Tuesday: It was a long day but we did it. We combined 2 short days into one long one. We got an early start and had only 2.5 miles to our first lock on the Ohio River; Lock 53. We called ahead and he said the water was high and the wickets were down and to go right over the dam. Wow, that was a strange feeling. We saw another very large barge again today. This one had 30 barges (6 across and 5 deep) and the Tow had 3 engines again; The Tow was named "Susan Johnson".
When we got to Lock 52 we had to lock through but first we had to tie up to the outside lock wall and wait. That was interesting as it was very windy but I managed. For this lock we had to give the attendant 2 long ropes and he helped us tie up inside the lock. He was a very nice man who just got back from Iraqi with his guard unit. He said that there are only 4 locks left in the US that were this old; 1929, the 2 on the Ohio we just went through and there are 2 more on the Illinois River. We broke another fender clasp again today; so far 2 for 2. The large round fenders work good in the locks but the clasps are good for nothing. Barkley Lock on the Cumberland River is pictured.
We got to Paducah, KY and decided to keep going and skip our Cumberland Towhead anchorage. We started up the Cumberland River about noon. The river is narrow and very clean. It was a pretty quiet drive; we only met one barge. We got to the Barlkey Lock by 17:00 and locked through. This lock has floating bollards and we went up 57'. Green Turtle Bay Marina is just 1 mile from the lock. We called when we got out at 17:30 and told them we were coming in. She told Keith where our slip and pier was and that she was leaving. Keith asked for help getting in as we were unfamiliar with the marina and she said she was leaving. Their hours are until 18:00. When we got to the marina Keith call on Channel 16 and there was still a young man working and he helped us to our slip. So far we are not impressed with Green Turtle Bay Marina. We were both beat from the long day and after we were tied up didn't do much of anything.
CO's comments: I have come to dislike the Mississippi River. There are bad currents, Tows full power churning up the water, and logs & deadheads all over. A person cannot go in a straight line, we probably added an extra 10 miles with all our turning to miss junk in the water. Besides, you look at the water and it looks like mud. I was happy to turn up the Ohio. The water changed to clear water, very little debris on the river, and the tows all seem to be going at half power with very little backwash.
Degrees_Minutes_Seconds
Lat N37 0 4533
Long W88 13 5307
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