I gave up waiting for the weather to clear, so we left our anchorage in a downpour. And fog. When we made it back out to the river channel, I thought I could see through the binoculars a southbound towboat coming our way. Then it disappeared in the rain and fog. Couldn't find it again. Thought maybe it was a ghost ship. The Mississippi River Black Pearl. Finally caught up to it and it was heading north. We raced past it (at a blazing 8 mph) in order to get to the next lock before him. The Pearl was pushing 15 barges and would need to break them apart to go through the lock which would mean a long delay for us. We arrived ahead of the Pearl and the lockmaster put us right through. The lockmasters here are far more friendly than on some other rivers.
I had called ahead to the La Crosse Municipal Boat Harbor for a transient slip. When we got here, I filled up with gas and told the dock attendant we had a reservation. He said "So you're our overnight guest. You can just tie up right there at the gas dock." You never know what to expect along the river. But we bathed indoors with hot water, topped off the fuel and water, and are charging up the batteries while running our air condioning.
We walked into La Crosse to explore and have dinner. Some of my old pals would enjoy the industry here. Home of the world's largest six-pack.
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