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Enter subhead content here
10/30/05
From the Captain
DOWN THE MISSOURI RIVER
By
J. C. Waters
The cruise
of Spirit Of Independence
In the fall of 2005
So it's down de river ya want to go me lad
Yes, tis down thair
we wish t' go
And away we went
Round the bend at Missouri City and under de guns of Fort Osage
And on and on
By
de Grand and de Chariton
And then we was under the bluffs of Rocheport
De river always runnin' swift
And twistin'
in turn to port and nen t' starboard
As we go I wonder at it all
When I take a turn 'round de deck tu riverbank passes
slow and serene
It's a soothin experience
Den when I return tu de wheel it seems wer goin too fast
I cain't see
fur enough ahead
Is dat a towboat jest comin' round the bend
Does I have time tu set up our passin' agreement
We
is only goin' 10 Knots over de ground but it seems tu take far more thinken den skinnen mules ut 70 mph.
Water depth is
de greatest worry.
We a drawin 7 foot of water.
And we is goin down an under water ditch that has from 9 t' 15 foot
o' water in ut
The ditch is deguised by de river
Most o' de time de river is fer wider than de ditch
Out thair
in de rest o' de river. shes only a few foot deep and ofen only inches deep
Our way is well marked (at least most o' de
time)
With bouyies and daymarkers en nitemarkers en such
But our chart warns us dat dese markers could have been banged
about by de river
This hounds us 'cause we know that running our 94,000 lb vessel hard aground at 10 knots will be far
reachen troubles dat we cain't begin tu magine.
Den it happens.
We sweeps round a big bend and dair before us is de
Mississippi.
Yes, de' slow movin' deep Mississippi River.
And dat is ar trip down de Missouri River.
We (the
merry crew consisting of Ken and Linda Brink, Joy Waters and Melvin Gosnell) turn up stream on the Mississippi and pass through
the lock at Alton IL. We find ourselves in what is essentially a lake. And before us lies the beautiful Alton Marina.
We power forward at a stately pace. The marina entrance is just before us. We are talking to the dock master on the cell phone
making arrangements for fuel and berthing. Life is wonderful. The weather is warm and sunny. Ahead is relaxation,
sitting at the dock, meeting friends. We slide slowly to a stop. I cannot believe it; we are aground where we believed there
was deep water. The dock master comes on the radio and said, “I see you have found our sandbar. Now don't you feel
bad a lot of folks run on to that bar. We have been trying to get the Coast Guard to mark it but they just won't do it.”
Well it turned out we were just three feet from deep water and with some help from another boat we were back in deep water.
And shortly there after we were at the marina and tied up.
After two nights at Alton Marina we turned south locking
through the Alton Lock and then the Chain Of Rocks canal lock. This sat us on the lower Mississippi. And St. Louis with its
Gate Way arch ramps to the waters edge on the right bank. We are back in a fast flowing river again. And the miles begin to
reel off.
Late after noon found us tied up at Hoppie's Landing. Later in the evening we struck up a conversation with
Hoppie. And he began to tell us of the dangerous spots that we would encounter down stream. We brought our charts and diligently
marked these spots as he spoke. The next morning we made a delightful walking trip in to the town of Kimmswick. We felt we
were taking a refreshing step back in time as we walked through this small village.
Day light and we were on the river
again headed down stream with Hoppie's words of warning foremost on our minds. These danger spots it seems are oxbows where
the river almost turned back on itself. Because of the large tows found on the Mississippi (sometimes 30 barges) only one
of these tows can make the turn through the oxbow at a time. Nothing that has a human on board wants to be in one of those
oxbows with a tow. The other problem with these turns is that some very turbulent water is present. As we approached the first
of these ominous spots we were all wired, alert and casting about with our binoculars for the danger. We called on channel
14 (the one the workboats monitor) and announced our presents. No response. So we started into the turn. We all stood silent
watching, waiting. We were around the first quadrant of the turn, then the second quadrant, we saw boils in the water and
swirls that slew us around. Then we were in the third quadrant and then we could see the river straighten out beyond. We were
through the danger. We looked at each other. I finally said, “So that's it”! I suggested we take Hoppie
up the Missouri River where we came from and we could show him 375 miles of water that looked just like his danger spots.
