So if you run out of gas on the water...???

Colin called last night to announce that they did NOT run out of gas.  He sounded so surprised.  

In his own words...

Sunrise

"We started the day at our anchorage near Cape Girardeau, MO.  We all slept well and were ready to go at first light around 615 AM. The Mississippi was murky and very active with tow boats and turbulence.  In some places, it looked like a really big tub of chocolate being stirred. We reached the mouth of the Ohio around 8 AM.  The Ohio was much cleaner and steadily moving – although we were now going upstream.  After 20 miles we began to worry about our fuel consumption.  At 3400 RPM we were pulling 15 knots and using too much fuel.  We slowed to 2600 knots.  We first encountered multiple tows and barges around Cairo.  As we made our way to the Olmstead L&D - which is under construction - the river cleared.

The Very Over-Budget, Over-Schedule Olmstead L&D

Further upstream L&D 53 was under water and we were able to float over the top.  Next came L&D 52 which seemed like it was held together with baling wire and duct tape.  It was a very slow rise of about 10 feet and we were locked down for 45 minutes. Eventually, the  new Olmstead will replace both 52 & 53. At this point, we were really beginning to worry about whether or not we could make it to our destination of the Green Turtle Resort on Lake Barkley.  We encountered 5 tows on the Cumberland River. Although taking the Cumberland instead of the Tennessee added about 20 miles, it was a better L&D for us to use.  Kentucky lock normally has 2 locks but due to high water, the auxiliary lock was closed and delays were predicted to be 4-6 hours.  

Fearless and Determined

About 20 miles from Barkley Lock, our port fuel gauge showed 1/8 remaining. The starboard tank showed nearly 3/8 remaining.  The fuel management display confirmed that we were using too much fuel.  The lock operator wanted us to hurry, so we decided to go for it and put the throttles at 3400 RPM. This buried the needle under "empty" on the port but ....the boat remained running.  The starboard tank finished the day at ¼. 
We made it through Barkley as it was getting dark and were relieved to get out of there. 
Obviously, we are looking forward to tomorrow' s refueling since this will hopefully shed light on the accuracy of the fuel gauges and management systems."

My obvious question to Colin was "so if you run out of gas on the water, what do you do"? His reply "You call Sea Tow and get an expensive tank of gas". I imagine you also do the walk of shame - however one would do that in a boat.  

Barkley L&D

Barkley L&D