We’re finally going to post
our first blog …Day 1 through Day 11!
Thanks for your patience!!
Please scroll to the bottom for Day 1.
Day 11 St. Charles, MOSunday, September 5, 2010
We enjoyed Sunday morning services at Our Savior Lutheran Church in St. Charles. Yes, that’s WE. We had the courtesy car again, so we headed to St. Louis for a Greek festival. Unfortunately, the lines were much shorter at Space Mountain in Disney World, so we decided to eat at a sidewalk café where we had great tacos. Greek … Mexican … what’s the difference? We’re now back at the boat, enjoying a bottle of champagne at sunset. It doesn’t get any better than this!
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 10 St. Charles, MO
Saturday, September 4, 2010
We worked on the blog and some boat chores. We then walked over to the Duck Club Yacht Club that is next to Port Charles marina. It’s a very nice club with a pool and formal dining. We had a cocktail and appetizer in the bar/casual dining room with a fabulous view of the river. Many boaters were enjoying Labor Day weekend on a nearby sand bar (similar to K Island in the Quad Cities). We walked back to the marina and headed to Sharkey’s restaurant that is on the opposite side of the marina. We had very good pepperoni pizza for dinner and enjoyed the live band.
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 9 St. Charles, MO
Friday, September 3, 2010
Up again at 6:00 am to get ready for workers. Hot breakfast on board. Checked monthly bills and online banking. The painter finished his job today. Jim washed the dingy. We had dinner on board although we got a little carried away with grilling as you can see. Good thing we both like our burgers well done!
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 8 St. Charles, MO
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Got up at 6:00 am to get ready for workers. The painter worked all day on the bottom paint and fixed several nicks in the fiberglass hull. Paul Sr. came at 11:30 to look at the inverter. He called in help from Marine Services. They debated for a long time and finally decided on a plan. Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. then worked on the fix. It was an extremely hot day. We took everything out of the compartments on deck and in the aft stateroom including the entire back of the couch so that new inverter wires could be installed. They worked until 6:30, but things are still not right. They will have to return to work on it again. When they left, we closed up all of the isinglass and it stormed – thunder, lightning, and lots of rain. But it helped to cool things down. We had pot roast, potatoes, and carrots for dinner (fixed in the crock pot at home and stored frozen for an easy microwave dinner on board).
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 7 St. Charles, MO
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
While the painter sand blasted and acid washed the bottom of the boat, we took the courtesy car and headed to historic St. Charles. But first we stopped at Locos for lunch, taking the 11 mile route instead of the 1100 mile route we took with Tom and Diann. Historic St. Charles has lots of 1800 era buildings with unique shops and restaurants. We enjoyed a fun afternoon, especially the ale at the Trail Head microbrewery. On the way back to the boat we stopped at a neighboring marina and sampled the ale at Sharkey’s, a restaurant on the river. We had dinner on board. Even though we don’t have air conditioning while “on the hard”, the cool night air (and no squeaking fenders!) made for good sleeping.
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 6 St. Charles, MO
Tuesday, August 31, 2010:
We took a day to relax, get organized, and catch up on our blog! (Yes, we know - it’s about time!) Port Charles is a few miles upstream from Lock 27 near St Louis, and one of the two lock chambers is broken. River traffic is backed up for up to 23 hours, so we have decided to stay here for a while rather than get caught in the congestion. Since we need to get the bottom of the boat painted for salt water before we hit the Gulf of Mexico, we are going to have the boat pulled out and painted. We’re also having some issues with the depth sounder and inverter, so those are also being checked. (And we know that all boaters who are reading this are thinking …yes, that’s boating for you!)
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 5 St. Charles, MO
Monday, August 30, 2010:
Dream Catcher and Noah Genda headed to Port Charles marina in St Charles, Missouri. Although Tom and Diann had celebrated their completion of the loop in Grafton, their official gold flag from America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association was shipped to Port Charles. So we enjoyed a champagne toast to their new AGLCA gold flag and their completion of America’s Great Loop. Congratulations, Tom and Diann! The four of us then used the Port Charles’ courtesy car to go to dinner at a nearby restaurant called Locos. We shared a lot of laughs … especially when we were driving all of the back roads trying to find the restaurant!
Total miles: 5 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 4 Grafton, IL
Sunday, August 29, 2010:
Cedar Hill Resort downstream from Lock 25
We left Two Rivers and went through Lock 24 and Lock 25 with a couple of fun, friendly “runabout” boats. Again the rollers were up and we floated in the locks. There was a lot of debris and flooded areas. Oops … the depth sounder stopped working, but it last recorded a depth of 41 feet. The runabout boaters invited us to join them for a stop at the next marina which was Cedar Hill Resort. It sounded like fun, but we were looking forward to meeting our friends Tom and Diann Lanum in Grafton, Illinois. Tom and Diann have just completed the Great Loop in their boat Noah Genda, and they have been extremely helpful to us with planning for the trip, blogging, general loop advice, charts, and guidebooks. It was great to see them!
Total miles: 66 Total bridges: 2 Total locks: 2
Day 3 Rockport, IL
Saturday, August 28, 2010:
Total miles: 83 Total bridges: 7 Total locks: 4
Day 2 Keokuk, Iowa
Friday, August 27, 2010:
The temple at Nauvoo, Il
We headed to Keokuk and arrived at the Keokuk Yacht Club in the early afternoon. We met some very friendly members (who are also big Hawkeye fans … Go Hawks!) who invited us to join them for burgers at the club. What a fun evening.
