Boston Bar to Paducah KY

This shows our Boston Bar arrival near power cat, Nine Lives. We pushed off at sun-up the next morning.

These pics show our exit from the Mississippi River to the Ohio River at Cairo Point. Instead of a healthy 2.5K current to help us, we now had just as much current now against us! This adds time and fuel to the equation.

This particular morning, time was our more valuable resource. We were up with the sun to make Paducah KY early, as I had some work to do in the afternoon. Plus there was a BLASTING ZONE coming up at 10:00a.m. which meant all traffic on the Ohio River would be stopped for an undetermined number of hours. We had to get to and through the blasting zone before they closed the river!

So we sped up to see if we could make it. I knew it would be close.

Here you can see the brand new Olmsted Lock. We got here at 9:45a.m. Just 15 minutes before the river closure. This lock was the down river limit of the 2.5 mile no traffic blasting zone.

So, I radio’d the Olmsted Lockmaster and asked him WHO was the authority (Coast Guard, Army Corps, etc.) for me to ask for permission to proceed. He answered, “You’re speakin’ to him!”

So, I asked if I could continue upstream, or if I should hang back. He said to go ahead. His instructions were to go slow near the cranes and work boats, as “those guys are handling dynamite.”

((The wickets were down, so we didn’t have to go through the lock. What are wickets? Wickets ))

Here you can see the “Diver Down” flags on one of the barges preparing the explosives. These guys are in the process of doing underwater demolition of the old Olmsted Lock & Dam so it is not a hazard to future river traffic.

A few hours later we arrived in Paducah KY. Adam is a young but great Dockmaster BTW!

This city dock was rebuilt for transients like us, to welcome our business to this very nice town. The old marina was washed out by a flood. From the looks if it, this one is engineered to be here a long time!

Loopers assembled at Broussards for dinner! Thanks to Mike Hayes of Windshift for remembering to take this pic, and sharing it!!!

Top to bottom:

Ray & Diane of Radian Journey

Loren & Lisa of Irrational Exuberance

Mike & Ginny of Last Laugh

Mike & Jeanne of Windshift

Graham & Larry of Knotsofast

Ray & Shelly of Shellerina

No one was disappointed with their meal!

This is a great port in which to get re-provisioned.

After a week on the hook, we were able to take on fresh water, re-fuel, and restock the ship’s store with other essentials. For example, they have a great Farmers Market on Saturday mornings very close by the dock. It was great fun to go and trade for some of their fresh harvest and goodies. They even had live music AND a hot dog stand with the local’s gourmet twist to this versatile comestible.

Last but not least, Paducah has one of the most effective machines for pump out as we’ve ever experienced… I guess they are famous now for many things, all good.