9/20/14: Grafton, Illinois – Hoppies Marina 52NM. Heading to Hoppies we passed by the St. Louis Arch which was cool seeing it from our boat. Loopers before us had warned us about the debris in the river but seeing it was something else. One Looper said, “You can’t dodge it all so just try to dodge the big stuff”. There was lots of barge traffic up around St. Louis causing turbulent water & sometimes large wakes.

St. Louis as seen from the water aboard Twelve Stones.

As with most days God delivers us amazing sunrises and sunsets. This picture was taken as we prepared to leave Grafton, Il

We passed through two locks with minimal wait time at the first and no wait time at the second. Now that’s a good Lock day. With the river above flood stage we are getting a good current pushing us south. We traveled around 10 knots most of the day.

Endeavor entering Lock 26 -Mississippi River

As Loopers we had heard so much about Ms.Fern the owner of Hoppies so it was a treat to finally get to meet her. Every evening after all the boaters arrive she gives a navigation briefing. She has lived on the river her entire life and knows it like the back of her hand so her knowledge is valuable.  

Hoppies (pictures below) docks consists of barges tied together. Since you are right on the river the passing tows create large wakes that push you into the docks. Last stop for diesel until Green Turtle Bay.