Play Station 2 Adventures: Day 5 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The plan today was to rise early and get to an anchorage on the great Mississippi River for our overnight stay. There were no marinas that we could reach in daylight. We scoped out the anchorage possibilities and set our sights on the Angelo Towhead anchorage 159 miles away. This anchorage is located in Cairo, IL on the Mississippi just before the Ohio River.

We learned there was another fueling station on down the river but it was necessary to call ahead as the owner had to drive 25 miles to meet you there. It was by appointment only. We figured we had enough fuel for our next leg of the trip but why take chances. We booked an appointment to meet around 14:00.

Jim took a short jog first thing this morning and came across a horse arena marked as an Anheuser Busch Arena. When he returned, we chatted with some other dockmates and fueled up before leaving. We had a bit of a glitch while trying to pay our fuel bill. We were now in Missiouri and all of our personal credit cards would not work. They were denied. Charles, the owner, said it was probably due to being out of state (though we had not had any problems previously). We were finally able to use a business visa and were able to depart at 08:35.

Around 12:30, we encountered an unusual sight--2 whirlpools swirling in about 30 feet of water. This was around MM 82.

We arrived at Kidd River City Fuel (MM 52) at 14:10. We topped off our fuel taking on only about 105 gallons total. (Our tanks hold 300 gallons). We left Kidd City Fuel at 14:40 with only about 50 miles left to reach the Angelo Towhead.

We got back underway and I was at the helm now getting a few lessons when I felt the wheel shudder. I asked our Caprain what was that?! He quickly glanced at the rpm's and told me to shut down the engines because he noticed the Port engine was not keeping up with the Starboard engine. As Jim and I kept watch, Capt Bart went below to check the engine room for any evidence of problems. He suspected it may be as simple as needing a fuel filter change, but the news was worse than that. We had a fuel leak! With Jim at the helm and Capt Bart in the engine room to observe, Jim was instructed to start the port engine then quickly shut it down once Capt Bart found the source of the leak. It was a metal part that would need replacing before making the whole trip home. We only had about two hours to travel to get to our anchorage, so we started the good engine and took it slow. We arrived at the anchorage as the sun began to set around 17:30. Another boat (BeeLine, a sailboat) was already anchored there. We quickly set our anchor, and Capt Bart went below to remove the bad part so we could examine it closely take pictures of it and figure out how to order a new one.

We have Cummins Diesel engines, so I remembered talking to a Cummins expert on the West Coast during our lengthy search for a boat. His name was Tony with Seaboard Marine. I looked up his number and called when I realized their timezone was an hour behind us. Luckily, they were still there but preparing to close for the day. They said they were sure they could help and they'd call back in the morning. At this late hour, there was not much else we could do in regards to getting the new part. So we had dinner on board (of course). I had prepared mom's vegetable soup with Kiebasa in the crockpot so it was ready to eat.

After dinner, Bart and I scoured the internet using our various devices to find the part and/or part number we needed. The best we could do is find a picture that labeled it the "Fuel Pump Return Connector." We had that picture along with the picture of our actual broken part to use to find a replacement the next day. Nowhere could we find the part number, including the Cummins website.

Today was filled with new, stressful and exciting events. Let's hope we can find that part in the morning and get it overnighted to our next planned stop at Green Turtle Bay in KY. Otherwise, we could be delayed for several days or more. The future was unclear at this point but we were armed with the information we needed to get our boat repaired.

Hoppie's Marine Service in Kimmswick, MO

Anheuser Busch arena that Jim found on his morning jog.

We are docked on the river side of Hoppie's.

We met the owners of this boat. Husband, wife, 6 year old and their dog. They had 100% of all of their belongings on board as they were making their way around the Great American Loop.