Moundsville to New Martinsville

Day 7:  Friday, August 19, 2016

You can monitor our trip at the link: Second Winds Progress Live

We awoke to significant fog on the river this morning.  The air was calm and the

Foggy morning looking upstream from Moundsville dock

water was glassy.  It was pleasantly cool.

We prepared blueberry pancakes and bacon for our first meal of the day. And, we spent the first couple of hours doing our daily morning chores.  It is amazing how the boat always seems to be cluttered by the time we get up. 

The fog had lifted by 9:00 so we headed out.  We basically cruised slowly

Janine tidying up the foredeck on calm waters

through beautiful lightly inhabited miles of back country.   We did pass a few thriving industrial areas.  Janine pointed out that all of the most significant industry was along the West Virginia shore with very few smaller plants on the Ohio side. 

Near the West Virginia town of Natrium, we came into restricted zone that the Coast Guard had decreed no anchorage or boating with 200 feet of the plant.  I didn’t see the 200 foot clause so we cruised up alongside to see what was going on.  It was a PPG Industries facility and there were a lot of white train tank cars with hydrochloric acid stenciled of the side and black cars labeled for sodium

Little paddle wheel barge leaving Hannibel Lock

hydroxide.  There were a number of barges, some full, some empty that were labeled caustic soda (basically NaOH) and that area was placarded as a dangerous chlorine area.  I emailed a friend who is an engineer with PPG and asked if they were producing and shipping these highly caustic chemicals and he confirmed that they were.  He said that he had visited the plant on an engineering assignment,

Hannibal Lock before the water is drained down

that the employees wore gas masks while traveling though the plant. I assume that we didn’t cause any undo alarm as we encroached into the 200 foot zone because no one yelled at us and they didn’t send forth the Coast Guard.

We ate our lunch as we moved along.  Janine prepared a beef taco for me while she ate her chocolate hazelnut Smucker’s Uncrustable.  The filling for the taco that I eat had been prepared before we left on the trip and then canned in small jelly jars so all we do is spread some mayo from individual packets onto a tortilla, spread on the filling, and smother it with salsa.  We also bought a variety pack of small bags of chip to supplement our meal. 

The weather was warm and sunny for the majority of the trip but at around 1:00, I began to notice what appeared to be storm clouds brewing.  I checked the weather app on my phone and no rain was forecast.  But, as we arrived at the Hannibal Lock and Dam, it began to sprinkle.  We got out our raincoats but the storm did not materialize. It was hot so we took the raincoats back off.

I called the lock and he replied that he was bringing a small paddle wheeler through and that when he cleared the chamber we could enter.  We circled around in front of the lock for probably 20 minutes until we finally got the green light indicating that the lock gates were open.  The paddle wheeler that came out was actually a working towboat pushing a small barge with a crane on it.  Just as we

And then it rained!

were passing through the gates, the sky opened up and began to dump buckets on us.  We got to a bitt and tied off as the rain intensified.  We called that we were secure and ready to descend. And it rained even harder.  Of course, our rain gear was stowed inside of the cabin.  We were both soaked to the skin.  But it was warm, so!

When the gates opened, the rain decided that it had caused enough trouble so it abruptly stopped.  We motored about a mile further down the river passing nice homes that lined the WV shore in the little town of New Martinsville.  The guide books said that there was a public dock so we decided to end our day with these folks.  Their dock is a brand new fancy structure made of the most modern materials.  The frame is aluminum and the decking is artificial

wood.  The walkway to shore is aluminum and the path to the top of the shore is fresh concrete with a black freshly painted handrail.  It is fully handicapped

The nice new New Martinsville dock

accessible. 

We changed into dry clothes, mopped the water out of the cabin floor and read for a while before venturing out looking for a place to eat.  We climbed the path to town and on our way to the main street we passed a shiny black wall with, I would assume, several thousand names painted on it.  It was labeled the

The Wall of Honor

“Wall of Honor” and the names were those of local veterans who had served.  There was a sign indicating that one could have his or her name placed on the wall by presenting their military discharge papers.  It was really neat.

We stepped out onto the street not knowing which way to turn for a restaurant when we noticed a young lady sitting in her car

Baristas Expresso Cafe and Massage Parlor

e

texting.  I tapped on her window and asked for the best place in town to eat and she smiled and pointed to the old house right next to where she was parked, stating that this place was a town favorite.  That was good enough for us.  Barista’s Expresso Café and Pub was, as Janine described it, an eclectic institution with an eclectic crew running it. We were greeted by a friendly young man who explained the

The Garden

layout.  We could eat upstairs in the dining room or in the pub in the basement or in the garden outside.  I asked for a tour so he took us first through the dining room, then through the kitchen down the narrow steep stairs to the dark pub in the basement.  There we met the friendly bartender who handed us a slip of paper on which we made our selection. I chose a Barista burger that the young man upstairs said was the best burger that he had ever eaten.  Janine chose a chicken melt sandwich.  We handed in our order and took our craft beer to the garden where we sat amongst the flowers, weeds, license plates, bicycle wheels, humorous signs, vines and a view of the stone oven where they were cooking pizzas and sandwiches. The food was great.  What a great find! Oh, as we were leaving, we realized that they had a massage parlor on the second floor.  Son of a gun!  We missed that one.

I had left my camera in the boat so while waiting for our food to arrive, I ran back to fetch it.  Upon returning I realized that it was not functioning.  It had gotten wet in the downpour and I was sure that it had met its maker.  However, back at the boat, I replaced the battery she came back on line working perfectly.  Whew! 

Back at the boat we sat in the cockpit reading and conversing with a few passerbys who were curious about seeing a sailboat on the river.  And then there was bed.