Spruce Creek Bellevue Iowa

At last!  SUN!!!! GLORIOUS SUN!  It was a spectacular day to be on the river on a raft and I made the most of it!  As I started out I heard radio chatter that a vessel had ground at Mile Mark 560 — which, as it just so happens, is

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Mid-Town Marina, East Dubuque

Two days respite in a harbor off the channel allowed me to catch my breath, try to dry out and plan ahead for when the sun would come out!  This was a bit nerve-wracking as the entrance to the marina was very narrow and the channel was tight and shallow. 

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Waupeton

Just passing through but loved the sign!

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My first fish for Hope on the River!

I can’t say it was a record but it sure was fun to catch a fish for the first time from the raft!

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Pirate’s Pit Stop

So, onto North Buena Vista and Pirate’s Pit Stop Marina. To be honest, I was skeptical of this next stop that was less than 15 miles away. I had called and messaged earlier and was assured that I would have a place to tie up but that it would be

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Lock and Dam #11

The next morning I was up early again.  Got my stuff packed up, battened down, started the motors,  made some coffee with my new French Press and at about 8:00 texted Linda letting her know that if we could fuel up at 8:30 I would love to be on my

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Cassville, Wisconsin

A beautiful riverside town.  I was tempted to stop and tie up to their courtesy dock but the weather was getting bad and I wanted to get as far along as I could!

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Guttenberg, Iowa

About ¼ mile out of the lock and dam is a place called Landing 615.  This was to be where I was going to tie up for the day as I broke up the next 50 miles into a few days because of the weather. Unfortunately, the location I was

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Lock and Dam #10

As the wind was increasing, the sky was getting darker I came upon Lock and Dam #10. Soon enough I was within a mile of it and switched to Channel 14 and tapped the radio and said, “This is the pleasure vessel Hail Mary coming southward on the river and

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Bill’s Boat Landing Clayton, Iowa

Kim Kuehl, the owner of Bill’s Boat Landing, reached out to me and volunteered to allow me to dock the raft here on my way down.  As luck would have it my original plans to stay there were thwarted by my adventure after Lock and Dam #9.  However, I arrived

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