Day 12 - St Louis to Cape Girardeau, MO

We pulled out of Hoppie's Marina at 8:10 AM which is our second earliest start time. The river was calm but the current was swift. The air was cool and comfortable for cruising and now we see very few boats except an occasional barge tow.

Monday morning July 15, 2013 at Hoppie's Marina.
Everything you need with none of the excesses.
We were the only ones here including the proprietor, and it was dead quite.
Only the squeaking of the dock from the motion of the water could be heard. 

I hadn't mentioned it before but on Saturday afternoon when we arrived at Hoppie's we needed gas so I proceeded to fill the main tank and it was No-Go. The gas level was up to the top of the filler cap and it wouldn't accept anymore even though the gauge on the dash panel read less than a half tank. I tried numerous tricks like rocking the boat and still no gas would flow into the tank.  I gave up and decided I'd have to brain storm up another idea in order to assure we had enough fuel to make the trip down to Cape Girardeau. A main tank only half full plus my reserve 6 gallon tank is too close for comfort. Because of this I had decided while visiting brother Nick to pick up another 5 gallon general purpose gas-can to bring along to compensate for the screwed up main tank. The half full main tank, the reserve tank, and the spare can combined would be roughly equal to the Blue Fin's normal full capacity but a lot less convenient to handle. It nicely happened that Nick had two of the exact cans I was looking for and he generously gave me one. With it filled, we set it in the boat near our luggage compartment and were good to go even though I hadn't really tackled the problem with the main tank.

By the time we got 40 miles downstream to Chester, IL (Home of Popeye) the main tank was almost empty and it was time to attempt to partially refill it with the spare can of Nick's, thinking now that the main tank was empty it would surely go in OK. But still it would not go and I could see fuel right up to the top of the filler cap. A remedy I find that's usually effective at times like this is a few choice words. I tried it and the results were the same as always. It never fixes the problem but it absolutely relieves the stress. So here we were. Sitting on the muddy bank with 5 gallons of gas in a can I couldn't get into the boat and one spare 6 gallon tank that was usable but without enough to reliably cover the 65 mile distance to Cape G. I was ready to push off again knowing that I could dump the 5 gallon can into the 6 gallon tank when it ran out in order to keep going but I was getting real tired of messing around with the smelly gas and my feet were mud caked from wrestling the boat up and onto the shore line. I got back in the boat and then started to think about the routing of the gas filler hose and the extra tube that vents the tank and pieced it together. The Ah-Ha moment struck when I recalled that Mary had been stuffing the boat covers down into the compartment where these lines were routed. If the lines were pinched or disturbed in some way then this could be the source of the troubles. Upon investigation I found that the cause was as suspected but the problem was a bit more subtle than the lines simply being pinched. The root cause was that the vent line had been pushed down below the main filler hose causing it to be clogged with gas.  It needs to open so air can pass through it. I grabbed the line and pulled it upward and just like that, the filler neck belched and burped with a splatter and sprayed gas all over me. But no care as now the filler was fully cleared so I anxiously grabbed the 5 gallon spare can, dumped it into the main tank's filler cap and was delighted when it guzzled it all away in a few minutes. Hallelujah, the problem was solved!

During the time I had been messing around with the gas I hadn't noticed that a fellow was sitting in his car at a distance watching me.  He called out and wondered what was wrong and I explained.  He asked if he could help and I said thanks but I think everything is OK now.  He insisted on helping and offered to escort me to a gas station to re-fill the 5 gallon spare tank. While I didn't necessarily need the gas I thought that since he offered why not build in a little extra safety margin and I'd also get to see if the main tank would accept even more gas making doubly sure the problem had really been nailed. I hopped in his car barefoot but you wouldn't have known it by looking because my feet were 100% caked with black mud up to and above my ankles. The fellows name was Mike and he said he didn't mind the mud and not to worry. He sure was a whole lot more tolerant than I'd be. It took about 15 minutes to get the gas and Mary was waiting patiently in the boat to keep things secure. I learned that Mike was retired from the state prison in Chester and was seeing his doctor tomorrow for the coronary stents he had placed a few months ago. He said he feels great otherwise and was heading off to visit grand kids right after lunch. I'm glad he was there to help and I presented him a 10 dollar bill for the courtesy and he graciously rejected it.  After returning to the boat I poured the second 5 gallon dose into the main tank and it sucked it right up. Now I had proof positive the problem was solved and as a bonus the main tank was nearly full. Now we could continue with confidence.

Holding the Blue Fin on the shoreline of Chester, IL.
A helper named Mike took me in his car to a gas station to re-fill my spare gas can.My feet are in mud up to my ankles and the ground grew softer
as I stepped nearer the boat.

Here are a few things we saw along the way:

Car ferry between St Genevieve, MO and Modoc, IL.

A suspension bridge for a pipeline.

We were surprised to see more sandy shoreline here compared to the
 flooding Mississippi we traveled last week.

The weather forecast calls for scattered afternoon thunder showers.
This was the scene around 2:00 PM.

The river current is still strong and adds an easy 5 MPH to our speed. When out in the channel cruising along you loose all perception of this unless you make a turn and try to head upstream. You falsely sense there is something wrong with the motor and continue to apply power. The best way to tell what's really happening is to watch the speedometer on the navigation screen. You'll see it go from a 4-5 MPH figure down to zero as you speed up the motor and then as you add more power it will climb back into what are now real positive figures. I'm essentially going backwards and need to speed up to get to a stop. When I'm trying to hold a position, such as waiting behind a dam for a lock-through, I've grown accustomed to observing the speedometer and throttling the motor until I see zero MPH to know I'm really stationary.

This is a typical wake behind a buoy due to the current.  

I spotted my first whirlpool today but I sped past it as I was too nervous to attempt a photo. It was occurring where a small tributary was entering the channel and then flowing over a downstream wing dam. It was maybe 6 feet in diameter and made a couple inch depression into the water at it's center. If Mary wasn't along I'd drive right through one of these while on plane to see what it'd do. I expect to see more of these tomorrow as I've been told there are more downstream from Cape G.

The Blue Fin extracted from the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau.
The service was provided by King Marine.
This is first time out of water in 11 days and look at the scuzz along the water line.
As soon as we get into clean waters and a nice beach it'll be bath time. Inside and out.

The Red Star Ramp In Cape Girardeau, July 2013

The Red Star Ramp in Cape Girardeau, January 2013
The perspective of these two photos is different but this is
the same place as the above left photo.

Tomorrow is a day of big change as we leave the Mississippi, traverse the Ohio, and then move through the Cumberland and on into the Tennessee rivers. Total trip length is approx 100 miles and we'll pass through locks at the Barkley dam. The wicket dams #52 and #53 on the Ohio River are down (open) due to high water so no delay will occur at these. We have plans to transient the boat at Green Turtle Bay Marina and to stay at a B+B nearby. Mary will like this place!