Total miles: 37 Total bridges: 3 Total locks: 0
Day 1 Burlington, Iowa
Thursday, August 26, 2010:
.JPG)
Our first lock - Lock 15A
We’re finally on our way! After waiting a couple of weeks for flood waters to recede down river, we departed our home port of Lindsay Park Yacht Club, Davenport, Iowa at 9:00 am. Thanks so much to our family and friends for a great send off with champagne (thanks, Scott) and balloons (thanks, Lisa)!
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| Our Savior Lutheran Church, St. Charles ... amazingly, it did not burst into flames after Hampy attended services! |
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 10 St. Charles, MO
Saturday, September 4, 2010
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| Harbor Master's truck at the Duck Club |
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| Etched glass door at Duck Club Yacht Club |
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Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 9 St. Charles, MO
Friday, September 3, 2010
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| Oops. I guess the red can was not the charcoal lighter fluid ... good thing we cooked on the neighbor's boat ... |
Up again at 6:00 am to get ready for workers. Hot breakfast on board. Checked monthly bills and online banking. The painter finished his job today. Jim washed the dingy. We had dinner on board although we got a little carried away with grilling as you can see. Good thing we both like our burgers well done!
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 8 St. Charles, MO
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Got up at 6:00 am to get ready for workers. The painter worked all day on the bottom paint and fixed several nicks in the fiberglass hull. Paul Sr. came at 11:30 to look at the inverter. He called in help from Marine Services. They debated for a long time and finally decided on a plan. Paul Sr. and Paul Jr. then worked on the fix. It was an extremely hot day. We took everything out of the compartments on deck and in the aft stateroom including the entire back of the couch so that new inverter wires could be installed. They worked until 6:30, but things are still not right. They will have to return to work on it again. When they left, we closed up all of the isinglass and it stormed – thunder, lightning, and lots of rain. But it helped to cool things down. We had pot roast, potatoes, and carrots for dinner (fixed in the crock pot at home and stored frozen for an easy microwave dinner on board).
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 7 St. Charles, MO
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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| Typical St Charles sidewalk |
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| Trail Head microbrewery |
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| Hanging out in St Charles |
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| Daniel Boone and friend |
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| Our "ship" in a sling ... |
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 6 St. Charles, MO
Tuesday, August 31, 2010:
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| Everyone warned us about pirates. We just didn't know that they would be in the slip next to us! |
We took a day to relax, get organized, and catch up on our blog! (Yes, we know - it’s about time!) Port Charles is a few miles upstream from Lock 27 near St Louis, and one of the two lock chambers is broken. River traffic is backed up for up to 23 hours, so we have decided to stay here for a while rather than get caught in the congestion. Since we need to get the bottom of the boat painted for salt water before we hit the Gulf of Mexico, we are going to have the boat pulled out and painted. We’re also having some issues with the depth sounder and inverter, so those are also being checked. (And we know that all boaters who are reading this are thinking …yes, that’s boating for you!)
Total miles: 0 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 5 St. Charles, MO
Monday, August 30, 2010:
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| Diann and Tom Lanum with their gold AGLCA flag. |
Total miles: 5 Total bridges: 0 Total locks: 0
Day 4 Grafton, IL
Sunday, August 29, 2010:
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Car ferry at Kinder's Restaurant MM 228.7  |
Total miles: 66 Total bridges: 2 Total locks: 2
Day 3 Rockport, IL
Saturday, August 28, 2010:
Approaching Lock 19 in Keokuk, IA
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| leaving Lock 19 |
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Our first lock with bollards  Our slip at Two Rivers |
We left Keokuk and went through Lock 19 which was our first lock with bollards. The lock is 1200 feet long. In locks 20, 21, and 22 the rollers were up and the lockmasters asked us to float in the chamber rather than hold lines. We arrived at Two Rivers Marina at Rockport, Illinois a little before 5:00 pm. Again we were met by very friendly, helpful staff.
Day 2 Keokuk, Iowa
Friday, August 27, 2010:
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| The fort at Fort Madison, Iowa |
The temple at Nauvoo, Il
We headed to Keokuk and arrived at the Keokuk Yacht Club in the early afternoon. We met some very friendly members (who are also big Hawkeye fans … Go Hawks!) who invited us to join them for burgers at the club. What a fun evening.
Total miles: 37 Total bridges: 3 Total locks: 0
Day 1 Burlington, Iowa
Thursday, August 26, 2010:
Showing our new AGLCA flag
Brenda and Mom
A final toast
The send off
Leaving Lindsay
.JPG)
Dream Catcher on Big Muddy's dock close to the Burlington Bridge
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| Big Muddy restaurant in Burlington, Iowa |
We went through Lock 15A with a lone canoeist who is paddling his way from Minneapolis to New Orleans - only 2 boats in the lock and both on big adventures. We arrived in Burlington, Iowa, at 6:15 pm. We enjoyed dinner at Big Muddy’s restaurant and stayed the night for free on their dock.
Total miles: 57 Total bridges: 6 Total locks: 4
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