You've probably noticed by now I like sunset and sunrise on the river. So here is a pair for you--first photo is sunrise, 8/25/06 from the dock of the Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina.

Next photo is sunset of the night before, while entering the Aqua Yacht Harbor Basin. This is at the end of the Tenn-Tom Waterway and the start of the Tennessee River. It's about 200 miles to Paducah, TN, where I'll have to decide whether to run up the Mississippi from Cairo to St. Louis under my own power. My 2 sources on that part of the river tell me this morning that the river is about as slow as it gets, 2.5-3 mph.

I think that's manageable for HUCK. I can make at least 25-30 miles a day toward Alton, IL, where a series of locks, all the way to St. Paul, slows the current even further. I'm hoping to pick up a crew in Paducah, a lifelong friend from Champaign, IL, a former mayor and retired school teacher. He's also an avid historian and author. Some company and some help during the trip makes it a lot more pleasant and not so arduous.

For the statistical mided: yesterday the HUCK covered 57 miles, transited 3 locks and consumed .56 gal./hr. of diesel. That's 9.5 miles per gallon.

I have 1116 miles to go to St. Paul. I've come about 850 miles so far. So I guess I'm getting there. Sort of. Rather slowly. "The race is not always to the swift..."