Grafton to Hoppies (not on Burt Lake)

The time in Grafton was awesome, but we had to make the move, and get heading down the mighty Mississippi some more...... DEBRIS and all.



It is difficult to describe the amount of debris that was in the river and in the lock well as well.  As one local said to me.....

 "This is very unusual for the fall months to have this debris, it is usually the spring runoff that causes this mess"

It was impossible to take your eyes off the river for even a minute.  Many times we had to pick the lesser amount of debris to plow through, while zig zaging around the piles of accumulating twigs, limbs and trees and junk.

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We passed many nice natural surroundings.

We made it to the World famous Hoppies Marina, with a greeting by Hoppie himself (age 78) and, Fern (83 years old)  Both of them manning the lines for five boats coming in to their 'Marina' in a short period of time.

The marina:  Five OLD barges strapped together with cables, rope etc.  There is an old wrecker with a winch holding the barges to the shore.  Between each of the barges was a gap of 10-12 inches and a slight ramp to get across.  There is fuel, there is a lot of junk (JUNK).

Fern

There is a seating area for Ferns Evening briefing on what to expect for the next two to three hundred miles or so down river.  While smoking, and seated next to the fuel pumps she conducts an informational packed hour.  Many serious boaters rely on her knowledge.  Her knowledge can help you avoid the rivers ability to screw up your day.  She is serious.  She can answer anything about the river in that area (boils, current, hidden cans, debris, boat emergency, tow protocol, anchorages and non anchorages, each lock, fuel stops, current mergers etc).

Edge View of the Arch

We passed St. Louis and of course the famous Arch.  What a nice sight from the river.

Here is the Sprit of Mississippi, this is a huge boat and it is supreme in character.

Daisy getting some ZZZ's while underway.  All is well.

Thanks for peeking in.