Day-8 May 12, Saturday 12:30

We left the marina after having breakfast at a local restaurant at 9:00 a.m.  Doug and Willis took the boat down the river while I returned the rental car to Alton IL, The Toyota dealer delivered me to the Alton Marina to hock up with our boat. They beat me there.  I gassed up the car and bought supplies. We were back on the water at 10:30. Our goal is to make it to Hoppies Marina in Kimmswick, MO. The total milage today will be 61 miles.

 This is a manmade cannel to divert the boat traffic around St. Louis. You can see it on the top of the map below. There is a dam on the river that does not have a lock on it so the river is not navigable.

 The narrow strip of water on the top of the map is the Chain of Locks Cannel. You can also see at the upper center right on the map the final lock #27 which we have passed thru. this is the last lock that we will pass thru on the Mississippi River.

 The arches from the river point of view.

Lock 26 in Alton has an upstream gate that comes up from the river bottom, most other use a gate style door. This lock is 1200 feet most others are 600 feet. The longer length speeds the barges thru the locks, less time required disconnecting the barges.