Rock Island to Keokuk, Oct 28

We left Sunset Marina in Rock Island, IL at 7:15 because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. The next marina that had all of the emenities we wanted was the Keokuk Yacht Club, 117 miles. The previous longest day we had was 75 miles, so to get to Keokuk we had to get up on plane for several miles. The first two locks we didn't have to wait at all, but at the third lock we had to wait about two hours. We finally made our destination at 4:45.



The leaves are still green or just starting to turn this far south, but the colors aren't really very brilliant. Also, the waters are pretty shallow the farther south we go because of the two major floods that took place this year.



We arranged to have a fuel truck come down to give us a fill the following morning. This came from the same fuel company that furnishes all of the farmers, so the price was pretty decent. Last night I was quoted $2.79/gal, but when he filled us up, we were charged $2.49/gal, plus 7% sales tax. This is the same fuel that goes into the John Deeres around here, so we didn't have to pay the "marine markup."



This morning was a real adventure, and I am going to let Jeff tell the story so it comes from a more neutral source than I would be.