We completed the Mississippi River at the town of Cairo IL and started heading up the Ohio River. On the Mississippi, we had a nice 2+ knot current in our favor. On the Ohio, we’re heading upstream against a 1 knot current.
The town of Cairo is interesting. By land, there’s not much here. By water, it’s the intersection of two of the busiest water routes on the river system. There were swarms of tows (tug and barges), parked barges, both in and outside of the channel, tugs running between barges, and support boats on the move. They were all on AIS but at some point, we reached information saturation. The screen became too cluttered with too much information and it was almost more of a hindrance than a help.
The Cairo boat traffic was also making constant announcements on the VHF radio, which is the preferred form of communications. That didn’t help much either. These are professionals who’ve been doing this day in and day out for years. They all know each other and have developed their own verbal shorthand with auctioneer speed. And we were warned most of the crew were from Memphis and further south, making comprehension even more difficult.
I’ve been through many congested waterways on our journeys and I’m going to say this was probably the most stressful. The Hudson River through Manhattan during rush hour was my previous high point, but I believe Cairo has it beat.
The water levels on the Ohio are higher and most of the anchorages are available to us. We took our time and decided to split the trip to Paducah into 2 days, anchoring just below the newly built Olmsted Lock and Dam. The Olmsted Lock master helped guide us to an area where they keep their work equipment and we had a restful night.
The next day we made it into Paducah KY were we have reservations at the town dock for 2 nights.
More to come…
Kurt & Sue Sail 
What beautiful photos. Looks like a lovely town.
Navigating all the barge traffic…. not so much.
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Most of the Loopers are powerboats. What percentage are sailboats? And has your draft caused any navigation problems other than in anchorages?
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I would say about 20% of the loopers are on sailboats. Actually, in the group that has been traveling together since Alton, we have a McGregor. sailboat.
Other than marinas and anchoring, no issues with the depth. A big issue with having a sailboat on a multi lock days, is trying to keep up with the pack. The locks prefer the pleasure craft arrive at the locks at the same time. They also beat me to the marinas and anchorages and get the prime spots. But, when I pull up to the fuel pump after them and see $800 or $900 on the pump, I don’t mind.
The Olmsted lock was the first lock where we’ve gone up. As the lock chamber is filled with water, the current catches the keel and it’s difficult for us to stay along the wall. We only get a single line which Sue manages mid-ship. I end up running from bow to stern pushing the boat off the wall. It was a rough 10 foot rise.
Our next lock is a 57′ rise. That’s going to be a real workout to keep the boat steady.
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Cairo is basically a ghost town but has an interesting history. There was racial rioting in 1967 when a black man died in the jail there. After the Riot ended most of the white population fled to Paducha
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hi Sue and Kurt,
wow, very nice trip we wish that we can follow you to all the rivers, but just not this year. The timing is not right for us. Bon voyage.
kim & James
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