Day
18: Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Today is the last day of our trip. We arose early, knowing that this was going
to be a long one. We prepared our last
eggs for a cheesy egg scramble and added a side of bacon.
We were underway by 7:00 while the fog was just lifting off
of the water. It was a really pleasant
We ran faster than
our typical 3 knots, knowing that we had to cover about 45 miles on the water
to reach our final destination. As has
been the pattern over the last 2/3 of our trip, the winds were either calm or
very light from a head on direction, so again, sailing was out.
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| The early morning fog |
beginning of the day.
We passed the interesting town of Augusta, KY. We were not familiar with this gem of a place
and were amazed by the number of restored, beautiful homes that lined the
waterfront. Our guidebook told of
interesting things to see and do, but our tight schedule precluded our
stopping. We will be back.
 |
| Another beautiful sunrise |
We reached the Meldahl Lock and Dam by about 10:00.
As we approached, I idled down the
engine to
make the call on the radio and the engine decided to die. Huh, a new wrinkle.
We have been having a problem with the engine
blowing a fuse frequently.
The fuse does
not affect the running of the engine but it does prevent the starter from
working, the power tilt from functioning, and possibly prevents the alternator from
charging the batteries. With our solar panel, the latter problem is a nonissue
but the starter is a handy feature.
It
does have a pull rope and generally starts quite easily but this particular
time, a number of pulls did not result in a running engine.
I checked the level of fuel in the tank and
amazingly, at just the instant that I idled down the engine, she ran out of
gas.
I hooked up the reserve tank, one
strong pull and we were again on our way.
 |
| A sample of the numerous restored homes along the shore in Augusta, KY |
I contacted the lockmaster and he had the lock gates open
and as we reached the approach allowing
Janine is gotten quite adept at snaring the
floating bitts and this time was no exception.
The wind was calm so the boat sat quietly as the water gently flowed out
of the chamber.
This was probably the
smoothest of the passages that we have made.
We made small talk with a lock hand and he told us that recreational traffic
through the lock was way down.
We discussed
the possible reasons but came up with no good answer.
us to glide right in.
The remainder of the trip was unremarkable.
The river was getting to be quite wide and had there been sufficient
wind, we would have enjoyed sailing even though we would have had to be tacking
up wind. The closer we got to
Cincinnati, the more campers and cabins we began to see along the river’s edge
and the more beautiful homes on the hills that overlooked the river valley. We also, of course, began to see more
industry as well.
 |
| The Agusta Ferry in continuous operation since 1797. (not this particular one) |
Our destination was the Four Seasons Marina.
I had contacted them and had secured a berth
for one or two nights depending how the retrieval of our truck worked out.
As we entered the off river harbor, we were
impressed by the large number of huge boats tightly packed in neat rows.
Our assigned slip was at the far end of a
long dock along which was lined with all of these big boats neatly backed
in.
I figured that if backing into the
slip was the required standard, it might be an interesting sideshow with our
poorly backing sailboat.
Our passage to
our chosen spot was like running a gauntlet of angry spectators all pointing at
and watching our slow progress.
Luckily
I was able to back into our spot with little disruption and without making a
scene.
We went to the AIR CONDITIONED marina office where we
completed the required paperwork and then contacted Uber for a ride to our son
and daughter-in-law’s home in Evendale. The
Uber guy was driving a nice Hyundai which was AIR CONDITIONED. He was an interesting Canadian who had retired from the Cincinnati Water Department.
The Uber thing has turned out to be a fun
efficient way to get around.
 |
| Old Lock 35 - 1919 -Thomas More College Center for River research and Education |
We arrived where at our kid’s home at around 3:30.
We had not alerted them as to our arrival,
not wanting them to feel obligated to pick us up.
Of course they were surprised to see us.
We spent a bit of time enjoying our three grand-kids before heading out for Pittsburgh and our truck.
The trip to Pittsburgh took about 5 hours. This time, our Pennsylvania family knew we
were to arrive so the grand-kids were allowed to stay up until we go there. Again it was a hilarious greeting. But, we
were really tired and the bed was summoned soon after we arrived.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
 |
| Black vulture we watched being chased off by a crow. |
We headed back to Cinci early, getting on the road by around
7:00.
We drove directly to a launch
From there, we again called upon Uber to take
us back to the marina.
The retrieval
and breakdown of the boat was relatively uneventful except for the fact that we
were hit with a strong storm and wind about ½ way through the project.
We were soaked as were our sails.
We just piled them in the floor of the boat,
buttoned it all up and headed to Trevor and his family’s home for the night.
ramp,
located about 2 miles from where our boat was parked.
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| City of Cincinnati Water Treatment Plant intake |
We arrived home in Somerset at around noon on Thursday to an
overly excited dog.
This was an
interesting trip.
Although we had made
the same journey 13 years prior, we spent more time exploring towns and meeting
people than we did on that first trip.
The earlier trip was our first long distance excursion in a much smaller
boat.
Being new to cruising, that trip
was a true adventure.
This trip was more
relaxed and comfortable having significantly more experience in this type of
travel.
