October 27 and October 28

Depart Hoppie’s, To Kaskaskia Lock Wall

Early morning, we are up and ready to roll. I can’t believe it is warm enough to wear shorts and flipflops.

We are in the back of the pack so the last to pull out from Hoppie’s. Sunshine picks up speed though and soon we are third in line of the boats.

Great Loop Turns to Ghastly Loop

We notice Sundancer, the boat in front of us has stopped. And is circling. What? We hear over the radio from Sundancer:

“This is not a joke. I think there is a body in the water.”

What?

“This is Sunshine. Approaching on your port to confirm.”

As Captain Pat pulls up toward the object, I go out on the bow with my iPhone to get a picture. At first glance, to me it looks like a big black and white buoy, like the ones on our boat. But closer I see the black is a pair of men’s shorts, over a bloated torso.

After some discussion among the boaters someone phones the Coast Guard. I phone Debbie at Hoppie’s – I have her cell number. She calmly tells me that she will contact the Fire Department. Hang tight and she will be back.

Debbie calls back shortly and indicates we can continue our journey. One of the other boats confirm the same message from the Coast Guard.

We did contact the barge in front of us, headed our way. That would be terrible if they were unaware and ran over the corpse.

Up the river we see on the shore the fire truck launching a Zodiac boat to retrieve the corpse.

I phoned Debbie later and asked if she had heard anything from the Fire Department. She had not.  She said unfortunately this happens more often than you would think. People are known to jump to their death, from the two bridges near Hoppie’s.

How sad. We said a prayer for the soul we discovered. May he rest in peace. Perhaps his family now can have some closure.

To the Kaskaskia Lock Wall

The rest of our ride to Kaskaskia is uneventful. Thank goodness.
We arrive at the wall around 2 p.m. Five or six Looper boats are already there, tied up. They instruct us to go behind Coconuts, a Krogen Express 49, Hull #2 (our dream boat) owned by Billy and Sara. Billy and another boater help us tie up.

More boats approach the wall for tie up. One huge boat is being delivered to Naples, Florida.

There’s some controversy when a Looper tries to tie up as the third rafter to a boat. They are friends with the two boats they are rafting up to.

The huge boat with the delivery captains had requested to only have two boats raft up as they are leaving early morning and didn’t want to hit a boat. The boat wanting to raft in threes said he had permission from the lockmaster. Who’s on first, who’s on second? Too many commanders.

We did end up rafting in threes. We had to, there were so many boats. The huge boat conceded this is ok, there is plenty of water.

Koop’s Loop ties up to Sunshine, and Squier About ties up to Koop’s Loop.

By 4 p.m. there are around 18 boats at the wall! It’s fun to meet new boaters and reconvene with some we haven’t seen in a while.  Turns out to be a nice evening.

Two women are getting their steps in, walking up and down the lock wall. Later I have regrets – I should have joined them. We are anchoring out the next two nights, so that is 48 hours not setting feet on land. I missed out.  

Always Coordinate a Wake-Up Time

Five a.m. the iPhone alarm goes off. Ugh. Captain Pat prepares Sunshine for our journey. He wants to depart 6:45 a.m. just before light. We have eggs, bacon, English muffin for breakfast.

Captain Pat begins pacing around 6:15 a.m. The two boats rafted beside us do not appear to be awake. We don’t see any lights. Finally Pat knocks on the door of Koop’s Loop. No answer. He does get a response on the next boat, Squier About. He’s just pulling his pants on.

The six boats in front of us have departed. Now Pat is really in a hurry.

“My mistake,” Pat says to the other captains. “I should have asked you last night what time you planned to depart.”

“We weren’t planning to leave until 8:00 a.m.”

That won’t work.  Squier About unties their boat from Koop’s Loop and Pat helps them secure a place on the wall. They are then nice enough to help us untie and give us a push off the dock.

Koop’s Loop hurriedly gets ready. The two of us depart around 7:10 a.m. headed to Little Diversion Canal Not bad considering the previous panic.

To Cape Girardeau

The weather is the worst I have ever seen. It’s raining but even worse is the relentless fog that greatly inhibits visibility. Not good when driving a boat.

We are going about 10 knots, trailing Paradise. I keep wiping the condensation off the front windows. Rain is coming in two of our hatches. We place bowls to catch the water. What a mess! I’m praying for the rain to stop and the fog to lift!

Captain Pat keeps in contact with Mark on Paradise. Mark is driving from his fly bridge. He’s soaked and cold but he has better visibility than Sunshine. Barges and tows keep coming and we have to radio in permission to pass.

Lead or Follow?

I am so glad we are following another boat. It’s comforting to look out and see his wake. We can barely keep the boat visible. Captain Pat speeds up to catch up. He and Mark decide to reduce speed to 9 knots.

Then I hear Captain Pat say to Mark:

“Hey, you’ve been leading a long time. If you are tired, I can gladly pass you and take over leading for a while.”

What?!?

“I am beyond tired. That would be great.”

“Ok. I will pass you on your port and take over.”

“Roger that.”

So now we are the lead boat. I am definitely more a follower than a leader. But Captain Pat is a leader. And he is always willing to lend a helping hand.

The rain subsides and we put our bowls back in the kitchen. After two hours the fog lifts and you can see the shore. The windows are still cloudy with condensation. Will have to order some anti-fogging spray from Amazon to be delivered to Green Turtle Bay! Put it on the list.

Arriving Cape Girardeau

Originally, we planned to go to the Little Diversion Canal and anchor there. Mark on Paradise confers with Captain Pat, and they decide a better option is anchoring in Cape Girardeau. So we did.

The rain subsides, just long enough for Captain Pat to get the boat secured. Mark and Mel are also tucked safely away on their boat.

Soon thereafter we are joined by other Loopers – Respite, Summer Fling, Koop’s Loop, and Blue Horizon. There is also the sailboat, Sanctuary, that has been following us.

Had we known the windy weather that was ahead – we would have realized this isn’t the best anchorage. It rains and rains – like being on Noah’s Ark. Poor Captain Pat does not get any sleep – the anchor alarm keeps going off as the anchor is dragging. Captain Pat keeps increasing the area on the app so the alarm will subside.

At our locks briefing at Heritage Harbor, Jeremy the Harbor Master gave us this rule: “For every inch of rain, delay your trip on the river by one day.” Well – I don’t think we are doing that!

I sure hope it doesn’t rain like this tomorrow when we travel 60 miles to Olmstead Lock – to anchor again.

We will have spent forty-eight hours plus on the boat before our feet hit the ground in Green Turtle Bay, Kentucky – if all goes as planned.