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Topic: River Travels, Chicago-KY (Read 1228 times) previous topic - next topic
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River Travels, Chicago-KY

Yahoo Message Number: 647
Well we made it down the Ill. River, down the Mississippi to the Ohio and up the Ohio to the Cumberland and the Land between the Lakes in two weeks. That is about 600 miles. On the Ill. and Miss. We were traveling 12 mph and on the Ohio and Cumberland 7 mph. Traveling is sure different on the boat as compared to the RV. The boat gets 4 mpg and weights in a 22 Tons, dry. It has 4 rooms and two heads and showers so we have a little more room that our 32 foot Allure.
Parking is easy because we have a bow thruster so can move the boat sideways, not real easy to do in an RV. Also fuel, diesel is cheaper on the water way too because there is not road tax. We have a 700 gal fuel tank. Marinas are about double the cost of RV parking though, about $1.00-1.40/ foot. Boat is 42 feet long and has a 135 hp Ford Lehman so I can do my own maintenance on it. No supercharger just a plain engine. It only requires 35 hp to push the boat at 9 miles/hr.

Right now we are in ND with the RV making the grandchildren tour and then back to the boat in a month and up the Tenn. River to the Ten- Tom and out to Mobile Alabama. We should get to Punta Gorda FL by the first of November or so, hopefully after the hurricanes have gone to bed.

If you have never experienced river travel you should consider one of the barge-RV trips just to get a feeling for the things that happen on the rivers of the US.

We see "TOWS" that are 6x6 barges big moving along at 10-15 miles per hour with coal, wheat, chemicals, etc. The unique views of the rivers are something that you can only experience on the water.

Until the next addition.
AL