Unwelcome Visitors

Unwelcome visitors on a boat are pretty much like unwelcome visitors anywhere else: they arrive uninvited, they're difficult to get rid of, and they leave a big mess behind them when they go. In the last three days we've had two experiences with unwelcome visitors.

On Sunday evening, September 20, mayflies started landing on the boat as we were docked in the Keokuk (IA) Yacht Club. It seemed late in the year for them to be hatching, but apparently they can have several hatches in a season. And although we are glad that they are an indication of clean water, they don't live long and their little carcasses pile up quickly.

Mayflies start to gather: A harbinger on Sunday
 evening of things to come

We woke up Monday morning to a boat covered in mayflies. Yuck! Lon tried to use the soft cobweb brush to move them along, but they kept re-landing on the boat. We finally gave up and got underway, hoping that the breeze from cruising would remove them, but they hung on for all they were worth. More than a few got crunched underfoot on the deck, and the black residue they left behind is going to require more than just simple scrubbing with a deck brush.

The view that greeted us
 Monday morning when
we opened the window shades

The view of the back of the boat

Our second experience with an unwelcome guest occurred today, Tuesday, September 22, soon after we left Lock 22 just south of Hannibal, Missouri. While on the bow of the boat straightening lines I heard a "thunk" and thought that CARIB had hit a small piece of debris in the water. A few minutes later I started walking down the deck on the starboard (right) side of the boat and discovered the true source of the noise-an Asian carp had jumped aboard.

The carp that jumped aboard CARIB, the net used to get
 it back in the water, and the slimy blood left behind

Unwelcome visitors aside, we've had some very nice days on the water and on land. On Sunday, September 20, we left Burlington, IA after an early morning fog lifted. Thirty-eight miles with no locks made for a relatively short cruising day to Keokuk, IA, and after a quick bike trip to the grocery store, we spent the remainder of the day and evening simply relaxing.

Sunday morning fog on the Mississippi

On Monday morning, September 21, we endeavored to ignore the mayflies as we cruised to Quincy, IL. In this stretch of the river we noticed a lot of duck blinds. Duck hunting season started September 1, but the recent weather--with its clear, cloudless skies--cannot be pleasing the hunters very much.

Working on a duck blind in shallow water

When we docked in Quincy, Illinois for the evening the first order of business was to remove mayflies-both alive and dead-and scrub the deck. The second order of business was to walk up the hill into historic Quincy. The city was a major transportation hub in the 1800's and the evidence of that wealth can be seen in the large and beautiful Victorian homes along Maine Street east of downtown. The downtown itself has many older buildings with the usual plethora of antique shops. Very quiet. The city has over 3,600 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but the gaps left by buildings that didn't survive gave the city a somewhat "disjointed" feel.

A street in downtown Quincy bordering
Washington Park

Victorian at the corner of 16th and Maine

Nice as the houses are, Lon is uncertain why
National Geographic named
the intersection of 16th and Maine as one of the
10 most architecturally significant in the US

During our cruise today we were able to stop in Hannibal, Missouri for an hour or so. When we went upriver last August the Hannibal Boat Harbor was too shallow for us to dock. The water is up a little higher now, so we had all of 6" under our keel today. Hannibal is truly the mother of all "Mark Twain was here" sites, as it was the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain. Many of his friends and neighbors were the inspiration for the characters in his "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" books. 

The smaller white house to the right is the
boyhood home of Mark Twain

Main Street, Hannibal, MO

Finally found an ice cream parlor, but
it was too early in the morning to want
to stop

Lon by the house of the boy who was the inspiration
for the character of Huckleberry Finn

Pat whitewashes "Tom Sawyer's Fence"

We had a bit of fun with the "earthcam" that has been installed on "Becky Thatcher's House". We called Pat's parents with the web address for the camera and they were able to see us in "real time" during our visit.

We are settled in for the evening at a very nice marina in an out-of-the-way spot along the river opposite Louisiana, Missouri. One more day of cruising and we will reach a marina near St. Charles, Missouri, where we will dock the boat for a couple of weeks. This will enable us to take care of some minor maintenance, visit boating friends in the St. Louis area, and, next week, drive to Washington, D.C. for the October 4 wedding of nephew Evan Wojtowicz.

A peaceful respite in Two Rivers Marina