Rainy Day - home early

Looks like we will return back to the harbor a day early as the weather forecast has changed.

Route back to Green Turtle Bay

Now at GreenTurtle Bay

It has been a little over two weeks since arriving at Green Turtle Bay.  After our arrival we stayed one day and returned to Cincinnati for the All Star Game week, and other commitments.  Ed has been back to the boat twice for cleaning and maintenance.

On August 2nd we returned, shoved off at noon on the 3rd for an exploratory trip down Kentucky Lake.  Our goal was to explore anchorages and other features as much as possible.

Barb at the helm!

Anchored out on Smith's Bay for the night. Had a little dip and kayak before dinner

We continue to check out the various bays off of Kentucky Lake for Anchorages, etc.  Makes for a slow go but interesting.  We were checking out Higgins Bay, liked it and noticed it was time for lunch so we dropped the hook.

Barb decided to check out a small island and the shoreline in the bay while I set up our Marine Traffic tracking at http://www.marinetraffic.com

Tonight we are anchored at Ginger Bay and will head back toward Grand Rivers tomorrow.

Golconda to Green Turtle Bay

We left Golconda in good weather around 9 AM, destination Green Turtle Bay.  While the distance to travel was only 48 miles we had two lock through's (Smithland and Barkely) as well as proceeding upriver on the Cumberland against current.  The Cumberland, like the Ohio is suffering from swollen waters due to rain.  We arrived in Green Turtle Bay around 3:00 PM, with our new neighbors at our dock ready to take a line!  Had dinner at the little Yacht Club tonight after meeting more folks on our dock.

 Although the Cumberland as well as the Ohio is suffering from high water, at least it is not as brown as the Ohio.  Nice change!

 Notice this large nest on the high tension pole, Don't think its sparrows or a robin.

 Lake Barkley, the smaller of the two lakes here, Kentucky Lake being the larger, is approximately 50 miles long and 58,000 acres.

Degaje looks happy in her new home, snug as a bug in the rug.

Evansville to Golconda Marina

We were up early to check if fog would delay us on our 115 mile trip to Golconda Marina.  To our surprise, no fog, only rain as an afterthought of the night before's severe weather complete with a tornado watch.  We decided to to have breakfast on the way, so we coiled electrical hookups, started the generator and engines and left by 6:20 AM.

We made good time courtesy of the 3-3.5 mph current and a quick lock through at John T Meyers Lock and Dam.  Normally we would drop 28 feet but only dropped about 6 inches due to the flooded conditions.

Tomorrow we travel through one lock on the Ohio River then up the Cumberland River, through Barkley lock on to Lake Barkley and Green Turtle Bay.

Many times the flooding makes the river look like a small lake

 Riverfront at Mt Vernon Indiana

While traveling the river for 115 miles, we did not see another pleasure craft and saw only one tow boat while locking through at John T Meyers Lock and Dam.

 Saw a total of three Bald Eagles today.

Cave-In-Rock in Southern Illinois was home to thieves and murderers who’d lure travelers into the cave under false pretenses, probably an offer of food, supplies or guidance.  The pirates would then kill the travelers, dumping their bodies into the Ohio River and erasing their names from history.
Due to high water you could paddle to it today, normally requiring a hike down from the cliff top then up.

Hotel/B&B and Restaurant in  Elizabethtown

Owensboro to Evansville

We left Owensboro around 9 am for a relatively short 30 miles to Evansville.  There, we planned on deciding whether to wait a day for better conditions, rent a car and go home for a while or push on. We decided to push on, mostly as a result of today's river, which should be no worse over the next two days.

The river was misty until later in the afternoon, with intermittent rain

 While in Evansville, we visited the LST museum,which was right next to the Marina.

As a side note, yesterday while entering Cannelton Lock and Dam, Barb was trying to push some debris away from the front of the boat when she dropped her boat hook in the water.  She uses her boat hook to loop the line on the bollard in the lock which holds the boat.  She soldiered through and did so by hand and a broom but today fashioned a boat hook from a broomstick, a bent spoon and electrical tape.

Rocky Point to Owensboro

We decided to cut our day in half and stop in Owensboro, KY to allow the River to drop in Evansville before arriving there.  We are at mile 269 of the 450 planned miles.  We traveled most of the day in rain, including during the lock thru at Cannelton Lock and Dam.  Barb took the brunt of it as she was the line handler while I stayed dry (for the most part) maneuvering the boat.  The marina in Owensboro is very basic, and on the river.  Most things in town are more than a mile away because of a circuitous route around an industrial area, so we are hanging out on the boat catching up on reading, emails, etc. Additionally, a new system producing some heavy rain and thunderstorms, mostly over our projected route, so more delays are possible.

We will do our best to get to Evansville tomorrow, but after that is based on forecasts.

 Chartplotter view of our lock through at Cannelton Lock and Dam

 Raining most of the day

Some debris are entire trees

Louisville to Rocky Point Marina

As previously posted, we had a 129 mile day today.  What was not planned was fog that delayed us about an hour and a half from departing.  Drift (debris) was typical for the high water levels and there was a fair amount of commercial river traffic catching up for the 4th of July holiday.  The good news was that we have ascertained the "push" we are getting from the high water levels is helping a lot with fuel economy, so we did not pack extra gasoline in 5 gallon cans on the deck, though dodging drift has added undetermined amount of miles to a typical trip down the river.  We arrived at Rocky Point Marina 10 hours after departing from Louisville, less than the anticipated time, but partially due to 300 extra rpm (2300 vs 2000) in our speed.

Foggy morning delayed an early start

 

 Bridge construction in Louisville, boaters view

 Louisville's historic water tower, built in 1860 in Greek Revival style.

 

Locking through McAlpine dam in Louisville 

Caesar's casino near Louisville

 River pics

This area, known as the"Big Bend" is 2/3rd mile by land, 8 miles by river

At Rocky Point