Mayfly Invasion, Close Encounters of the Heavy Kind and Back in Cleaner Waters

A 0630 departure from Paducah would allow us to travel in cooler air for a while and arrive at Green Turtle Bay before it gets so hot in the afternoon.  But first, we had to deal with the massive mayfly hatch that covered the outside of Viridian and the inside of the flybridge, (flybridge, get it?).  Some cultures enjoy making a paste from these flies mixed with mosquitos and formed into a cake for eating.  The firstmate and chief cook was not interested in taking on a new "culinary experience" so she washed them off with the hose while underway and picked them one by one out of the fly bridge.  This took a good portion of the morning to accomplish, but soon we were fly-free.

By the time the flies were vanquished, we were turning off the Ohio River and onto the Cumberland River.  Why not just go down the Tennessee River?  That looks like the logical route to take by virtue of distance alone, but Kentucky Dam has a reputation of being one of the busiest commercial dams in the country; add to that the heavy construction underway, and a little pleasure craft takes a back seat when it comes to passing upriver.  The Cumberland River eventually takes you to the same place, but the Barkley L&D is usually not busy, as was the case for us, so we took the longer way.

The Cumberland River section that we traveled on is mostly remote.  There is this huge rock crusher plant, Lafarge Aggregate, that keeps tugs working 24-7 bringing large boulders for crushing and taking barge loads of aggregate away for construction use.   Up the river a piece is Cumberland River Quarry and Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel. Before getting there, the river makes a 90-degree turn to starboard.  Naturally, the AIS showed a vessel that appeared to be a tug arriving at the turn at the same time we were getting there.  The velocity of the tug was only 2 mph, which could just be one of the little service boats that help move barges around for filling.  As we approached the curve we could see a barge loaded with boulders creeping around the bend.  Usually, we just pass on the One without yacking on the radio with the tug captains, but there seemed to be no end to the stack of barges coming around the bend.  There soon looked to be more barge than bend, so I picked up the mic and called the tug captain.  We found out quickly that there was no room for a pass and were told to stop, turn around and get away because he was fixing to go to full power to make the turn.  The narrowness of the river made simply turning left or right a non-option, so shifting into reverse and backing around then turning was the way we had to go.  Normally this is a no-brainer; you just do it.  This time the engine dies when shifted into reverse.  Like popping the clutch.  This happened once before in Little Diversion Creek when we backed down on the anchor to get it set.  Long story short, we got back underway and out of the barge’s way and were soon safely past and on our way to GTB.  After discussing the engine stopping situation with the boatyard repair shop, we decided it had to be the cutlass bearing rolling up and binding the shaft when shifting into reverse.  It never happens when shifting onto forward, and if a little throttle is added before shifting into reverse it transitions smoothly.  Now that we know what it is, we can manage this until we get to a boatyard on the Pickwick and get it fixed.

Barkley L&D was putting a tug up so, we had to wait a few minutes before we could be put through.   But soon enough we were in and out and on our way to Green Turtle Bay Marina, where several other Loopers had stopped as well.  We got a ride in a 6-seat golf cart with two other couples to a pizza house and had a good time telling stories and eating pizza.

We will stay here a few days and do some scheduled maintenance before heading south to Pickwick.

That's the news and here's some views:

We are here 

Today's route from Paducah, KY to Green Turtle Bay Marina, KY

Going to work

Sunrise on the Ohio River

Dredging Operation

Looking tired

The Cumberland River Inlet

Wonder how that got skewed

Rock Crusher on the Cumberland River

Heavy load coming around the bend

There she goes

Peaceful cruise on the Cumberland River

Locking through Barkley L&D, KY

Serious Ddiscussions

Old Man River, Loose Barges, Muddy Fluddy Waters and Half Fast Ohio

Little Diversion Canal in Cape Girardeau turned out to be one of our top 5 anchorages on our Loop adventure.  After spending all day on the fast-moving, muddy, churning with debris-filled, monster tugs "Old Man River", this tiny inlet was an instant relief at the end of a long day.  The current was so strong we had to pass the Little Diversion inlet before turning upriver to make our approach.  As soon as we turned in to the Little Diversion inlet, the Mississippi released its grip on Viridian and we were instantly in smooth, clean water.  A RR bridge about a half-mile up stopped all large boat traffic in the canal but left a 90-foot wide by 30 feet deep channel for several boats to drop a hook in.  The slight current kept all boats pointed upstream and the tall tree-lined banks protected us from any wind coming from the north or south.  The bottom was soft mud and the anchor set on first try.

Not a ripple from the tug traffic all night, and Viridian and Gypsy Spirit weighed anchor and slipped past the other two Looper boats that had come in behind us.  It was 0630, and we checked the AIS for commercial traffic coming downriver before powering upstream back into the Mississippi river, then turning downriver to head south to Cairo where the Ohio meets the Mississippi.  Shortly after getting underway, the USCG came on CH-16 to announce that 10 barges had broken loose at a location about two hours south of us.  I just happened to switch our secondary radio to CH-73 and picked up the conversations between tugs that were rounding up the loose barges, and it sounded like cowboys roping wild steers on the open plaine.


This alert was mistaken by the commercial traffic as an "All Stop" situation.  As a result, we were the only boats moving on the upper Mississippi and started to wonder if we were missing something.  I decided to call the USCG on CH-16 and get an update to see if we should avoid the area altogether.  The USCG person said that it was all clear and to proceed on through.  So we did.  Later, a tug captain called the USCG and asked if they could start moving too.  The USCG said that they never issued an "All Stop", just a "Proceed with Caution".  This was news to the tug captains so they got him to repeat that statement again.



By this time, we had arrived in the Cairo area where there was still a minor flood warning in effect.  The Ohio River meets the Mississippi here, and we made a port turn and our speed was cut in half.  It felt as if we were going nowhere fast.  The river widened and barges and tugs were everywhere.  The muddy floodwaters spread out like an ocean and the sun beat down a 94-degree temperature. With the wind at our back we were stewing in our own juices.  The firstmate went below, turned on the generator and fired up the a/c.  It was smothering hot on the flybridge, and aluminum foil was used to shield our electronic equipment from the direct sunlight that heated it up like a fried egg.



We soon approached the Olmstead Lock and Dam construction project, an over-$3B project that will replace the two upper locks and make it less congested on this high tug traffic area.  We sailed right on past in the pre-marked channel and into another debris area filled with trees, sticks, logs and a basketball or two.


As the sun began to sink behind us, it started to cool a little, and the views on the river at late afternoon were spectacular.  We pulled into our dock at the Paducah City Docks, tied up, hooked up and turned on the a/c.  Shared another meal with Gypsy Spirit and crashed as soon as our heads hit the pillow.



Paducah, KY is where the Tennessee River meets the Ohio River. We will spend two nights here before heading down the Cumberland River to reach Green Turtle Bay Resort, where we will stay a couple of nights before continuing south on the Tennessee to our point of crossing our wake at Grand Harbor Marina on Pickwick Lake, MS.


That's the news and here are the views:

We are here:

Today's Route from Little Diversion Canal, MO to Paducah, KY

Early morning at Little Diversion Anchorage, MO

Another day on Old Man River

Where's my sunglasses?

Mighty Ohio River

Olmstead Lock and Dam on the Ohio River

The travel lift in the background transported huge concrete structures that were manufactured on site for the modular construction of the Lock and Dam

Closer to Paducah, KY

More obstacles to avoid

Viridian Docked at Paducah City Docks, KY

Willow fly hatch

Willow fly infestation

Configured for big floods

Loopers at Paducah, KY