We left Green Turtle Bay on Lake Barkley bright and early since we knew we'd have a push against us once we hit the Ohio and headed upstream. My sister Kathy joined us for the trip up. We made good time through the first lock and down the 30 miles of the Cumberland River. Once we made the turn onto the Ohio our speed dropped to just over 5 mph since we were right below the Smithland Dam. Above the lock we were able to get back to about 8.5 mph and made our first stop at a little floating restaurant in Elizabethtown, IL. Glad that there wasn't another boat there already....
The next day we made a long run to Evansville, IN. and spent one night in each of their smaller marinas. We topped of fuel since we wouldn't have many opportunities until Louisville. Inland Marina has a small floating tiki bar and we had plenty of entertainment on a Saturday night.
The next day we met back up with our friends on Best Mate for a short day to a free dock in Owensboro, KY.
A bit above Owensboro we were reminded of why you don't want to travel when the rivers are running high. A bridge we passed collected plenty of the bigger debris that is in the river and you don't want to find.
The next 2 nights we anchored in small rivers just off the Ohio. There aren't many marinas in the stretch below Louisville. With 2 boats each of us dropped anchors in opposite directions and we tied our sterns together. There isn't much room to swing in these spots.
It was in the 90's during this part of the trip so it was nice to spend a few hours floating in the water and cooling down before turning in early. This little fells seemed to enjoy our ladder for a rest...
We had a wait of a few hours for the lock just below Louisville and it rained hard while we were waiting but cleared up just before we got into the lock. It was nice to spend the weekend of the 4th in Louisville since there was plenty to see and do.
One interesting event was the annual hatching of Mayflies. One morning we awoke to quite a few covering the boat but that night at dusk they came out for real. I know the picture just looks grainy but there are thousands if you zoom in.
It was 3 more easy travel days to our old home town of Cincinnati. We were very lucky to have family and friends along the riverfront to document our triumphant return! From the top if the Bengals stadium...
From the Kentucky shore...
And the riverfront park...
We were able to get a spot in our old marina and, amazingly, got all of our old E Dock crew together for a fantastic Sunday Funday!! I'll admit that I was a little hurtin' this morning. E Dock still rocks!!
So tomorrow we start the next leg of the adventure. It'll be a short day to anchor behind Riverbend Music Center for the return of concerts and Jimmy Buffett to town! It's always a party in the parking lot and on the river. I'll be sure to get some pictures for the next update. And yes, cheeseburgers are on the menu!
