Mud and Thunder

We are making steady progress up the Mississippi, although some days have been easier than others. Tonight we are at a wonderful marina in Clinton, Iowa, which is pretty close to the midpoint of the eastern boundary of Iowa.

Friday, August 22, was a nice, relaxed cruising day. We had 37 lock-free miles from Keokuk to Burlington, Iowa. Along the way we passed Nauvoo, Illinois, which has great historical significance for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) as the town to which Joseph Smith led the Mormons to escape religious persecution in Missouri.

Our view of the Nauvoo Temple

The only downside was that we were not able to use the marina in Burlington because their harbor was just too shallow for our boat. We had to settle for a tie-up on the courtesy dock for "Big Muddy's Bar & Grill". With the high heat and humidity we weren't too crazy about not being able to plug into electricity, but the generator allowed us to use the AC in the evening, and even after we turned it off at bedtime the boat stayed pretty comfortable during the night.

Dinner at the restaurant got us a dock for the night

Nice buildings, but not much was
 happening in downtown
Burlington on a Friday night

Saturday's (Aug. 23) cruising was a different story. We left Burlington just after 6 a.m., knowing that we had at least 50 miles and two locks to contend with before reaching a municipal marina in Muscatine, Iowa that we might be able to fit into. We were happy to get through the first lock of the day without any difficulty. A few miles past the lock we noticed that we no longer had clear skies and that dark clouds were rapidly building to the south and west. The weather radar looked ugly, and when we heard a towboat captain say over the marine radio that it was raining too hard to see between the two bridges (in Burlington) we knew we had to quickly find a place to tie up. We were very thankful to be near an industrial building with several mooring dolphins, so we quickly tied up to one that was nicely padded with tires.

Our port during the storm

Two hours later we were finally able to start moving. Between the storm delay, current that wanted to push our speed under 7 mph, and a 2 1/2 hour wait at the second lock of the day, it took us nearly 11 hours to get to Muscatine. We stirred up mud and the dock was a little short, but we made it work and we were very happy to have electricity again.

CARIB II in Muscatine Municipal Harbor

Historical marker in Muscatine's Riverside Park

Sunday (Aug. 24) was finally a day when there was no threat of rain, and it brought the boaters out onto the river in force. It was the most boats we'd seen in quite some time.

Boaters in the Quad Cities area

We got a leisurely start to the day and managed the 31 miles and two locks without undue stress (other than dodging boat wake here and there). The most difficult part of the day was the hot and humid effort it took to get the electricity in our somewhat "tired" marina to work. The best part of the marina was that it was immediately adjacent to a very good restaurant that had live music playing outside. And the sunset over the river was spectacular.

The Captain's Table Restaurant
 at Marquis Harbor

A peaceful end to our cruising day

The heat and humidity are still at dangerous levels here, so we started cruising just before 6:30 a.m. to take advantage of the cooler morning weather. Thunderstorm threats are back in the picture, although the various weather services can't seem to agree as to the timing--morning or afternoon? We got right into our one lock of the day, then it was nothing but smooth "sailing" to Clinton.

The stressful life of CARIB II's captain when the
First Mate is driving

Finally, a "real" marina--good depth (i.e., no mud), good docks, no funky electrical issues, and clean toilets/showers. And another really good restaurant on the property. Around 2 p.m. a severe thunderstorm rolled through the area with high wind and LOTS of rain. So glad to already be tied up and not have to scramble for refuge. Afterwards Lon spent a few hours trying to remove the vestiges of the spiders and other bugs that have made themselves at home on CARIB II during our time on the river.

We did a short walk into Clinton tonight--the Dairy Queen was calling to us after several days of towns and marinas with no ice cream. But we have to admit that the courthouse in Clinton was pretty impressive, too.

Clinton County Courthouse

Getting a "Blizzard fix" in Clinton

Thunderstorms are in the forecast for the next several days, but we hope to be able to keep moving if we can just figure out the right weather windows each day.