Hello from Evansville Indiana O-797.
This is likely the last post for a few days as we are out in the middle of nowhere with little or no cell service.
We’re at the Nu Plaza Yacht Club in Evansville which is pretty much deserted. Any resemblance between Nu Plaza and what we think of Yacht Clubs on the Tennessee is purely coincidental.
. But the folks are friendly, the dock is good there is a free courtesy van. We got ready to settle our bill tonight as we are leaving in the morning. We’ve been here two days and nights and the owner Jim said just give him something for the electricity. Had the same situation in Cincinnati when we stayed at the Riverside Marina. They said just give them something for the power which we were only too happy to do.
Came in yesterday form Owensboro, Kentucky whyere we stayed at the Redneck Yacht Club. Its well removed from anything within walkng distance but has good power and the water was still on.
. Not a long run but basically prettyunremarkable. . Passed a bunch or tows heading north on the river and had one lock to go through at Newburgh. Got right through Newburgh which was surprising as there were commercial tows waiting but they put us right through even though they were only running one chamber. .
The Ohio River here is pretty boring. Its wide ….up to ¾ mile wide or wider in places with low tree lined banks. Can’t see much beyond the banks but the Google Earth cartography shows mostly farmland on both sides of the river. The riverbank is still interrupted occasionally by coal fired steam plants with many barges of coal being unloaded along the banks, supplying electrical power to the Ohio River Valley.
We have stayed here at Nu Plaza three times before and this makes the fourth. We’ve been here enough that we know our way to Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes. The marina keeps an old conversion van as a courtesy vehicle. We’re not complaining, mind you, but this is one of the 1970 vintage “hippy vans” with the carpet on the walls, drapes on the windows and a bed in the back.
Fortunately it still runs good and great for hauling groceries. Actually compared to some marina courtesy cars we have used over the years it’s a limousine. Some of the ones we have had in various places, you just pray that it makes it back to the marina before it explodes, or the wheels fall off, whichever comes first. Open the trunk of one of these gems and you can usually find a wide variety of partially used cans of power steering fluid, brake fluid and oil, and the obligatory jumper cables.. Some burn more oil than gasoline and some should have an anchor to throw out when you want to stop as the brakes work not so good!.This one has a compartment over the steering wheel where the keys are kept that we call the snapper hole. We allways give the driver grief about putting their hand in theat “hole”.
Were out of here in the morning. Probably will have to anchor our tomorrow as there is a hundred miles of nothing in front of us until we get to Paducah, Ky. And were not sure what we will find there. The last time we were through bringing a boat down to the Tennessee River from the Great Lakes, there was a courtesy dock in downtown Paducah. We have made several calls to the City of Paducah, to the Waterfront Development Council which does not answer their phones and the Parks Department which was relatively clueless and no one seems to know if it’s still there. . So as or right now we cannot verify that there is or is not a dock there. The waterfront area is a nice spot to stop as there are a number of shops, restaurants, a maritime center and a quilt museum. We would normally not go to Paducah because it’s closer to go up the Cumberland and lock through Barkley Lock and the use the Barkley Canal to cross over to the Tennessee River. Because Barkley Lock is down for maintenaance we have to use the Tennessee River route and go down to the Tennessee River at Paducah and then head upstream. . . The Tennessee enters the Ohio at Ohio mile 935 and that will be Tennessee River Mile 0. We live in Florence at T 255 and Annie stays at Joe Wheeler at T 275. As of right now we have 138 miles and two locks remaining on the Ohio and then 275 miles and three locks on the Tennessee for a total of about 415 miles We are moving at 40-60 miles a day so right now we are 10-12 days out. We have a 2 mph current behind us on the Ohio but as soon as we turn up the Tennessee the current is on outr nose so our speed drops quite a bit.
Destination tomorrow is an anchorage behind Cincinnati Island, one of many Islands on the Ohio. We have never anchored there before but all the information says it’s a good overnight anchorage behind the island and protected from the main channel. Also it’s lines by a sandy beach along its perimeter so there’s a good place to land the dinghy and take Hillary ashore. We have several alternative destinations should we decide to go further or stop sooner. . We are planning on spending the night in Paducah so we have to break up the 138 miles into three segments arriving there is late afternoon. Once we get back on the Tennessee, the sightseeing is pretty much over as the first part of the trip on the lower Tennessee is in the segment of the river that borders Land Between the Lakes. The channel there is a buoyed channel out in the middle of a big lake that is 5-7 miles wide and were not close enough to shore to see anything. In that stretch of river we are basically running from one channel marker to the next. Once back on the Tennessee we will probably “marina hop” all the way back to Florence as there are Marinas about every 50-60 miles.
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