Prescott to LaCrosse

I have not been using names in these posts out of respect for privacy but it is sort of difficult so I was using initials ...which is also silly ...Colin finally agreed that it was silly. 

C&K Ready to Leave Wabasha

In a crew change out at Wabasha MN, Rick and Barb left and Kerry hopped on. After staying overnight at Mississippi Parkside Marina, Colin and Kerry left for La Crosse the morning of Sept 13. The two of them took Late Date through 6 Lock and Dams, 4, 5, 5a, 6 and 7, through Soo LIne swing bridge and under Black River bridge.  With wait times at each, this was a 10 hour day. 

Alma WI

The weather was perfect as this gorgeous sky-reflecting photo outside of Alma WI shows. However, not all was perfection. Upon leaving lock 5, there was a significant amount of roiled water and a lot of duck weed.

Duckweed in Lock & Dam 5

The port engine took in both and this caused it to overheat; Late Date limped along on one engine into North Bay Marina to spend the night and wait for Monday and repair. Paulita was in Rochester MN and drove to La Crosse in order to let Kerry leave Late Date and permit time to bridge to the next crew change since repairs cannot occur until Monday. 


Happily, we have a dear niece in La Crosse and Elise was able to join us for dinner and assist with important errands e.g. beer run.  

Elise and Paulita in Huck Finn's Marina Restaurant

As is true of all boating communities , North Bay Marina is a friendly spot. Boaters greeted Colin and Kerry, wanted to know the story and how they could help. After considerable time with an incredibly helpful and knowledgeable person, the likely cause was isolated to the impeller. For those of you who - like Paulita - had no idea what an impeller does, an impeller is a rotor used to force the movement of fresh water  into the heat-exchanger where it cools the antifreeze coolant system. Colin says its ingenious since this is the replacement for a radiator like we have in cars. Impellers are notorious for failing at the most inopportune times so this incident is apparently just part of boating. Paulita will keep Colin company until the engine is fixed on Monday courtesy the mechanical staff at North Bay and wait for the next crew change which will occur Tuesday.