October 10, 2009 East Dubuque to Clinton, IA

October 10, 2009

East Dubuque to Clinton, IA

We got a bit of a late start this morning as we went out to the marina pub for breakfast with Barb. She didn’t want to hold us up, but we thought our day was manageable with 60 miles and two Lock & Dams to Clinton, IA. So by the time we took off at 10:00, it was snowing! Good Grief!

We had a sphincter factor of 8 out of 10 as we were leaving the marina channel. Coming in we had no problem keeping between the slow marker and a red ball. Leaving, we thought too hard and thought we could pass on the other side of the red ball (keeping the red buoy on the left as we go downstream). WRONG! We beached Grateful on a Mississippi sandbar. We easily backed off and got out of the channel and were on our way.

We passed the “Spirit of Dubuque” paddleboat as we left town. Hardy people were aboard no doubt hoping to have a beautiful autumn day and to see the fall colors.

We continue to be fascinated by eagles which are abundant. Also, Mark tried to capture this mass of pelicans as they were ascending in circular flight pattern to find the upper wind currents and fly south.

We got to the Clinton Marina after closing so the folks there had told us our slip number and hid a key in the electrical box. This was another fine marina with all things new. Another tricky landing as we were in slips just off the channel. It took a few attempts, but we were in – although I think the lovely blue poles they have at the end of each dock finger presents an unnecessary challenge.

We walked through the town of Clinton to get some groceries and really liked the parts that we saw. The parks, walking trails, baseball field along the waterfront were lovely. We woke up to the fresh water frozen in our water hose as the overnight temperature was below 30 degrees. As one Lockmaster told us when we told him we were trying to get to warmer weather, “Your boat isn’t fast enough”.