Dawson Boating: The Mighty Mississippi

The Morning we head down the Mississippi

The Mississippi river is over 1700 miles long from Minneapolis to New Orleans. We only did 218 of those miles but they were exciting. Exciting because there are so few places to pull over and stop due levees and wingdams and current.

This is a working river with a current of 3-4 knots on an average day so that you can make more miles per hour AND per gallon, which is always nice! The water is turbulent from wingdams and tows. Wingdams are basically stone walls that run almost perpendicular to the river to prevent erosion of the banks and to push the water toward the center of the working channel. Watching your depth sounder, chart plotter, and the action of the water is imperative so that you are sure you are in the channel and not hitting one of these things that could be just under the surface!

One night we spent at the infamous HOPPIES Marine Service. It is basically a barge anchored to the bank. It has been there since 1934 and is a family business. The day we arrived two anchors holding the barge had released!! I was glad that they were on top of it and that it had happened during the day! You go to Hoppies to get your Mississippi River advice from Fern. It is a must for tradition's sake.


Hoppies Marine Service

See red truck with cable holding barge!

The barge anchor excitement. Her shirt says "Real girls play in the dirt".

One night we actually anchored behind a wingdam (Fern's advice). It was interesting bucking the current to get in there. I let Geoff take the helm for that experience! You also have to be careful not to hit a shoal(and I would rather that Geoff hit it than me!), so local knowledge is very important. Caught on a shoal with your boat at an angle could fill her up quickly with that Mississippi river water with a terrible outcome!

Anchored behind the wingdam. Lots of logs and sludge swept into here from the current.

There are only two locks on this section of the Mississippi but we added a third. The Kaskaskia. A beautiful river off the Might One where we could tie off and take our bikes on an excursion through cornfields and soybean fields. It was nice to have a little relief from the excitement of the great Mississippi.

Kaskaskia Lock and Dam

It is interesting to see the huge tows and their barges hauling limestone, benzene, liquid fertilizer, coal, sand and who knows what else. I love seeing the shapes and sizes of the different bridges, being swept by the turbulence of the Mighty Mississippi tows and wingdams, and meeting such nice and interesting people fulfilling their dreams.