THEY EXPECTED WITHIN THREE DAYS. THEY SAID THE
WHOLE FIRST FLOOR WOULD BE UNDER WATER. IT WAS THEN WE REALIZED THE MISSISSIPPI
WAS NEARING FLOOD STAGE AND WE WERE JUST AHEAD OF IT.
THE NEXT MORNING AS WE ENTERED THE ALTON LOCK, WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO DROP US
23 FEET, WE WERE ADVISED BY THE LOCKMASTER NOT TO BOTHER TYING UP AS HE WAS ONLY
GOING TO DROP US A FEW INCHES. THE WATER WAS ALREADY UP ALMOST 23 FEET.
IT WAS RAINING, OF COURSE, AS WE WENT BY ST. LOUIS, SO IT LOOKED ESPECIALLY
DREARY AND DIRTY. THERE ARE NO MARINAS OR DOCKS FOR PLEASURE BOATS SO ALL WE
COULD DO WAS LOOK AT THE VARIETY OF EXCURSION BOATS, BARGES ANO PADDLE WHEELERS
TIED UP ALONG THE WATERFRONT. WE HAD 200 MILES TO GO TO GET TO THE OHIO RIVER
AND IN ALL THAT DISTANCE THERE ISN’T A FIRST CLASS MARINA OR GAS DOCK. TRAVEL
ON THE MISSISSIPPI IS NO FUN AT BEST BUT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT PREVAILED
IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.
THE HIGH WATER PICKED UP EVERY KIND OF DEBRIS THAT COULD FLOAT. NOT ,JUST
LOGS BUT A FOREST OF TREES WITH ROOTS AND BRANCHES COVERED THE RIVER. WOOD,
CRATES AND STEEL DRUMS OF EVERY SIZE AND DESCRIPTION WERE HURTLING ALONG AT A
SPEED THAT GREW FASTER AS THE WATER ROSE. WE WERE TOLD THE CURRENT WAS RUNNING
BETWEEN TEN AND TWELVE MILES AN HOUR AND THE WATER WAS RISING EVERY HOUR. WORST
OF ALL THE HIGH WATER AND FAST CURRENT WERE SUCKING THE BUOYS UNDERWATER AND
SINCE THE WHOLE RIVER WAS A MESS OF WHIRLPOOLS YOU COULDN'T EVEN TELL WHERE THEY
WERE UNTIL THEY OCCASIONALLY POPPED UP FOR A FEW SECONDS BEFORE BEING SUCKED UNDER
AGAIN. THROUGH THIS MAELSTROM WE WENT, PICKING OUR WAY ALONG AS SLOW AS THE BOAT
COULD BE MANEUVERED WHILE EVEN STOPPING FREQUENTLY TO FIND A WAY OUT OF A COMPLETE
TRAP FORMED BY DEBRIS. NEEDLESS TO SAY THERE WAS NO SMALL BOAT TRAFFIC, ONLY THE EVERPRESENT
BARGES. ON THE RADIO WE HEARD THAT THE LOCKS ON THE MISSISSIPPI WERE BEING CLOSED ALL
THE WAY DOWN FROM MINNEAPOLIS.
THE OHIO RIVER IS MILE 0 FOR THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI. THERE IS A MAKESHIFT MARINA MADE UP
OF A FEW FLOATING BARGES AT MILE 159, HOPPIE’S MARINA. WE TIED