We spent a lot of time talking about the weather this morning because the next 3 nights are anchor out time. There are 4 boats that will be travelling together (Champ III, Once Upon A Time, Terrapin and Lindy). We have about 260 miles to reach the next
marina, Green Turtle Bay. The weather was forecast for possible thunderstorms today but there was nothing on the radar this morning in our area or the area we were going to. More thunderstorms for tomorrow and a cold front is coming thru on Saturday that will drop the temperatures from 90 to 70.
We ended up leaving Hoppies about 9:00 and headed down river. Lots of tow traffic in either direction today. We had some really large tows that we passed. We talked to
all the captains to make sure we did what they thought was best. All of them were very good in communicating what they needed done. Never any hesitation in their voice on what they wanted you to do. Some of the tows were quite large. The last one we passed was 5 wide by 6 deep. Quite a bit of cargo in 30 barges.
Most of the day was sunny with some clouds but we did have a light shower for about 10 minutes in the early afternoon. Nothing serious and so we were fortunate the forecast was not correct for us.
We did pass a River Boat Paddle Wheeler near Chester IL. They were going into the bank and there was a tour bus and large van waiting along side the river for the boat. I think they were going to unload passengers from the paddle wheeler. Chester Illinois is also the location of a State Penitentiary that is located along the banks of the Mississippi.
We Arrived at the anchorage approximately 3:15 and had all the boats anchored by 4:00 and the dogs on shore by 4:30. Candy got to meet Tasha from Terrapin on
shore. They had a great time running around the sandy shore.
The adults had their docktails on Once Upon A Time and we got to know everyone a little better. Great Group of People but we did have one argument start when it became apparent one couple were Spartans and the other couple were Wolverines. Well not really an argument but each displayed their loyalty to their schools.
It was a good time with smoked catfish that was purchased in Grafton so it was Mississippi catfish.