Held Captive on the Mississippi

We are still at the Port Charles Harbor Marina, seven miles from historic St. Charles, Missouri. Lock 27 is still closed for major repairs, just northeast of St. Louis, and we have no idea when we will be able to lock through. I just read that over 30 vessels are backed up. I assume most of them are commercial tows with barges. Over 73 million tons of cargo annually pass through that lock.

We had a great evening last night. Great Loop Harbor Hosts, Dave and Joanne Berg, had Bruce from SV Tango, Joy and Dave from Maia, and us over to their boat, Great Escape, for drinks and information about where to anchor during the 228 river miles we'll be traveling without marinas. The low water levels have seriously hampered commercial as well as recreational boating. Anchorages used for years are no longer deep enough. Some barges are even aground in the rivers. There is less daylight each day, cruising at night isn't safe, and some boats only travel 6-10 miles per hour. This is where we are so fortunate to be on Snow Cat. We have economically been traveling at 16 mph and should go faster with the current on the Mississippi behind us. We also only have a draft of 2.5 feet. Most other boats need over 4 feet of water. 


After our informative get-together, the Bergs took us by golf-cart to the private Duck Club next door. We had a wonderful dinner and learned so much about the St. Louis area.

Today we drove into St. Charles with Lise and Renald from MV Tango, who were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary!

St. Charles, on the Missouri River, was founded in 1765 by a French Canadian fur trader, and played a significant role in the western expansion of the US. It is the third oldest city west of the Mississippi, and the last "civilized" stop for Lewis and Clark on their 1804 expedition. It was also the first capital city of Missouri, from 1821-1826.

Even this mill doesn't have enough water in the stream beneath it!!!

  

When the Spanish controlled St. Charles, which they called San Carlos, they lured Daniel Boone to live here by giving him hundreds of parcels of land.

Tomorrow, Tues., Sept. 18th, we will move 20 miles farther down the Mississippi to Alton Marina, at mile 202.9, so we will be closer to Lock 27 in hopes that it will open soon!!!