|
|
AVYC Member Captain Art Wilson
|
BOATING ON THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI
BY CAPTAIN ART WILSON USCG CAPTAIN 100T
The Mississippi River! Full of romance and danger around every bend.
The "Mighty Miss", "Ol' Man River", "Mississippi Mud", and so on. Many people don't know that the Mississippi starts in Minnesota. Actually it starts as a tiny bubbling brook known as the Headwaters of the Mississippi in Itasca State Park.
Ever changing and never still. My greatest love is to motor south to Lake Pepin, just south of Red Wing, and shut down my engines and just drift with the current.
I can conjure up thoughts of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn alone on they're raft. With the wind in the right direction, one can drift the full 14 miles of Lake Pepin.
The beauty of the bluffs. The narrow channels with the bluffs some 500-700ft. above you and the channel a mere 1/3 of a mile wide in points.
Currents, which at flood stage, can propel you down river at a speed up to 8 knots. At anytime, an ancient sunken log can be ripped from the mud below and can be hurled into the air with a whoosh and sink again forever. Or it can lie just below the surface of the water awaiting an unsuspecting Skipper, his boat and her crew.
At any bend in the river, suddenly you come head-to-head with a barge, a "fifteener" as we would call her. A tug with fifteen barges in front, all loaded. She's takin' up the entire channel at that point. "Quick Capt', back her down, that barge ain't stoppin'!"
Time to relax………….A little cove to drop anchor. Maybe a sand bar to bow up on. Gather driftwood and start a crackling fire. When the sky is clear there are more stars than one ever thought possible. The night is alight with shooting stars streaking across the skies.
The call of the Loon, a Gull laughing in the night and the frogs in the rushes all add to the mysteries, and intrigues, of the "Mighty Miss".
The morning, with a fine mist over the water. The aroma of fresh coffee and the smell breakfast coming from the galley. Maybe a lucky hook comes in with a cat or a large mouth on it. If one is really lucky a 5 pound Walleye.
It's time to get underway. Weigh anchor, cast off the lines ya scallywags. We've got a current to buck all the way back. Hit the throttles Capt', let's get the bow in the air. Grab the radio..."Bill's Bay Marina, Bill's Bay Marina! This is Capt' Art! Winkin' Blinkin' & Nod and crew are comin' in." The Mighty Miss has spared us on this trip.
Alright crew let's look sharp. We're docking stern first. Get 'er tied up, then get the shore power hooked up and crack some cold ones and let's spin some yarns about how we beat the Mississippi again.
Captain Art
_______________________________________________________________
Bio:
Captain Art Wilson was born on the North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego California. His father retired as a Captain and at one time was the Captain of the USS Henderson, a Destroyer Escort.
Captain Art's home port is a small little river community called Red Wing, MN (The home of Red Wings shoes). He is the Dockmaster of Bill's Bay Marina and they are a cooperating BOAT/US Marina as well as BOAT/US Towing Service and soon a BOAT/US store.
Having been a coastal person the majority of his life, the Mississippi presented a new chapter in his life.
You may learn more about Captain Art at his Web Page and at his other interests.
_______________________________________________________________
Postscript:
My First Boat
Captain Jim, remember when I joined AVYC and I asked you to remind me to tell you the story of my first boat? Well here it is!
I was about 5 or 6 and my older brother was 8 or 9 when our father was Captain of the Henderson. When the ship was in port our father would let us stay on the Henderson all weekend without him being there. Something about being at sea for a long time and wanting some time alone with our mother. Can you imagine having the run of a Naval Vessel, an American fighting ship and your father is the skipper?
We (my brother and I) had the run of the entire ship plus, we got to use the Captains Gig anytime we wanted. Ever since that time in my life, I have always referred to the USS Henderson as being "my first boat".
All rights reserved.