Alton Marina, IL
September 14

We stayed at Skipper Bud’s Alton Marina.  It is a beautiful facility and very nice for the price of $1.15 per ft.  We found a Caribe dinghy for sale for $500 on a nearby boat and after some negotiations we managed to make the deal.  

We moved our davits so it could be carried behind.  It Is quite a lot bigger inside than the Alliance.  We tried to ship the other one to Herman, but had no luck because it was not crated.  It would have been too expensive to ship with a crate.  We ended up selling it to a guy at the marina for $400, so we switched dinghys for $100.  Not a bad deal at all for going from 850 to 1300 lb. payload and from 48 inches to 7 ft. inside.  Much less than we had counted on.  

We met a couple on a steel trawler, Faye and J. Adams.  We ended up traveling through the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio and Cumberland Rivers with them.

We were surprised to see how beautiful the Mississippi was in this area

Statue near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Illinois Rivers

Bluffs along the Mississippi River

Hoppies Marina

Kimmswick, MO
September 16 

We traveled from Alton Marina through the two locks with no delays at all.  We fastened to a center floating bollard.  The tug Stephen Foster was in with us but we had no problems. 

As we came through St. Louis the water was quite turbulent and full of current.  We were really excited to see the arch.  It looks beautiful after all of the years it has been there.  There is a beautiful tree-filled park below and on both sides of the arch. 

Going through a large lock

Gateway to the West 
The arch in St. Louis, MO

The banks of the river were filled with barges waiting to be loaded, unloaded or moved. 

We put screens inside on the wheelhouse windows and that sure makes a difference in the shade and comfort of traveling.  

Hoppies was really nice.  The owner was super helpful and knew just how to handle the boat getting it in and out.  It was a little tricky with the fast current and the windy conditions in the afternoon.  WE didn’t go to town or anything because we had to do that little bit of work on the boat.  

Faye and J. chatting on the tie-up
at Kaskaskia Lock

Kaskaskia Lock
September 17

All 5 boats left together from Hoppies.  He just lines them up and gets them off of the dock.  He has quite a little business going there.  Just about everyone who goes down the river stops there. 

We kind of wanted to get to Little Diversion, but it was over 100 miles, so we pulled in to the dock at Kaskaskia Lock.  Wodan, a steel boat and a pair of characters on a houseboat named Tweedle Dee docked with us.  

Doug and Sally from Washington state were there in a small houseboat.  They trucked it to Minneapolis, MN and came down the Mississippi to the Illinois then back to the Mississippi and on down.  They travel about 20 miles a day and just seem to be having more fun than anyone we have met along the way. 

They  have been married 40 years and he calls her “Baby Girl” and “My Girl”.  She reads his mind.  They get along just great.  The boat doesn’t look like you would want to take it much of anyplace, but its homeport is the Columbia River.  

They plan to take the boat to New Orleans and then truck it over to Florida for the winter.  Then, they will go up the Intracoastal.  They have a better cruising attitude than anyone we have met along the way. 

Little Diversion Channel, MO
September 18, 2003

We left Kaskaskia at about 8:30.  Traveled the 69 miles to Little Diversion.  It is just outside of Cape Girardeau.  It was a really nice little place to visit when we went there about 25 years ago.  They hade a little museum with birds actually stuffed by Audubon himself.  They also had several panels covered in black fabric that had samples of lace on them.  It would be just great if the towns along the river had a little tie off so you could go to town.  

We passed several tows northbound and they were really pushing.  One said that he couldn’t push any harder or he would bury the barges.  One was pushing 34 barges.  

Little Diversion is a pleasant and very quiet anchorage.  We anchored just before the bridge and nothing went across the bridge all night.  We put down fore and aft anchors as it is only about 80 ft. wide.  The water is pretty funky with yellowish brown floating foam and lumps.  No smells, but looks like it should.  Did not run the watermaker.

Caper and Woden anchored in 
Little Diversion Channel