We left the dock about 700 am for the run to Hoppies Marina. Our first roadblock came at the first lock which was just 15 min. away. These next few locks have 2 chambers, 1 for the barges and 1 smaller one for pleasurecraft. The debris from the flooding was so bad at the entrance to our chamber that we could not break through it. We had to wait almost an hour for the main chamber to clear before we could use it. The next lock sits on a long canal that bypasses the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers which is very turbulent. Here we had 3 tow ahead of us so everyone was stopped miles from the lock. This wait was about 2 hours. Once through there we traveled past St. Louis. The flood stage here is 30' and the river was already at 26.4' and projected to rise another 6'. That will close the river down to pleasure craft. The flooding also cause massive debris fields which we dodged all the way down as well as about a 5 mph current. 3 of us arrived at Hoppies and after being tied up we had a briefing from Fern, Hoppies wife on conditions to expect down river. Fern is a legend on the river for her knowledge. We then got invited to the marina's Sunday night pot luck dinner. During dinner we found out it was Hoppies 78th birthday so cake and songs followed. The people here are extremely friendly and helpful. We continue to watch the debris flow downriver. My internet connection is to weak to add pictures. I will add them to this post in a few days.
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| 1st lock of the day. |
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| This canal takes you to Chain of Rocks Lock around the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri. |
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| St. Louis |
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| Debris at Hoppies. |
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| Hoppies |
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| The 5 o'clock briefing. |
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| Ann & Fern |
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| Frying chicken |
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| Dinner |
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| Happy birthday Hoppie! |
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