We left Alton bright and early this morning
and passed through the Mel Price locks.
They make going through the locks
look easy but oh man it is not!
The captain drives the boat to the lock slowly
when instructed to do so by lock staff, deck hands tie up
to a ball on the lock wall then use the gaff hooks to
keep the boat from rubbing against the wall of the lock.
The lock doors close, the water adjusts to the appropriate level, the doors open and out you go.
Interesting going under the bridges instead of on them.
The second set of locks "The Chain of Rocks"
There were 4 vessels leaving Alton Marina this morning, all headed down the Mississippi for destinations south.
This is one of many tow boats along the river systems here - seems weird to us because we think the boat should be pulling its tow, here the boat pushes it tow.
You can faintly see the arch as we pass along St. Louis.
Another tow boat.
There are a few cable stayed bridges here,
the center arch is in the bridge design, the one on the right is the arch of St. Louis. A neat shot I thought.
We saw a few kayakers on the river too.
Our dockage at the end of the day was at Hoppies Marina at Kimmswick Missouri.
Some people take their dogs on their sailing trips and others take cats. This one weighs 23 pounds!!
Greg and Allan were impressed with the old implements and vehicles around the marina.
Take note of the orbs?
No bicycle riding lane here.
A quick walk about town in the evening.
Back at the marina boaters had a camp fire burning.
