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| Erna E Honeycutt |
Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015
Last night we were at Quiver Island – a beautiful spot
tucked off the river. It was only about
500 yards from Tall Timbers Marina. This
morning as we exited the anchorage, we met two other boats coming out of Tall
Timbers; Harmony, from Falmouth Harbor, Maine and Manana, from Orillia,
Ontario. We were with them all the way
down the river.
We met several big tows hauling coal, chemicals and a lot of
unknowns. The tow captains are cordial
and patient with all the pleasure craft, but some of them are exceptionally
nice – offering tips on where to find an anchorage, and who is coming up the
river behind them. The Erna Honeycutt
has been near us for three days, and has let us go first into locks, and told
us how to cut in front of the barges to maximize time and our sailing line. We have learned that each barge holds a load
that is the equivalent of 60 semi-trailer trucks. Each of the tows is pushing 12 – 15
barges. On the Mississippi one may
encounter tows pushing 30 or more barges.
Best to stay out of their way.
We had only one lock today and were prepared to be held up
for two or three or four hours waiting to go through. Instead, we called about 45 minutes away from
the lock and they told us to “come on down”.
They had the gates open and we drove straight in. That meant we could travel an extra 3 hours
and so we made our way down to Buckhorn Island anchorage. Once everyone was anchored we shared stories
and got acquainted on the Reunion sundeck.
It’s always good to know who is cruising near you.
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| A view from the bridge at a railroad bridge |
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| An active Army Corps dredging opertation |
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| Barges are great company |
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| Cows! |
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| A stilt house |
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