Hannibal to St. Charles, MO and then a short day to Alton, IL

Saturday: What a day. It started out with a beautiful walk along the river in Hannibal, MO. We got a early start and went through our first lock; there was no one outside and there were no ropes to hang on to so we floated. We have never experienced this before. Got to the second lock and the same thing happened only this time, at the end, someone came outside and we asked him about it. I guess when it is high water they let you float. Both locks went down less than a foot.

I called in the morning to make reservations for that night at Timber Lake Marina, Elsberry, MO, and it was closed due to high water. She said we could tie up at our own risk; they only had 30' slips, and there was no electric or water because of the high water. We passed. We tried several others before we got a yes to electric, water, and length of boat at Two Branch Marina, St. Charles, MO, but when we got there it was a covered slip and we did not fit under it. We ended up at Riverbend Marina which I had already call and they only had 30' slips. The owner was gone but the boaters fixed us up at the end of their dock and plugged us into another boaters electric who was not there. They were very friendly and helpful people. By this time we had put almost 80 miles in for the day, it was hot and humid and we were tired. We took showers, ate, and had a few drinks with our new friends and were in bed by 22:00. Everywhere we went today people were dressed like pirates and talking like them; they really get into the day.

Sunday: Today was a short day, slept in a little and headed for Alton, IL, by 09:30. It was hot and humid again and very windy. Got to the gas dock by 11:45 and to our slip by 12:45. Got set up and headed for the pool. We both are taking the rest of the day off.

CO's comments: This is the end of our second week on the river. A good lesson that we have learned these past few days is when making slip reservations always tell them the length, width, and height of your boat so you won't have the problem we had yesterday. We are staying in Alton for 3 to 4 days so yes Craig I am going to wash the boat (for the 2nd time in 2 weeks).

Degrees_____Minutes_____Seconds
Lat.
N 36 53 069
Long.
W 090 10 532