Day Two - Sunday October 28th, 2007

Barnacle II Mate's Log - Cruise Day 2 – Sunday, October 28th, 2007
Leaving Goose Harbor/Emerald Bay Marina, Van Buren, AR

Kenn was up about 6:00 AM, but it was still too dark for me. I made it out of the berth about 6:45. He was scrounging around the galley for coffee filters and making a ton of racket, and he woke Vickie up, too. She had to show him where she stashed them, in a Ziploc way under the sink. Breakfast was coffee and fruit. I took a walkabout around the marina and park. There were still all of the derelict boats that I remember mixed in with some nice ones, typical of this marina. But Frank is really trying to make a go of it. He is such a nice guy, I hope he doesn’t give up.

9:00 AM – Untied from the dock and are continuing downriver. Frank came by before we shoved off. The people on the old Captain’s Lady (steel hulled pleasure boat that was featured in the SW Times last week) came over to look at the boat. They were interested in the portable ramp/boarding ladder that Barney bought and Kenn installed. It really looks great and works wonderfully on any type of dock. It makes loading and unloading so much easier.

9:40 AM – Approaching Barling Lock 13. The lockmaster has been called and has everything ready for us to lock through. We were down and out in less than 20 minutes. Beautiful homes upriver from the lock at the end of Free Ferry in Fort Smith and at Massard Crossing. Lots of dredging and work barges around river mile 276. Work tug asked us to slow to ‘no wake’ speed (5 mph). I had been driving the boat for the last 15 to 20 miles, so I turned it back over to Cap’n Barn. Kenn decided to go below to the engine room and check everything out while we were at almost idle speed and the noise level was down. He came back up to the steering station to tell us that he found a small fuel leak in an old line section on the starboard engine. This was one of the few areas that hasn’t been replaced.

So the menfolk left the women in charge of the helm while they went back below to check it out. It’s a weep in a high pressure fitting from the fuel filter to the engine, a flared fitting of aluminum against brass. After some time, Kenn was able to tighten it to the point of no more drippage, so we got back up to cruising speed of 10.5 knots. That was at the mouth of the Mulberry River at high noon.

During lunch of soup and sandwiches, we saw 2 flocks of white pelicans. We came upon the town of Ozark at 1:10 and were in the Ozark lock by 1:25. I shot several pictures of the bluffs and the beautiful old span bridge there, and a picture of 2 guys living in a cave by the railroad tracks at the bottom of the bluffs. Took pictures of the bed & breakfast where we spent my 45th birthday over 5 years ago, and the Ozark railroad depot. They’re both right on the riverbank.

Ozark Lock & Dam 12 has a 32’ drop, and we were out of the lock by 2:00 PM. We continued downstream, considering how far we would travel today. The consensus was Russellville so that we could have an easy day into Little Rock on Monday. The plan is to anchor out for the night at Russellville State Park. That will give us some practice for when we have to do it further downriver.

Got to Russellville Marina and State Park at about 6:20, anchored and secured. We went below, made dinner and relaxed for a few minutes, then called it a night. It was a very good day of traveling. The boat is operating well.