First lock was the Mel Price lock. It’s brand new and looks it. Makes one realiz
e how old and crumbling most locks are. Floating bollards. The upstream gate rose up out of the water to about 3 feet above water line rather than big gates that close. Looked very strange. Passed the mouth of the Missouri River. Entered the Chain of Rocks canal above St. Louis. It is a manmade canal to bypass the Mississippi, which is shallow with rapids at this point. Barge traffic continues to increase. The barges here are 5 wide and 6 deep. Yikes!! We feel pretty puny when we meet one. Saw our first Asian Carp. The noise fro
m the engines causes them to leap out of the water. They aren’t very large ones. They are shiny and silver. Evidently very thin-skinned and bleed very easily. If they land on your boat, it’s a mess. We arrived at Hoppies Marina. We were met by Fern, who was wearing a tee shirt that said “All stressed out and no one to choke”. We liked her immediately. Everyone stops at Hoppies as it’s the last fuel for 256 miles. It’s the most stressful stretch of the Loop. The marina is a long barge and we were tied on the channel side. Strong current but we were tied up well. Huge cleats as it is an
old work barge. The Marina is basically just a gas dock; decorated mostly with stuff they’ve pulled out of the river as it’s floated by. There is an old beat up couch and chairs with a large low table in one area. This is where Fern Hoppie gives her daily brief. She’s a woman in her 70’s with a great sense of humor and is “the authority” on
the river. She knows where to go and not go, depending on the time of the year and the weather. Forge
t Capt. Bob, listen to Fern. After the briefing the Loopers gathered around the table for drinks and hors d’oeuvres. There was a woman on the dock taking photos. She is a photographer for the New York Times and doing a piece for the paper. She took some photos of our boat and also at Fern’s briefing. I think she said the article was to run October 18. We’ll have look for it on the Internet. Walked in to Kimmswick, Missouri. It’s a picturesque, historic town with old buildings made into craft shops, bakeries and such. Ate supper at the Gasthaus. It was a restored house turned in to a German restaurant. Walked home in the dark. Watched the weather channel and found out there has been heavy rain and flooding in the direction we are headed. We will have a strong current heading up the Ohio. Left Fern with a jar of my homemade hot pepper jelly. Still have a few tomatoes along from the garden. Gave one to a fellow Looper we met here and he was thrilled. Hey, what’s better than a homegrown tomato??
e how old and crumbling most locks are. Floating bollards. The upstream gate rose up out of the water to about 3 feet above water line rather than big gates that close. Looked very strange. Passed the mouth of the Missouri River. Entered the Chain of Rocks canal above St. Louis. It is a manmade canal to bypass the Mississippi, which is shallow with rapids at this point. Barge traffic continues to increase. The barges here are 5 wide and 6 deep. Yikes!! We feel pretty puny when we meet one. Saw our first Asian Carp. The noise fro
m the engines causes them to leap out of the water. They aren’t very large ones. They are shiny and silver. Evidently very thin-skinned and bleed very easily. If they land on your boat, it’s a mess. We arrived at Hoppies Marina. We were met by Fern, who was wearing a tee shirt that said “All stressed out and no one to choke”. We liked her immediately. Everyone stops at Hoppies as it’s the last fuel for 256 miles. It’s the most stressful stretch of the Loop. The marina is a long barge and we were tied on the channel side. Strong current but we were tied up well. Huge cleats as it is an 
old work barge. The Marina is basically just a gas dock; decorated mostly with stuff they’ve pulled out of the river as it’s floated by. There is an old beat up couch and chairs with a large low table in one area. This is where Fern Hoppie gives her daily brief. She’s a woman in her 70’s with a great sense of humor and is “the authority” on 
the river. She knows where to go and not go, depending on the time of the year and the weather. Forge
t Capt. Bob, listen to Fern. After the briefing the Loopers gathered around the table for drinks and hors d’oeuvres. There was a woman on the dock taking photos. She is a photographer for the New York Times and doing a piece for the paper. She took some photos of our boat and also at Fern’s briefing. I think she said the article was to run October 18. We’ll have look for it on the Internet. Walked in to Kimmswick, Missouri. It’s a picturesque, historic town with old buildings made into craft shops, bakeries and such. Ate supper at the Gasthaus. It was a restored house turned in to a German restaurant. Walked home in the dark. Watched the weather channel and found out there has been heavy rain and flooding in the direction we are headed. We will have a strong current heading up the Ohio. Left Fern with a jar of my homemade hot pepper jelly. Still have a few tomatoes along from the garden. Gave one to a fellow Looper we met here and he was thrilled. Hey, what’s better than a homegrown tomato??
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