9/20/18 Thursday: Yesterday afternoon after we got back from the city, we saw a few familiar boats come in. Unfortunately, Misty Pearl drafts 5 feet, and after getting fuel, she got stuck in the muddy bottom of the marina on the way to her slip! WHAT!? We have not paid much attention, but the water level has dropped significantly since we got here a few days ago. Fortunately, with the help of a man in a dinghy, they were able to get her swung around and finally tied up to a dock. But the bad news is that the water level is still dropping. They are going to be literally stuck here for awhile until the Army Corp of Engineers decides to hold some more water behind the Mel Price dam, just 2 miles downstream of the marina. Apparently this marina suffers from the ‘draining bathtub effect’. It is so close to the dam that the water level drops more than upstream, just like the water closest to the swirling drain is the shallowest in the bathtub. Wow- we did not expect this! Some of the docks are starting to lift up out of the water. Not good!
So here are just some random shots around the marina. We had quite a gaggle of loopers here, and it was great fun! There was really a pile of us for docktails last night, and then several of us enjoyed relaxing in the pool on this hot hot day today. Tomorrow should cool off about 10 degrees, so travel will be more comfortable. We need to get out of here while we can. Kenny used the dock-grabber pole to measure the depth of the water around our slip. Island Girl is in only about 4 feet of water right now, and it will be less in the morning! EEK! I hope there isn’t anything under us other than silt. We are full of fuel and full of water… so we’re sitting about as low in the fresh water as we ever do.
This is the town of Alton. I never did go and discover what was nearby other than when we went to the restaurant the other night.
This bridge is right here at the marina. As you come down the river, you need to go under the bridge, and then turn around and come back upstream to come into the marina. It’s really a pretty bridge at night when it is all lit up.
Here are some of our Loopers telling stories and making plans. We’ve really come to enjoy some of these folks quite a lot! We were having some fun here with Antonia, SeaJamm, and Sabbatical.
We did finally all stand still together for a nice photo! And this wasn’t even everybody!
The Marina….
… has some really fun art work in the ladies room at the pool! I love these!
Meanwhile, the pool was getting used. Like everything at this marina, it is on a floating dock, so the pool stays about the same temperature as the river. It was refreshing, but not uncomfortable. It is only 4 feet deep at the deep end, but there was plenty of room for floating and chilling.
And this is why….. Holy September Batman! Who left the heat on?! But check out Friday and beyond. Much better temperatures for boat travel and sleeping without air conditioning! THAT is what we are waiting for. Who knew that we’d be so picky about when we anchor out? Hey! We have time… we can pick our weather if we want to, right?! (It’s so nice that we can!)
Tomorrow we will cast off lines, kill a zillion spiders that have taken up residence in the last 5 days, and get on our way. It could be muddy soup that we churn up, and we may shine up our props as we exit, but it’s time to go. I hope we don’t get sucked down into the mud!!