Day 92: Down the Mississippi

Another view of the Arch, this time from the River.

August 31, 2025: We left Alton at about 6:30 am and got very lucky because we did not have to wait at either of the two locks. Smooth sailing in that regard. The early start was necessitated by the fact our planned journey involved 120 miles. We stopped to top off our fuel at the last fuel station (Hoppie’s) south of St. Louis. Along the way we (of course) encountered many, many barges being pushed by tugs. Other than the tugs, we saw less than a dozen other boats on the water.

Above is a time lapse of an area on the river south of St. Louis, to provide an illustration of the amount of commercial traffic on the Mississippi.

We did our first (ever) anchorage just above where the Mississippi and the Ohio River meet. This meant we had to take Zander on the dinghy to shore to take care of business. And we will have to do that again in the morning. The things we do for this dog!