Scott here

Now we are cruising the mighty Mississippi River. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the river, especially anchoring on the river. We need to get fuel yet and a pump out. If we don’t do that today yet, that will be our first thing to do in the morning at 8 am. Here is our plan.

Initial Plan
Date: 10/13/23
Route name in Aqua Maps: TD: 10/13/23 (Alton to Hoppies)
Nebo Link: Click here
Crew: Captain Scott, 1st Mate Rita, & K9 Jazzy
Start at: 7:45 am for fuel, leave at 8:45 am
End at: 3:45 pm
Total Time: 7:00 hour ((4:42 travel time + 2 locks)
Distance: 42.4 miles
Fuel Plan: 20 gallons
Long stop: Kaskaskia Lock (an additional 42 miles, so everything would have to fall in place with the locks!)

We will be going by the St. Louis Arch today and that should be pretty cool. Hoppies Marina isn’t much of a marina. A couple of barges to tie off of, fuel, and power. We expect this week to be pretty tough. Probably rougher than the IL River, just due to time and the stress I am putting on myself. Hopefully, after this week and I will have the comfort level I need to be more comfortable with my skills and the boat.

Obstacles we will encounter.
TM 1.7 (mm 200.8): Melvin Price Lock
TM 15.5 (mm 185): Chain of Lakes Lock (Busiest lock in the US)
TM 42.4 (mm 158.3): Hoppies Marina
**There is NO PLACE to anchor in these 42 miles, so we would need to leave Hoppies no later 1 pm to even try to get here. I just don’t see that happening. **
TM 84.4 (mm 117.6): Kaskaskia Lock and Dam