So Much to Learn
November 3-5
I’m amazed at how much we have learned already. Navigation and anchoring are so different on the river than on the lake. The hazards on the river are sudden, shallow water, HUGE barges who don’t see us, and, of course, the locks.
When driving, you have to constantly watch for the navigational aides in the water: on the left are floating red “nuns” (named for their pointy hat tips) and the green “cans” (because they look like overgrown beer cans) stay to the right. Sometimes there are red or green “shapes” that are on posts coming out of the water. Most of these are marked on the electronic chart we follow to keep track of where we are. The charts are kind of like google maps for water travel.
Anchoring is whole other challenge. We are used to reading the wind and knowing the depth of the water when anchoring. We head into the wind, drop the anchor into the water, let out 7:1 ratio of anchor line to depth, and we are good for the night. On the river, the current takes us one way and the wind takes us another way and it’s kind of confusing to figure out which way the boat will settle so that we can be sure our anchor is stuck to the bottom. So far we’ve done fine and had to tweak it just a little before turning in for the night.
“We are learning!” is something we seem to say to each other several times a day. What a wonderful gift it is to keep learning! 
Beautiful sunrise. What does your keel draw? What is the depth range of the water today?
Frindle Fans, the sunrises have all been stunning! Such a treat in the morning. Dagny draws 5'; her specs say 4.5' but we like to give it the extra 6". The water in the channel between the red and green marks is 11'-17'. The barges need a minimum of 10' so we are grateful to them for keeping the channel deep enough. The problem comes when we need to pay attention to something else like the engine making a funny noise, a bald eagle flying by and catching a fish right next to us, a fishing boat that is parked in the middle of the channel - these things cause us to deviate and it shoals up right away. So we keep a keen eye on the depth sounder!
Those are good shots! You guys look way more comfortable.
Pete got good training on waterway navigation when he did the Intercoastal with Chris back in 2015, Same deal, except they have detailed flip maps (like old AAA triptics) between each mile marker.