In fairness to Hoppie, his warning was approperate, for nothing in the Mississippi had looked like that.
Evening found
us tucked in a short way up the Kaskaskia River. Then it was on to Cape Girardeau for our next stop. We anchored out in the
river. And that evening we invited Jeff Scott and his family over for a visit. As it turned out this would be the last time
that our boats would be together until we docked in Green Turtle Bay Marina on Lake Barkley. Jeff in his boat Agadar with
his wife Theresa and children Oscar, Sal and Waylon had been with us since we left the marina at Alton. And it had been fun
going down the river with our small fleet of two boats.
Our time on the rivers seemed to warp us back to time in the
past. This notion of being back in time is an elusive thing. Just a scene here or a sighting there, would cause my mind to
wander and wonder at times gone by. Our last night on the Mississippi was no exception. We anchored early in a great spot
behind a toe head on the left bank just up stream from the Ohio River. We had just arranged our deck chairs and settled ourselves
to take cheese, crackers, and drink, when we heard the sound of a low flying airplane. As we turned our heads we saw a small
plane flying low across the river very close to us. It was an open cockpit affair that one might imagine was in the Ist World
War. The pilot banked sharply in a left turn. He was wearing a leather cap with goggles, and as he made the turn he let out
a long white neck scarf. He made a quarter turn with us as his pivot point, leveled out, waged his wings and flew up the river
into the sunset. What a great way to end the day.
End of part 1 of the second letter from the Captain.
Some
of you have expressed interest in joining us on our cruise toward the east coast. If you are so inclined e-mail me at j.c.waters@earthlink.net.
As I am in Independence for several weeks taking care of some business it would be a good time to make plans.
J. C. Waters
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Hello everyone ( First test message)
J.C. Waters is close to launching his great boat, "Spirit of Independence" from his shop to
the Missouri river. He is aiming at August 8th. My wife Linda and I have taken on some communication duties for JC.
You are on this mailing list because you either signed the Schooner Guest Book during your boat shop visit and left
an Email address. Or we know by other Contacts that you might be interested. We have created a "Group" in our
Email Address Book as a simpler way to send Update Information.
If you wish to be dropped, please let me know ........and put the word "Schooner" in the Subject line
so as to alert me.
I am not sure if August 8 is to be the actual day to sail away or the day the boat will be transported to
the Missouri River. I will follow up on this to all of you. The boat is close to 80000# , so a special truck and trailer
system will handle it. A VERY special crane will lift it from the truck and extend about 40 feet out into the river before
lowering it to the water. A large anchor will be pre-positioned upriver a bit so as to be ready to secure the boat for
loading fuel and people and goods.
Some towns along the shores of the Missouri are planning some festivities and logistical help (fuel etc) for
his boat as She arrives in their areas.
JC's route to Mobile Bay in Alabama will be via the Missouri to Saint Louis, ,,, Mississippi to Cairo Illinois,
,,,,,then the Ohio river to Paducah, Kentucky.......the Tennessee river to Kentucky Lake area...... then the Tennesse river
to Pickwick Dam where the Tennessee- Tombigbee river and canal system joins.
One of the "Navigation Help" books on board is called the "Tenn-Tom Nitty-Gritty Cruise Guide",
written by an entertaining writer and publisher named Fred Myers.
One fact of many that stands out in his narrative regarding the "Tenn-Tom Waterway" is the amount
of dirt removed in the 1970's in order to connect the Tennessee river system to Mobile Bay, Alabama. He states that more
dirt was moved for this project than was moved during the Panama Canal project.
This waterway effectively allows boats of all stripes.......cargo to pleasure.............to move between the
Great Lakes and Mobile Bay. Many pleasure boaters that are not perhaps interested in an ocean cruise follow what has become
known as the "Great Loop". For instance leaving from Chicago area, a boat could return to Chicago via the river
system to Mobile Bay............then on to the "ditch" across the middle of Florida to the Atlantic.............then
up the Inland Waterway to New York city.......the Hudson river to the Erie Canal.............and back into the Great Lakes .......and
back to Chicago.
