Fall 2020 Stillwater South

10/13 Well, it seems like we just returned to Stillwater, and it's already time to shove off for the winter. There wasn't much happening, but the summer certainly went fast. Whew!

So, it's time to go. The current health situation leaves us with many uncertainties. What's the business future? What's the health future? Where do we dock this winter? Can we work at all? There's so many questions, and at this point, there's no good answers. We know that Lady Chateau can't stay in the severe cold of Stillwater, so we'll have to go. We left today with the help of two good friends. Running buddy Rod and his wife, Karon, have been so generous to offer their help to get us to Alma, WI. We made it through the 8:00 AM lift in Stillwater, and we're on our way!

The first job is to get down to Red Wing and load fuel. Along the way, a gentleman called and told us that he'd send some photos of us going past his house that was a little north of Red Wing. Here's what he saw...

We made a connection last year with a great guy and a great truck to help us out. The fuel is now at an affordable price, so we fill up, and continue on.

The day is beautiful, and the commercial traffic is very light, so we're able to make it all the way to Alma, WI, right on schedule. Karon has been so fantastic in her cooking and we ate like royalty for breakfast and lunch.

After arriving at the Alma Courtesy Dock, we awaited the arrival of the first Crew change. Our faithful Crew Julie, and her fellow educational expert, Denise, arrived with an enthusiastic attitude and a carload of food.

10/14  We're off for Marquette! Well, the first choice was tying off of a Lock south of Lacrosse, but the very low River levels made that location kind of dicey. So we elected to keep on moving and made it to Marquette. It's a pretty small town, but it has a dock that's close to a casino. We were hoping to go in for the buffet, but nope, the virus-thing cut that short. Instead, we had a tasty dinner of halibut and mango salsa, and we were off to bed.

10/15  It's another casino day for us. Because we pushed a little later the prior evening, we'll have a pretty comfortable ride to Dubuque, IA. We're in early enough to get a little exercise, and a walk to the local hotel where it's happy hour ...

Then, it's back to the boat for a beef tenderloin dinner. Great job to Denise!

10/16  It's another cold and windy day ... shoot, but we're off to Quad Cities. First, we'll get fuel in LeClaire, IA. We've been stopping here for a number of years and it works out great. There's not many miles since Red Wing and the last fueling, but it's a good price, so we'll fill er up!

Looking at an old vessel just below the LeClaire dock ...

It was a quick stop, and then we're off to the Casino Dock. It's a very nice spot and we can go into the casino for a diversion. Just as we were pulling in, the crew of a boat that had just pulled in ahead of us started shouting to us. They had seen 5 feet of depth on their depth gauge as they pulled in, so they were being helpful to warn us off. Whew, that could have been bad! After pulling out they called on the radio and we learned that they were on their way to Red Wing for inside storage. Hmm, small world.

Just below the marina is a new bridge construction zone. We had the guy that owned the company that sold all the steel for this project, and I'm guessing that he did pretty well.

The last lock for the day is #15. This one has an auxiliary chamber and that's where they directed us. It's about a 12 foot drop, and a wait for the train on the bridge ...

And out we go ...

Down to the courtesy docks, just below the lock ...

There's a set of docks that were installed a few years ago. It's a good spot, but it usually has a terrible cross current as one tries to get on the dock. This year, it looks like ice may have taken out the face-dock portion, leaving us a pretty dicey piece of maneuvering ...

In addition to the strong current, the wind was really howling, too. We needed many lines to secure us and make it a little more restful night for sleeping.

A great fish dinner and a view off the aft deck ...

10/17  Our goal for today is Keokuk, IA. Because we have many miles and three more locks, we're off the dock pretty early. We lucked out on all three and made it to the Keokuk Yacht Club in the daylight. Here, we see our good friends Dian and Robbie. We always enjoy spending time with them at dinner and over to Robbie's shop. This is also where we lose Julie and Denise, and pick up Peter and Rob.

Peter and Rob drove to Keokuk from MN, and they were waiting for us upon our approach. Although they were waiting, they weren't sitting idle as we come in ...

After all of the initial check ins and hellos, we went to Robbie's shed for a piece. The group wanted to see his firetruck and sit around the table ...

Then, it was off for dinner, and back for the evening...

Before Julie and Denise drove back to MN, we had time to stop for breakfast at a small town just upriver from Keokuk ...

10/19  After a day with Robbie and Dian, we're off to Louisianna, MO. This is a day of four locks and we started the delays with the first one. We waited about an hour and a half, but we could wait at the Yacht Club Dock, so it wasn't too bad. This lock has a 50 foot drop, and it's a double-length chamber. Because of the double-length chamber, the tows don't have to split the loads, and can go through in one shot. This makes it much, much faster. And, it makes Rob happy!

Lock 20 gave us a delay, too, but on we go. We have electronics aboard that shows where the tows are located. This allows us to speed up or slow down to time a passage through the next lock. This was one of those "slow down" times, making us a little worried about getting in pretty late, but 8:30 PM wasn't too bad.

10/20  We have only two lock for the day, and we make it through the first one with no delay. The second one was going to be an issue. There were 10 tows waiting for lockage, and we had to fit in there as best we could. The Lockmaster told us that if we hurried, he could put us through right away. So, we got in right away, and were very thankful. So much so that we offered some prize possessions as a thank you. Yep, our Suzie Q's and Ho Ho's were sacrificed. Here's Pete with the boat hook, doing a hand-off ...

And the thankful Crew ...

We made it down to Alton, IL, and the Alton Marina. It's a great spot that we can't always get into. Sometimes the river level is too deep, leaving no parking lot access and a closure, and sometimes it's too shallow and we can't get in. But, this time we did, and it's a good spot for a couple days. We clean up the boat and meet some good friends for dinner in town. But, this is also where we lose Peter's help. He has to get on a plane and get back to his own life.