October 15, 2008: Girardeau, Mo.

This morning it was bright and sunny as we pulled away from Hoppies and headed out into the broad and rolling current headed south on the Mississsippi.


The banks are white sedimentary rock cliffs standing tall above the river. We passed some huge mansions overlooking this stunning view and also some more modest places farther along. The river is bustling with commerce and we saw the largest barge configurations, 24 barges (4 across and 6 deep).


We passed by an enormous quarrying operation. They were slicing up the side on the mountain, giving the appearance of an Egyptian pyramid. There was a huge dump truck depositing rock into a barge as well as a series of conveyor belts running out to the river that were likely used for smaller crush.

Ms Fern at Hoppies told us that she couldn’t understand “those southern barge skippers” when they were talking so I thought I would jot down some of the responses we got when asking them whether it was okay to pass them We understand Southern so we had no problem with them at all, both in accent and vernacular... the terminology is based on the rules of water navigation. We always ask about passage because we are much more nimble than a tug pushing a load of barges, and if he is turning, you intuition about where he is going might not be right. We set it as a priority to stay out of their way.

“See you on the one.” – He meant it is okay to come past the tug on the right as you normally do in passing head-on traffic.
“Passing on the two is good” – He meant we could overtake him on the left just like you would normally pass a car headed in the same direction.
“Come on by on one whistle” – Same as “see you on the one”. The whistle comment is because instead of calling him on the radio with voice communication, we could have communicated by blowing the whistle.
“Got to take a hurry when you can” – He was cordially giving us leeway to pass.
“This is LeeAnn Ingram” – They usually call out their tugboat name; but it sounds strange to hear a man’s voice say “This is LeeAnn”

We also saw several huge sandbars along the river where the chart plotter said there should be water. Tom’s book says that the Mississippi carries over 100 million tons of silt to the Mississippi delta every day. Well, after the flood, some of it was left behind here. There are interesting stone wings built out into the river all along the way. The theory is that if you can keep the swift water in the center of the river, the current will keep the channel dug out. Having said that, we came across an US Army Corp of Engineers operation in the river that was dredging, perhaps because of the flood residue. He was taking up about have the river, but we easily passed him on a two whistle.

The river water itself was fascinating today. Because the Mississippi is so winding, there are not long runs of water where wind can make waves – not any fetch. But there is a lot of turbulence due to current and from the passing tug boats. When a tug boat is pushing 24 barges loaded with coal and he is pushing north against the current, he is really stirring the water. Add to that a pass in a bend in the river when the tug boat is turning and you can really see some agitation. Near the tug boat, he is pushing out waves, but even way behind him, he has left the water churning. The river is swirling like a pot of water on the store that is just beginning to boil.

We saw the most interesting floodwall today surrounding Cape Girardeau, Missouri. This little town was established in 1793 as a trading post. This was an area which continually flooded banrupting the businesses in town until 1964 when the wall was built. The wall stood on the bank and rose maybe 20 feet high blocking the view of the city proper to the skyline. The wall was decorated with a beautiful mural of city sights and had a couple of huge gates that were open allowing access to the banks from the town streets. It looked like it had been effective for protection from the flood last month when the water would have been over the bank, but unfortunately it separates the town from the view of the water during normal periods.


Just a little past Giradeau, at five o’clock we turned in a narrow little tributary to the west of the river. The banks are steep and muddy here from all the flooding, but it is a safe anchorage. TNTY went 110 nautical miles today – maybe the farthest we have been in a single day – and we ran at around 20 knots most of the day. Tom loves to ride with the boat on plane and the wind in his face. We are anchored tonight just below the Marquette light on the Mississippi in Scott County, Missouri. We can hear the katydids and watch the sun set over the Little River Bridge.