3rd Anchorage
We woke up to solid fog this morning and couldn’t even see the front of our own boat. That happens this time of year, I guess, and it was burned off by 10 am so we could be on our way. It gave us time to actually fix breakfast and get showered, so it wasn’t all bad.
The first several hours of our days journey were uneventful and even pleasant. Then we turned from the Mississippi River onto the Ohio River and all hell broke loose! Out of nowhere our whole boat began vibrating. Now, the current on the Ohio is against us at about 3 knots, and I t slows our speed down by that much, so we were confused as to whether the current caused the vibration. It’s well documented that a vibration is never a good thing and usually means a dinged prop or damaged propeller shaft. Typically this happens when you hit something in the water, or run over a floating log. We did neither that we know of and are puzzled as to why this started suddenly after turning up the Ohio. The vibration is all but gone if we only go 4.7 knots, so since we are in the middle of nowhere (literally) we will go slowly to Paducah tomorrow where we have 2 nights reserved on the city docks. We will check to see if there are any obvious issues with the engine, such as a broken belt etc - otherwise we will be traveling slowly to Green Turtle Bay Marina where we can hopefully get hauled out for a hull inspection and/or engine repair. Honestly - it’s always something! The blessing in all this is that we are ok and our traveling buddies are saints! They anchor with us tied to their boat, and provide moral support all the way. It’s just scary knowing that we are so far from any help when you have a problem. I may kiss the dock at Paducah tomorrow.
Madison had a big adventure this evening. She has been peeing on a pad on the bow of the boat, but refuses to do her other business on the pad. So, she hadn’t pooped in 2 days… Steve and Tom loaded her into the dinghy and took her over to the shore (all mud FYI…) and she hopped out and pooped - twice! Steve accidentally dropped one of his oars into the river and didn’t notice, so Madison jumped into the water and retrieved it like a toy. Too funny…. She will need a bath when we get to Paducah, but she has to feel better!
We have one large lock to go through tomorrow - the Olmstead Lock. It is the busiest lock on the river system with commercial barge traffic, so often will only lock pleasure boats through once a day. We have to call them in the morning and find out when they can accommodate us and our whole day really depends on their answer. Can’t get off the rivers fast enough….
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