Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ on the River

ROLLING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI & UP THE OHIO WITH BARGES

11 OCTOBER 2021 – PADUCAH, KY

We made it!  We were told that cruising down the Mississippi River and up the Ohio River to Paducah, KY was one of the hardest and “most tiring” segments of this adventure called “America’s Great Loop.” Well, guess what? It was much, much easier and way more beautiful than we expected. Maybe it had to do with the Monarch butterflies and soaring Bald Eagles that seemed to appear at just the right time, guiding us safely down this “challenging” leg each day.

The Mississippi River System is the third largest river system in the world. Beginning as a trickle at Lake Itasca, MN, it flows 2,348 miles to the Gulf of Mexico and is divided into two distinct sections: the Upper Mississippi and the Lower Mississippi. The dividing point is its confluence with the Ohio River.

So we traveled the lower quarter of the Upper Mississippi, from Alton, IL to Cairo, IL (pronounced Karo). The river meanders through areas of high limestone bluffs, past broad flood plains, rich farmlands and a great number of towns, large and small. Migrating birds (including the American Bald Eagle) have made it the largest and most heavily traveled flyway in North America.

Other than weather, there are two things that make the Mississippi River a bit daunting: the powerful and constant current (3-4 knots compared to just 1 knot on the Illinois) and the barge traffic. Commercial traffic (including barges) has priority over “pleasure craft” (love that description—our p.c. sure brings us a lot of pleasure!). Therefore, p.c.’s often have to wait up to 4-6 hours to get through a lock and frequently have to wait for other p.c.’s so the lockmaster can send several through at a time. This can be a challenge in places where the river is narrower and/or the combination of wind and current makes it difficult to “hold steady” when waiting for locks. AND, we’re happy to report that there was little or no waiting at all 4 locks we had to go through the last several days.

Yes, there were lots and lots of barges, but fortunately many of them were parked along the riverbanks or even anchored in the middle of the channel (with plenty of room on either side to get by). We saw hundreds of these empty barges (top two photos above) in various “fleeting” areas, especially near the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi. We were told that most of these barges are awaiting the corn and soybean harvests. Then the barge traffic will be “crazy.”

In the meantime, every working tow captain we spoke with was friendly and courteous as we asked permission to pass and whether they preferred we pass on their starboard (right) or port (left) side. Barges travel in groups called tows, which are pushed by a towboat, and are usually lashed together with huge steel cables. It was fascinating to watch how these masters of the rivers navigate around curves and in and out of locks. A 15-barge tow (3 wide, 5 deep) is a huge, quarter-mile long, floating steel platform that can create significant turbulence and wakes. They need at least a quarter-mile to stop, so boaters always need to give them a wide berth. The largest tow we saw was 4 wide and 8 deep, but we’re told that on the Lower Mississippi, up to 45 barges can be tied together in one tow! Wow!

Here are some fun facts about barges. They carry grain, scrap iron, heavy machinery, coal, petroleum products, salt, fertilizers, cement, gravel, sulfur, sugar and much more. They can hold from 200,000 to 200 million pounds of cargo. A typical barge (195’x35’) can carry 3.5 million pounds of grain—enough to make over 2 million loaves of bread! A tank barge that carries liquids can hold up to 1 million gallons—your daily breakfast orange juice for 44,000 years!

Transportation by barge is the most economical way to ship bulk and/or heavy loads.  A typical 15-barge tow carries the equivalent of 216 railroad cars or 1,050 semi-trucks! And here’s our final fun fact about barges…They are able to move a ton of cargo 647 miles with a single gallon of fuel. Trains move a ton of cargo 477 miles per gallon, while trucks move a ton of cargo 145 miles per gallon. It’s been fun to learn more about something we’ve rarely seen before and that play such an important role in commerce and the boating adventures on these two rivers.

It took us 4 travel days to get down the Mississippi and just half a day to go up the Ohio to Paducah, KY. After hearing so many “horror” stories about this part of our journey, it was quite wonderful to have such an enjoyable and easy ride. Thank you butterflies and eagles for dancing along with us!