Ship’s Log: Days 6-10
September 7 - 11, 1999
Tuesday, Sept. 7
The first order of business was the alternator. I removed it and with the yellow pages Nancy had rought from Christy’s began to call rebuild shops. The nice fellow at Sunshine Alternator in KC, KS, (K.C.K.) seemed to know what to do with the older model I had, so it was to shore by the dinghy, then walk back to the Power Plant to get Christy’s car. We drove to K.C.K. and the Sunshine Alternator serviced the old Motorola unit and declared it had only a minor problem, which he fixed. He was sure it would be fine.
While in K.C.K., we enjoyed Mexican food for lunch, then visited Strausers’s Hardware for a few more last minute items. We stopped by Christy’s office at Boyle Meat Company and she suggested e leave the car in Missouri City and she would pick it up later with a friend. We returned to the Telesis, installed the alternator and were on our way by 2:30 P.M. (for Hank Freeman and Stan Nichols that would be 1430 hours).
At 4:40 P.M. we passed mile mark 323 near Wellington, MO, which means we had completed 100 miles of our journey. At 6:00 P.M. we dropped anchor behind a jetty at mile mark 311 just below Lexington, MO. The alternator was working fine and the boat running very well. It had been a very warm day and we made 34 miles even with the late start. Cocktails and a nice meal on the charcoal grill finished the day.
Missouri River basin
Wednesday, Sept. 8
We were up early and underway by 8:45 A.M. after having straightened the boat up a bit. This was our first real run on the river. We run the engine at 1750 rpm and are making about 5 knots (6 mph). The river current adds another 2 to 5 mph and we seem to average about 9 mph according to the GPS. Today we motored till 6:15 P.M. an anchored at mile mark 219 between Glasgow and Booneville. So in nine and a half hours we made 92 miles on the river. The forward looking phased array depth sounder is working very well. We can poke the boat into shallow places with some ability to avoid grounding and it is very reassuring when in the river channels. The turbulence of the current does cause some clutter, but you get used to reading the display. We are very glad we have it. Nancy has taken to river navigation very well and we take two-hour watches at the wheel. We are doing well and the barge tows have been minimal.
This night we anchored just below an unnamed island in reduced current. Our first real day of river travel was reality.
Osage River location
Thursday, Sept. 9
We arose fairly early and spent some time on the boat. I washed the topsides with water from the Mighty MO and Nancy cleaned below. I added 10 gallons of fuel from the cans on deck and left the last five-gallon jug as a reserve. We were underway at 9:30 A.M. and the weather is once again great. This was another long day running to make up for lost time earlier in the week. We motored past Jefferson City to the Osage River at mile marker 130 and then about 2 miles up the Osage to anchor. We dropped anchor at 7:00 P.M. another 91/2- hour day making 91 miles total. We met a couple of barges and saw a lot of beautiful country, but otherwise it was uneventful.
I continue to be concerned about the standard alternator’s ability to supply the electrical supply we need. The stock alternator is only rated at 37 amps and has an automotive-style regulator and we are only running at 1750 rpm. With 12 volts running refrigeration, instruments, auto pilot, not to mention recharging my laptop, marine radios and cell phones as well as lights and the water pressure pump at night, it doesn’t seem to keep up. Even running nine hours a day it just does catch back up the house bank of two deep cycle batteries. Once Telesis becomes a sailboat again, I’ll run out of juice. A higher output alternator and smart regulator a in the near future.
Friday, Sept. 10
Our first disappointment due to our delayed schedule earlier in the week. We won’t be able to stop in Hermann, MO, and still make it to Hoppie’s marina on the Mississippi River in time for Nancy to catch her flight out of St. Louis on Monday. Earlier on a return-driving trip from Jacksonville to KC, I had stopped to talk with the owner of K&S Bait and Fish on the riverfront in Hermman and he had invited us to tie alongside his shop to visit Hermann.
We pulled up the hook at 7:30 A.M. and motored on. I called the bait shop on the cell phone and let him know we wouldn’t be stopping, but would pass by close and give him a blast on the horn, which we did. Hermann would have been a great stop, but we’ve visited there several times in the past.
At 1:00 P.M. we pulled along side Olympic Marine and Harbor service in New Haven, MO, at mile mark 81. It is the only on-the-river fuel stop on the Missouri River during our travels. We took on about 36 gallons of gasoline in our tank and deck jugs and filled with 25 gallons of water. Nick Kotakis runs Olympic and says recreational boating on the Missouri is dropping all the time. All the high water and flooding coupled with the lack of facilities has dropped his business by at least half from 300 passing boats a year to just over 125 or so. We are the first sailboat he’s had in 10 years of operation at New Haven. Large powerboats that need lots of fuel arrange for tanker trucks to meet them at some of the bigger towns along the Missouri River. Otherwise you do as we are doing, carry extra fuel on deck. Fortunately we don’t burn a lot.
The local New Haven newspaper came by to take a photo of the only sailboat to stop at Nick’s in ten years and we were invited to stay for the Millers Landing Days celebration over the weekend, but we needed to keep going.
We departed New Haven about 3:00 P.M. and arrived of Washington, MO, mile mark 68. We wanted to anchor near the town and visit some friends that planned to drive over from St. Louis. After bumping aground and two failed attempts to anchor in the very swift current, we gave up the thought of stopping near town. We phoned our friends, Joe and Barbara Penn and canceled our visit. We proceeded down river to mile mark 66 were we slipped behind a nice quiet jetty out of the current and anchored at about 5:00 P.M. Total distance for the day, 64 miles. We were out of ice so we decided to take Teletubbie back up stream to Washington. We got it done, but it was a full hour before the 2 hp kicker could get the 8-foot dinghy 2 miles upstream in that strong current. Of course, it only took about 10 minutes to return. Boy am I glad this is a one-way trip, and it is down stream!
Saturday, Sept. 11
This is our last day on the Missouri River. We were underway at 9:15 A.M. under mostly cloudy skies with mild weather. Another uneventful day motoring in the greater St. Louis area. We viewed some wonderful large homes atop the tall, rocky shoreline and passed through St. Charles without event. At 3:15 P.M. we dropped anchor behind a jetty at about the 1 mile mark in full view of the Mississippi River having covered 65 miles in the six-hour run. We bumped bottom a couple of times while attempting anchoring, then found a little deeper water and set two anchors off the bow in moderate current. We don’t want to wake in the night drifting down the Mississippi River.
A little reflection about our 423 miles on the Missouri River. It is a swift moving river and demands respect, but it is well marked for navigation and the Corp of Engineers charts were very good. Knowing exactly where you are and keeping site of the day marks along shore and the marker buoys was all that one needed to do to have a safe journey. The three most important aids other than charts are binoculars, marine radio and depth sounder. We seldom saw water of less than 12 feet deep and it was mostly 18 to 20 feet or more. Barges are a concern even though we saw only a few, and most communicated with us by radio on channel 13 and would let us know where to best pass safely. Anchoring was not difficult and we took care to be sure we were set well. The only real difficulty was when we tried to anchor in Washington, MO. The water was just too swift and the area too tight, yet I tried to force an anchorage. My fault, not the river’s.
Before the trip I stated that there were dangers traveling the Missouri River but it did not seem dangerous. I still feel that way.
Now, on to the Mississippi River.
