Upper Miss. River Mile 158.5 to Mile 117.3

0825 Departed mile 158, Hopies Marine Service after 45 min walk in Kimmswick, MO.
Current is almost 5 MPH. Had to go over some diversion dikes which are similar to wing dams but are in 40 to 70 feet of water. You can see them come up about 5 feet on the depth sounder history screen.
1215 Arrived at the Kaskaskia lock which is a half mile off the Miss. on the Kaskaskia River. Lock master is very friendly and was glad to have us stay here. They also provided 20 amp shore power which is great. Partly sunny and 59 degs. and very windy again.
Joe and Arvilla

Upper Miss. River Mile 218 To Mile 158.5

Tuesday 23 Oct 07 departed Grafton Harbor which is at the mouth of the Illinois River. Very nice new marina. Did 2 locks with 90 mins lock delay. Hit a wing dam at mile 198, no green buoy marking the end and was not watching chart close enough. The water is very muddy and very turbulent below St. Louis. The current is 4 mph so we are making good time. 1530 arrived Hoppie's Marine Service at Mile 158.5. Very wonderful people at Hoppie's. Fern gave us all a class on the waterway all the way to Mobile,
AL.
Joe and Arvilla

Upper Miss. River Mile 283 To Mile 218

Monday departed Mile 283 at 0730. Did 2 locks with 3 hours of lock delay. Very windy, rainy and 45 degs. for high temp. 1735 arrived Grafton Harbor. Had major computer problems so used backup computer and could not do any email. Will try to send this via ham radio on Tuesday.
Joe and Arvilla

Upper Miss. River Mile 283.2

Wind forecast is for 30 MPH guesting to 40 so we will stay in Louisiana,MO for one more day. We may take a road trip to Hannibal,MO with some friends from the Lake of The Ozarks area.
Joe and Arvilla

Upper Miss. River Mile 327 To Mile 283.2

Stayed three nights in Quincy due to high winds. Worked out good because we got to visit with Bill and Diane and some of her family. Departed Quincy 0705. Very windy and lots of floating debris all morning. 90 mins. lock delay. Sunny all day with a high temp. of 68 degs. Arrive Two Rivers Marina across the river from Louisiana,MO at 1310. Possibly stay here two nights.
Joe and Arvilla

Upper Miss. Mile 404.5 To Mile 327.2

0830 Depart Burlington, IA. 60 mins. bridge delay and 75 mins. lock delay. Lock 19 had no Tow traffic but lots of maintenance delays. The River is getting very wide and no bluffs for the past few days. No drop at lock 20 and the current has been about 2.5 MPH. With the higher current and the wider channel I have been steering with the computer and mouse. Arrived Quincy Boat Club near Adams Landing at 1848.
Joe and Arvilla

Upper Miss. River Mile 455.5 To Mile 404.5

Five new public docks at Muscatine with 30 & 50 amp. Lots of surge in Muscatine harbor due to high flow on the river. The flow at Lock 18 was 92,158 cubic feet per second (cfs). The flow at Trempealeau on 11 Oct. was 53,000 cfs. So the river has come up a lot. The current was 2.5 mph today.
0830 Departed Muscatine,IA. No lock delay at either lock.
1412 arrived Bluff Harbor Marina at Burlington,IA. Arvilla and Jan walked to town. Rain in AM and partly sunny in PM.
Joe and Arvilla