Into the Mighty Mississippi River

Aug. 2, 2014

FRIDAY –

Pushed by the current, we quickly (at 8.8 knots) made it to Cairo, Illinois where the Ohio River enters the Mighty Mississippi. Cairo (pronounced K-row) is a bustling barge-staging arena. Tows from the Gulf, the upper Mississippi and the Ohio meet to swap loads and reassemble barge rafts at this seemingly industrial city. Actually, the population is only a little over 2000 down from 15,000 in the early 1800’s steamboat “heyday.” It’s surrounded by a levee and often floods, keeping new industry away. However, the large amount of busy barge traffic on the river at Cairo is amazing.

At 11:00 am, we rounded the corner turning north into the “Big River.” To our surprise, the Ohio at this junction is three times bigger than the Mississippi. The downstream flow of the Mississippi also dropped our speed dramatically, to 3 or 4 knots, occasionally even less. Seadream would now be pushing against the current until after St. Louis, three full days.

By 7:00 P.M., anchoring off Bumgard Island, our 8 hour run up the Mississippi had covered only 29 miles! Adding to the slow slog is the river’s continuously loopy shape. As the crow flies, walking would have been faster. I must keep reminding myself, it’s the adventure we are enjoying. Another river feature is wing dams. They’re large rocks piled in slightly slanting rows, reaching out from the banks to help channel the water flow to the center. The river is plenty wide so they ‘re not a problem but are everywhere. Just don’t run over a partially submerged one.

SATURDAY – Another “first light” departure into the channel just as a large tow passed by. The morning is fresh and cool and I just saw a white pelican flying up the river! Morning sun lights the cottonwood fluffs as they float through the air and land on the water. Only an occasional tow with barges pass so I’m not too busy. Yesterday two canoes “zoomed” by as the current carried them down stream. Brave souls!

Today we hope to go 50 miles in 10 to 12 hours! Watch our Spot to see where we end up. 

Olmsted Lock and Dam under construction on Ohio and millions over budget.

Buoy feeling the "Mighty Mississippi" current.

Saturday's sunrise at Bumgard Island, Illinois today.

Tow and barge today.

Wing-dams are the piled rows of rocks on shore that extend out to the channel.