River people

Captain's Log - Day 7

As we're heading south, we're seeing more and more of these houses on stilts. Some of them don't even seem to have roads leading up to them - the only way in and out must be by boat! Very interesting ... I'd like to meet one of these people and have a conversation about what motivated them to build a house there.

Good news! I know some of you have probably been anxiously waiting to hear whether or not we scraped the top of our boat off on a low bridge. In fact, we did not. We raised a passing barge on the vhf radio and he told us that the bridges monitor channels 13 and 14. Remember that - it'll come in handy the next time you boat down the Mississippi.

While they're called "drawbridges," they actually spin, as you can see. We passed through two of these bridges today without incident. Both would've been too low for us to pass under.

Keokuk Lock and Dam (Lock #19) is really impressive. We passed through it just before we stopped for the day. It's home to the only hydroelectric power plant on the Mississippi (according to one of the guys working at the lock). There's a 30 foot difference in the river's level before and after the lock/dam! Previously the largest variance we'd seen was about 10 feet. Lock #19 has floating pins that you tie off to. They squeal as they slide down their metal grooves and actually sound strikingly similar to whale songs. No joke.

I finished our book club book, The Adderall Diaries, today! I'll save my critique for later - don't want to give the book club members any spoilers. Now I've moved on to Good Omens. Like about half the things I read these days, it was recommended to me by Blake (whom I've given the nickname "Banana Sandwich" for no other reason than it makes me chuckle every time I see/say it). He didn't have to sell it too hard though - it's co-authored by Neil Gaiman. I like him more every time I read another of his works. The Sandman series is amazing, and his readings at the recent comicon in Chicago sealed it for me.

We're on the hook again tonight. We're at the southern tip of Mud Island, just spitting distance south of the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi Rivers. From the deck, we can see Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. Pretty cool.

Some of you have been asking what the overall plan is ... I bought the boat in Winona, MN and we set sail from there. We're hoping to make it all the way to gulf. We've recently learned that there are some lock closures south of St. Louis due to weather/high waters - hopefully that'll be sorted by the time we get there!

Once we get to the gulf (at the end of July), I hope to sell the boat before we head to Canada for a family fishing trip. I'm only a little concerned about the oil in the gulf, in regards to this trip. I'm guessing that the flow of the river will keep the oil from travelling up the river, and we don't plan to get out into the gulf. The oil may, however, put a damper on the used boat market ...

Updates to the casualties list :(