Many boating "Snow Birds" regularly take their boat south in the Fall from the Great Lakes. they don't
necessarily do the whole loop. Many have found nice "winter nesting" spots down south.
The "Spirit of Independence" is planning to go as far as Charleston South Carolina on this route.
More info in Issue 2...............Ken Brink
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Newsletter 2 by Ken Brink Aug 9, 2005, 10:20 am
Delay Announcement (issued 9 August)
How would a bureaucratic type describe a delay?
Maybe something like this: " The aforementioned date was a circumstance which has been mitigated and subsequently
the aforementioned date is now inoperative."
An announcement of a delay is only that. The "Why" of an announcement is more informative and the next big question
in concerned minds.
JC has announced his new launch window as the week of 22 August. And his answer to the "Why" question is simple.
" I need more time at this end of the project than I thought I might need."
He then expressed to me that his "credibility" may suffer as a result. Having known and
sailed with him for 30 years now, I had to suppress a chuckle.
Who could question "prudence"?
Just a cursory look at his beautiful boat reveals a complexity of mind that few possess and many admire. Delayed gratification
is one hallmark of any success, whether it be a financial plan or any other long term goal.
"More time is needed". Good enough for the crew.
Many people that enjoy sailing have enjoyed the series of books written by Patrick O'Brian,
often referred to as the "Aubrey stories", after the main character Captain Jack Aubrey. The
series consists of 20 books sometimes described as "one novel" in 20 separate books. Life in
the British Navy during England's war with Napolean (early 1800's) is written so well that O'Brian's stories have
been described as "The best historical novels ever written.", by New York Times Book Reviewer Richard Snow.
Hollywood produced the film "Master and commander" with Russell Crowe cast as Aubrey.
I mention all this to divulge one of Captain Aubrey's memorable comments every time he was assigned a new Command or was confronted
with a new problem. After he briefed his crew with his plan of action, and after exhorting them to start preparing
the ship, he would announce "There is not a moment to lose!"
And by that he obviously meant "don't waste a
minute".
We, the crew, have been given some "extra" minutes.
The
week of August 22 will be used to move the boat to the river, lift and lower the boat and its many parts in to the river,
reinstall the masts and spars, re-rig all the "running rigging", transport last minute perishables to the boat
via dinghy and pontoon boat.
I suspect there will be time enough that week after "Spirit" actually "swims" (as Aubrey would say) and "rests
at anchor" offshore for much sightseeing and photographs. I realize the suspension of this huge boat in
thin air from a crane will be one of those "Kodak moments", So I will "Keep the pressure" on
Aubrey...er...I mean JC to let this aspiring scribe in on the date.
JC and I were talking about the few miles on the city streets that "Spirit" will endure before the big day she
finds her home in the water. He reminded me of another schooner of similar size in California that had a 35 mile
trip on busy freeways to the marina for her launching. I had also read the story and seen the
website. And I reminded him that the California owner spent (invested?) 25 or more years building her.
Delayed gratification has its rewards.....And its own credibility, or "Cred" as is now the popular version in some circles.
Anyway, these boatbuilders are special people.......with plenty of "cred".
Next news letter here.
We are excited that you are visiting our web site. We hope you will come with us in cyber space as we take Spirit Of
Independence from her building yard deep in the heart of the USA to the ocean.
On this site you will find information
about our activities leading to the launching of Spirit Of Independence, and her maiden voyage to the sea.
As of today, Sunday, September 4th, Spirit will leave Tuesday morning for Napolean, Missouri
to take on fuel. With a few minor glitches the Launch Day of Sept First was a success. The
masts and booms are now in place. Crew members have scurried home for some last minute tasks.
The boat is now where she really belongs. And owner JC is looking East.
A Traditional Schooner Sailboat Charter Service
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