Great Loop Date: 10.01.2010 (Friday): Leaving Superman in Our Wake…

Day #50: 1389.8 total miles (51.2 miles)
Locks: 12 total (today: 2)
Port #24– Kentucky Dam Marina; Gilbertsville, KY

Another early morning for the crew! We weighed anchor at 7:30AM in preparation for Lock #52. Unfortunately we were not in the immediate queue for the lock with two barges ahead of us. So we idled around in little circles for 2 hours. We were just a short distance away from Metropolis, IL. Metropolis claims itself as the birthplace of Superman…but there were no Superman sightings while we were there. Had he been around, he could have helped us get in the lock a little earlier!

Once in the lock, we were advised to float for the 4 foot rise. Locking took 20 minutes and we were underway on the last little bit of the Ohio River.

By mid morning, OB was leaving the Ohio for the Tennessee River at Paducah, KY. The river along Paducah was cluttered with dry docks for tows and barges. We finally we able to see what the undersides of these tows look like…and we were amazed. The props on these tows were HUGE! Many of the tows had three props. No wonder they are able to navigate upstream so well. AND no wonder we were rocked so hard with their wakes!

Passed Paducah, we came upon the famous Kentucky Dam and Lock. It is famous only for holding pleasure craft (such as us) up for hours and hours on end while passing tow after tow through the lock. It is also the biggest lock we have gone through, to date.

We were of the lucky few who only had to wait 3 hours to get into the lock. I tried to lay anchor but failed in getting a good bite. I didn’t want to go through the dog and pony show putting the mushroom on and setting up for a long stay. So we ended up doing the circle dance again. Todd has become a pro putting OB through pirouettes and slow motion twirls.

Once the lock was clear, OB, Windsong, Sea Estate and NII Wishin entered the lock with a tow, Miss Eleanor. OB was lucky to get a front port wall and bollard. NII Wishin ended up across from a frothing Miss E that pushed him into the lock wall and added some deep scars to his wood trim. No manners, that Miss E!

This lock is the biggest Todd and I have had to manage alone in all these years of boating. The lift was 57 feet, darn near what we had in the Welland Canal. Upstream Welland requires three on board; two to handle lines and one at the helm. Here I managed a line on a floating bollard midship by myself while Todd stayed with the helm to keep OB either near the wall or enough away to keep from banging the wall. We survived but it was interesting at times.
We all came out of the lock around 5PM and were just outside of Kentucky Dam Marina, our next stop. We spent four relaxing days in this comfortable setting. Our son David happened to be visiting an old Navy friend in a town nearby. He was able to stop by on his way back to Maryland on Sunday. It was so good to see him.

Todd and I also met an interesting couple, Hank and Mary on Dahl House II. They are from Louisville and live full time on a two story house boat they built with their son. It is an amazing structure complete with a steel hull that serves as a huge basement and foundation for what rises above it.

Hank and Mary began ‘full time cruising’ (no one goes by transient in this water world) in a trawler. They sold their house when they became comfortable with staying on the boat. Like most of us in urban dwellings, they decided to go bigger. They worked plans until they had something they liked. The only part of the boat they didn’t make themselves was the hull. The rest is a fortress of stainless steel, aluminum and wood. All of the wood cabinets and floors are a testament to the skills of Hank and his son. We were impressed with their creation.

The extended stay allowed me to get some much needed shopping done. The marina had a Courtesy Car we could use for free. Joan from NII Wishin and I used it Tuesday. We were able to go to 4 different stores as well as a beauty shop offering haircuts for $8. Joan was ready for a trim…I watched. I’m letting my hair grow as long as I can stand it.

OB also had her port pilothouse door adjusted. We could now get in and out all three doors easily! This was a good and much needed stop.

Good morning Sea Estate.  This is how our anchorage looked in the morning light.

Good morning NII Wishin'.  The area off our portside was heavily forested.

 

We left the Ohio River and entered the Tennessee River at Paducah, KY.



Immediately along the south shore were huge dry docks for both barges and tows.  I think we saw some of those huge ties in floating in the Mississippi!



Ingram Barge Company seemed to have a big presence all along the Mississippi, the Ohio and now the Tennessee.




Check out the size of those props against the workman near by.  We figured 5 to 6 feet in diameter.




We saw many cranes assisting with putting tows on blocks in the dry docks.




This repair areas stretched over MILES !!!




These tows and barges were waiting to be put in dry dock.



The whole operation of dry docking was amazing to see as we passed.




Another good look at new or repaired props on a tow.




A close up of the picture above.




The Looper flotilla waiting for the Kentucky DAM Lock.



The 3X5 finally makes way out of the lock.

The lock looked daunting as we headed into it.

Lined up, tied off on bollards and the lock doors were closing.  Notice the dark area on the wall?  That's the watermark.  We were raised that high in the lock...57 feet.

Gulp!!  This is it!!  You can see Miss Eleanor behind us.



Me...by myself...and a tow named after my mom (Eleanor).





Windsong waiting to rise.  Good picture to demonstrate the size of this lock.



As the doors opened, another barge was waiting on the other side.  It nearly blocked our exit.  Not a lot of courtesy was extended at this lock by the workmen or the barges.  We definitely felt like the intruders.

  

The next morning at KY Dam Marina...a bass tournament!  A couple hundred bass boats lined up and headed out at day break.

The staging area was right behind Ocean Breeze.  We were told there was big money involved in this tournament.

Our resting spot for 4 days.  Dahl House II came in behind us the second day.

 

Looking down the transient dock.  This was a huge marina with 8 of these huge docks. They also rent houseboats, pontoons and fishing boats (metal john boats).



The best part of this stop...David came to visit.

Father and son.

Todd and Jerry figuring out instructions on the pilothouse door project.

Proceeding on the project.  Part of the work was done on NII Wishin and transferred to OB.  We are so glad we can get in and out of all three doors now!