EllisIslandLoop: Tuesday, October 3 - Very Long, Very Stressful Day

Tuesday, October 3 - Very Long, Very Stressful Day - Locks 52 and 53

This picture leaving Boston Bar gives a better idea of the space. We were beside the Mississippi but sheltered from it.

We were in Cairo, which is on a peninsula between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. These pictures show the land and building at Fort Defiance State Park, an ancient Indian site and later a frontier settlement where the two rivers join, 7 miles down from Boston Bar.

As we rounded the point, we left the Mississippi. I had been worried about boating on the Mississippi, I admit, but our trip has been very easy. The water was rather dirty with a fast current, but there wasn’t much debris and tows and barges were not a problem.

We immediately saw barges, lots and lots of barges! We figured the construction at Locks 52 and 53 had slowed them down. It’s really hard to describe how many barges, and no picture can capture them all.

Some of the barges were angled in toward the bank rather than being parallel. I guess they take up less space that way.

You know there are a lot of barges when you see this many tows!

Huge group of coal barges. Danny always takes special notice of them, naturally.

Here are the infamous Locks 52 and 53. More than 80 million tons of cargo valued at $22 billion go through them every year. Closures and delays at these two locks are legendary, and cost $640 million per year. A new lock, Olmsted, is being built to replace them, but it was scheduled for completion in 1998 (that’s not a typo) and is currently more than two billion dollars over budget. (Again, not a typo.)

Rather than narrative, here is a timeline of our time at these demon locks. (The name of the closest town is Kevil, KY, by the way.)

10:30 - We see lots of huge construction equipment, and the dam in the distance.

10:35 - Chrysalis, Tasty Traveler, and Ellis’ Island enter the chamber. You can see how turbulent the water is as Chrysalis enters.

10:36 - Olmstead Lock will replace #52 and #53.

11:50 - These pictures show the poor condition of #53.

12:07 - There is only a slight drop at each dam.

12:30 - We are through lock #53.

2:20 - Now in West Paducah, only a few miles but several hours away from the Paducah Dock. We got tired of drifting and anchored in the middle of the river.

4:38 - Over 2 hours later, Danny got so aggravated with the wait he decided to take a river bath!

5:30 - Paducah Bridge in the distance.

5:40 - Still waiting

6:07 - Moon rise from the front of the boat, sunset from the back.

6:19 - We are in the chamber floating, waiting. The lock master says we are waiting for another boat to arrive. This tow is just outside the chamber, guess he is waiting, too.