Ohio and Cumberland Rivers

Ohio River

I took my love for a walk, just a little walk, down besides where the water flows, down by the banks of the Old Ohio.....

Well, not much I can say about the Ohio River, it is what it is. (Gary wants me to add that he likes the rivers way better than Lake Michigan)

Where the Mississippi meets the Ohio river

 The traffic was heavy, and the current was against us. We were bombarded by the AIS constantly signalling another one of the 100s of barges as we encountered them on the 60 mile run up the river.

The new lock being constructed below lock 53

We went through lock 53 and 52 with very little hassles all though we expected the worst. Barges were lined up for miles and we thought we would have to wait our turn but they give pleasure boaters priority. Thank goodness, or else we would still be there waiting for these monsters to go through the locks one by one.

We spent the night on the free dock in Paducah. We were having cocktails with SV Katheryne when I looked up and saw a HUGE tug boat right behind us, looming over us like a monster. (They remind me of those space alien ships from War of the World, with their big spot light that looks like a giant eye)

Sailing Vessle Katheryn

We were parked on their dock; they use it to off load and on load crew…. The skipper handled that beast like a baby, it hardly touched the dock, gave his crew just enough room to jump off and on.

September 13, 2012

We had a few miles left on the Ohio before we headed up the Cumberland.

The Cumberland

What a lovely river to boat on. Nowhere to stop, till you get to Barkley Lake, but very scenic and tranquil, (probably because we didn’t encounter any large tows and barges.)

The lock at Barkley Dam was a breeze!! It is a huge lock and dam; I hope you can see from the pictures.

Barkley Lake Dam and Lock

We pulled into Turtle Bay Marina after 1pm and were met by MV Sojourner and MV Next to me.

 So nice to see friends again. For the next few days we are going to visit, relax, do some provisioning and clean the boat before we continue on with our trip.

……………………………….to be continued