48 miles to Cairo and the mild currents of the Ohio river ! I couldnt wait to get out of the crazy flow of the Mississippi and, although the Ohio travel would be upstream, everything i read said the current was only 1 mph (WRONG !!!) It was a nice day and with the current and light tail wind, i easily made Cairo by noon, but when i turned up the Ohio, SURPRISE !!!!, the current was 5 to 6 mph. Having a max speed of 8 mph, i barely made my next destination (Ohlstead lock and dam ) before dark, only to find that the bunkers i was hoping to moor up on were all taken by barges. Reluctantly, i went 2 miles downstream to anchor in what was said to be a safe place, and prepared for an early start in the morning, as i needed the full day to make Paducah in this current.
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In the morning, i found the river had another surprise for me. While the current was 5mph hour in one direction, overnight the wind had picked up to 20 mph in the other direction, driving 3 foot waves UPSTREAM ! When i attempted to raise the anchor, i realized that the boat had been spinning overnight, causing the anchor to wrap around either the keel or the rudder and holding the boat in a very awkward position in the current. I was terrified that i might have damaged it and/or i could possibly loose it altogether !
Being fairly exhausted from my first attemped to weight anchor, i laid on the deck, praying and contemplating my dilemna. After a while, i conclude that i i had one shot at freeing the rudder. I rapidly deployed the remainder of anchor rope, hoping the slack would be enough to release the pressure and free the rudder. Thank you Lord, it worked !
While i was ecstatic that i had salvaged my rudder, i now realized that i had an additional 100 feet of rope to pull in against the current ( 1 to 3 feet at a time ) and i still wasnt sure about the integrity of the rudder. 1 hour later, completely exhausted, i had the anchor close to the boat, but could not release it from the river bottom. After another hour of using and almost breaking my winches to pull the anchor up to where i could see the chain. I discovered that the anchor had snagged something and was not coming up any further .
EXHAUSTED AND DEFEATED, I cut the rope to my $400 anchor. It was now 10 am and i headed upriver at 2-3 mph, knowing i had 30 miles to travel to Paducah with no anchorages or moorings and only 6 hours of daylight. My only hope was that God had a surprise for me, which by now i had really gotten used to looking for *-). 2 miles upriver, the Ohio got wider, shallower, and faster, causing me to come to a COMPLETE STANDSTILL.
Another prayer, completely trusting him in an impossible situation, i gradually found a spot where i could move again. Eventually the river got deeper, the current got slower, and i recieved a brisk tailwind. Although all the math said it was impossible, 5 hours later just before dusk, i moored up at the Paducah city dock. Words cannot possibly describe the relief and gratitude i felt. I gave myself the next day off, doing nothing but enjoying a safe mooring, shore power, and GOD 😂