On Wednesday we left the Kaskaskia Lock wall as a group around 0800 and traveled as a group down the Mississippi River to our agreed-upon anchorage in the Little River Diversion Canal in Cape Girardaeu MO, all of us arriving and settling in by 3:00pm. We had fought strong headwinds of 20+ knots all day, which created choppy water, and we were all grateful for the calm and sheltered canal. We divided fairly evenly along each side of the canal, some of us throwing out stern anchors to keep us from drifting sterns into the center or into the bank. It was a quiet night for all of us.
Thursday (Nov 9) we headed back into the Mississippi and turned into the Ohio River. We had been going with the flow in the Mississippi, which carried us along at an extra two or three knots, and now in the Ohio, we were going upstream, fighting a one to two knot current. The faster boats started overtaking the slower boats, and we found ourselves toward the back of the flotilla. They all got to the Olmstead Lock well ahead of us, and though we did our best, the lock had a schedule to keep and we saw their doors close as we got within a mile. Most of our flotilla were able to lock through mid-afternoon. Willie Dawes and Fika were left behind to anchor and wait the next lockage. We were lucky to get through by 4:00 pm, but it was overcast and dusk was approaching, so we anchored off to the side in a spot called Bean Branch, while the rest of our flotilla decided to push on to Paducah. We had a very nice, calm night despite the fact that we were in the Mississippi and not up the Bean Branch creek.
On Friday we had an easy morning run to the Paducah city docks, where the rest of our flotilla were waiting for us, apologetic for having left us behind. (We assured them we were not the least bit upset - we just weren’t fast enough!)
Paducah is a marvelous riverfront city with a lot of history which they depict in a mural on the wall that guards the city from the river. This is where most of the tow boats that push the barges up and down the rivers are headquartered. Paducah also produces a large percentage of the world’s supply of enriched uranium and is known as the Atomic City. The city has many shops and restaurants, a performing arts center, and several museums. One of the museums is a must-see for anyone in this area - the National Quilt Museum. These are not your average bedspreads - these are works of art. We were quite impressed with the talents and designs on display.
This morning (Sat Nov 11), we left Paducah in the largest flotilla to date - eleven of us traveling in company to the Cumberland River. Paducah is situated at the confluence of the Ohio and the Cumberland Rivers. The Cumberland is narrower, and much more winding. We ran into many towboats and could hear them calling ahead to warn each other of the fleet of recreational boats coming along. I think they appreciate us traveling together, even if they’re not too enamored of recreational vessels on their river. In any case they were courteous to us, allowing us even to pass them when we encountered them in a bend in the river. 
Dan navigates past a tow pushing barges filled with gravel.
The swiftest of us arrived at the Barkley lock around 1:30 pm, and the lockmaster set the green light shortly afterwards so people could enter and get set while the rest of the flotilla came along. Dan was still the acknowledged leader of the pack even if we weren’t among the leading vessels, and he smoothly coordinated who should lock on which side and in what order. The last of our group, s/v Wayward Wind, ended up rafting to another sailboat and when the doors closed and the thirty-ish foot lift began, owner Jonathan pulled out his bagpipes and serenaded us with a medley of the military theme songs in honor of the veterans among us and Veteran’s Day. The acoustics in a big lock are pretty impressive.
After the lock we all turned into Green Turtle Bay Marina for the night, looking forward to hot showers and clean laundry. Some of us will be staying here for side trips or maintenance or other reasons, some of us will be moving on. We’ll be among those moving on.
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