Outa' the fryin' pan...

[yachtsmanbill]

Yeah man... the GPS doesnt lie !! From the Cumberland down the Ohio was a downhill run. At Cairo Ill. we headed against the Mississippi. INSTANTLY the cruise turned into REGRET for the next four days !!
For all the dead reckoning navigators the screen shows the Ohio / Cumberland
junction and the Ohio / Mississippi at Cairo,Il. Usually, the pics were shot at about 1400-1500 rpm.
ALL the buoys on the Miss. would appear, then get dragged under and then pop up when you were right next to them. You could only trust the position on about 60% of the anchored ones... the shore mounted day marks were OK but even some of them had been washed away !
At Cape Girardeau Mo. the river was 21 feet ABOVE FLOOD. Man, I gotta take a break... the table here is a' rockin' and my ears are still ringing from 1704 cubic inches of air goin' in... and thats per REVOLUTION !! Do the math on that one BOSS LADY !! At least the vacuum kept the salon door closed... ws

[(Nobody You Know)]

7 MPH is a chitz load of current anywhere (think of the fuel you will save if you head back south ).

Glad you made it home safely.

[yachtsmanbill]

I think I'll wait for them to dig a new canal from Chicago to Evansville,Ind !! Probably head out to the east coast next time. I hope the next time I see the big muddy is from the car window !! ws

[34Hatt]

Well its been a long journey getting it home I say you deserve a few cold ones and at least a day or two rest then it back to work on her
Just kidding make 3 days so other wise she ran good ??

[yachtsmanbill]

She ran like a ROLODEX. In 800 miles she used 2 quarts of oil per engine, and once I left it down half way to the add mark, she just about stayed there.
At 1400 she ran at 170F ALL DAY; the only troubling thing I had was the port Allison rumbles all the time. Pressure always ran at about 125 psi. We had to adjust the packing on that side twice--- about 2 flats each time. Not too bad. I'm sure the alignment is off.
Up on the fly bridge, all was smooth and quiet. I'm just glad that she didnt fail on the Mississippi... I couldnt imagine trying to set an anchor at 7 mph adrift astern. I think it would rip the front of the boat off. We set the 45# in 8 feet of water at the Cumberland / Ohio junction overnite in a 3 mph current and when she grabbed, the chain went taught and I jumped outa the way ! Slept on the couch next to the anchor drag alarm all nite for that one. ws

[ThirdHatt]

CONGRATS!!! Glad you made it back safe and sound. I bet that river experience was something else! That much current would have driven me NUTS. Glad you didn't need to use the BIG anchor!

I'm headed to Canada tomorrow to get ready for BullRun (Montreal-Key West) which begins Saturday and runs all next week, so I'll check back to read some more "Sub Stories" after I get back around the 20th.

WATCH OUT Chicago: HATT TRICK is here to stay!