About a 70-mile run today to a little canal inlet off the Mississippi River just south of Cape Girardeau. The Little Diversion Canal is everything everyone said about it: safe, deep water, good anchorage with a steady water flow that keeps your bow pointed upstream and without need for a stern anchor. The Mississippi River is experiencing higher waters due to upstream rains and flooding in upstate Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. I decided to take it easy today and not let the boat outrun the current. As a result, we traveled between 11.5 - 13.2 mph and burned less than 2 gph! That would equal about 6 mpg! I think the generator is using more fuel than the engines! But that will change tomorrow. We have about 50 miles on the Mississippi before we turn up the Ohio River for 55 miles. I want to get another early start tomorrow because if we average 10 mph then we have a 10-hour day plus one lock on the Ohio River - Olmsted.

No issues today and the commercial traffic has been very kind. However, one Looper boat behind us asked for clarification on which side the tow wanted them to go and he gave her a polite but stern dress-down about knowing the “rules of the road”! In fairness, I think the Looper was seeking confirmation but said clarification. Communication is key.

Tomorrow we’re underway at 0700. We have generator running, watching college football - the University of Ole Miss v Alabama. There’s a pun in that statement. Several years ago, a highly recruited high school football player from Georgia held a press conference to announce he had chosen the “University of Ole Miss” as the university he would attend. I can’t forget the irony!