090°21.624’ W
38°21.520’ N
Kimmswick, Missouri
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| Leaving Grafton |
Barb and I departed Grafton Marina at 7:20 am and entered the hazy Illinois River. A few minutes later we were into the Mighty Mississippi River heading to Alton. We were hoping that we would be ahead of the river water level rising due to the storm Saturday night. The river has risen five feet and is expected to rise two additional feet by tomorrow.
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| Approaching St. Louis |
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| Arch in St. Louis |
We cruised to Alton Marina to purchase fuel at a much better price than where we were staying. In addition to topping off the tanks to 248 gallons, I filled the Gerri cans with and additional 40 gallons of gas. From there we entered the river and waited for Chris and Bruce to catch up with us as they departed an hour later than we did. It wasn’t very long when we spotted their boat coming down the river. We both passed through the lock and started down the river together. The current and debris in the river was something to deal with. As we passed the ARCH in St. Louis we were dodging logs and tree roots that were moving as fast as we were. The barge traffic was impressive considering the number of tows we encountered and the size of them. One of the tows had 41 barges lashed together six across and seven deep with one missing.
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| Barges |
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| Hoppies |
Later in the afternoon we all attended a river briefing for what was ahead of us. Fern who is known up and down the Mississippi was a source of valuable information and great advice.
