Leaving Hoppie's, and a very long day, September 29, 2014

Monday, September 29

Hoppie’s to Little River Diversion Channel at mile 48

Hoppie's at dawn, just before departure
courtesy of Silvi Landreville

Last thoughts of Hoppie's
courtesy of Silvi Landreville

Everyone headed out from Hoppie’s this morning about 7:30.  One by one, the boats peeled off the dock.  Most of them were headed to an anchorage named Little River Diversion Channel, a 110 mile trek. Since our longest single-day voyage so far was 65 miles, we didn’t think that Sea Fever could make it that far before dark even with the help of the Mississippi’s increasingly strong current.
We planned to hole up at the Kaskaskia River dam after only a 40-mile journey and continue on to Little Diversion the next day.

We were very surprised to reach the Kaskaskia River by 10:45 AM, only 3 ¼ hours from our start.  Sea Fever averaged over 10 miles per hour!  That may not seem fast to a power boater or even a bicyclist, but for us it was an amazing speed. Some quick calculations determined we could likely make Little Diversion before sunset at 7:30 PM. Speed-crazed, we decided to power on.

Sure enough, 11.5 hours after we left Hoppie’s, and just before sunset, we arrived at Little Diversion. We spotted our pals tucked up in the anchorage as we sped downriver. Tim spun the boat around in the strong current.  As he executed the turn, and Sea Fever drifted sidewise a bit down river, we were hailed on the marine radio, assuring us that we had, indeed, found our group.  Tim quickly got us headed back upstream and turned the boat into the anchorage. We were greeted with cheers from the cocktail crowd on Perfect Balance.  Lots of kudos came from the group for swinging the boat around so quickly in the river current and making it so far in one day.

Once anchored, we were again hailed to join the crowd on Perfect Balance.  They even sent over a water taxi (dingy) to pick us up and ferry us to the party. After celebrating our record run and comparing notes with our friends, we were “taxied” back to Sea Fever.

We ate left-over chicken and wild rice, and fell soundly asleep.  It was a good day on the Big Muddy.

(Pictures courtesy of Silvi Landreville, one of our new found friends)