The River says we are good to go
2-Jul-2021 Friday Grafton Harbor, Grafton IL (IL WW mile 0) to Above Lock 22, Hull IL (~UMR mile 302) (77.3 nautical miles 89.0 statute miles)
39°38’51.5″N 91°14’54.4″W
39.647629, -91.248453
Elevation: 458 feet Elevation change: 40 feet
States (2): Illinois, Missouri
Locks (3):
Lock 25 – mile 241, Winfield, MO
Lock 24 – mile 273, Clarksville, MO
Lock 22 – mile 301, Saverton MO (no Lock 23)
Remaining number of Locks: 21
The river says we’re good to go .https://www.weather.gov/lmrfc/obsfcst_mississippi_riverwatch
Along the Way
Ewh. What happened last night?????? A mayfly hatch. I had to sweep them off to pull lines. There’s going to be a lot of fat baby birds around here.
neighbors
Morning flag check.
Good to go. We started heading for Minnesota at exactly 6:02pm. We left the marina running 10 knots at 1200 rpms. yes dear… was surfing down the Illinois River towards the Mississippi River on the current.
Goodbye Grafton 
The Mississippi Palisades to the south are calling… “Go again. Go again.”
Once we rounded Illinois River – Mississippi River confluence we ground down to 5.4 knots at 1600 rpms. It’s going to be a slow ride back to Minnesota.
<—- Mississippi River Illinois River —-> 
river living 
I wonder if this guy has mayflies on his tent? 
smaller cliffs heading north on the Mississippi
Lock 25 – mile 241, Winfield, MO. The lock lift is only 1 foot today from all the rain. Normally it’s ~15 foot lift.
The Mississippi River is exceptionally muddy. Silt from wave splash was settling on yes dear’s… swim deck. I’ve never seen that before.
There are a lot of wing dams on the Mississippi River to help direct the water. Some are U shaped and others are simple line dams.
wing dams on chart 
U shaped dam 
U shaped dam
Land of levees 
and log laden buoys
We chased this tow up the river.
One great thing about traveling the Mississippi River is that statue miles are clearly marked on both the charts and corresponding daymarks.
still chasing the tow 
wing dam with logs caught on it 
river life 
logs 
passing a tow 
wing dam 
fishing inside a U shaped wing dam.
Lock 24 – mile 273, Clarksville, MO. The lock lift was only 6 feet today from all the rain. Normally it’s ~15 foot lift.
logs caught under the gate 
Lock 22 – mile 301, Saverton MO (no Lock 23). This was a little high, but close to normal lift.
The lock master said we could float through and didn’t need to tie off. Raising and lowering locks create strong currents in the chamber. We still fender one side incase we need to catch a wall.
Unfortunately they let Saverton’s village idiot in the lock with us. He positioned directly on our port side, the side that I had fendered. Dale pulled forward. He pulled forward. Dale pulled forward. He pulled forward. I politely asked him to move either in front of us or behind us. He might be a good fisherman. That’s all I going to say.
one waiting to come in 
I was looking at the logs when I took the above picture. You can tell the water has recently been high. What caught my eye was all the lines with hand holds, safety lines in case anyone fell in or was swept in.
Shortly after we cross the lock we dropped anchor for the night.
Floccinaucinihilipilification
The Ascent. Lock 25 – mile 241, Winfield, MO to Lock 2 – mile 815, Hastings, MN
Drolleries and Yuks
When does it rain money?
-When there is ‘change’ in the weather.
We are rich today!