Fri, Sat, Sun...31 Aug, 1 & 2 Sept 2007

It's Labor Day Weekend

 Updated Sun At ...6:30 PM

Updated Sun At 6:45 PM

Our River Picture of the Day ...Monday....  is of some of the boaters in Mason Chute Sunday afternoon..

Updated Sun At 12:45 PM

Our River Picture of the Day ...Sunday....  is of Gabie McGarrah the flamenco guitarist posing with "the Girls" in front of the Rotten Apple Saturday afternoon.  Make sure you catch his act next time your in Grafton.

Updated Sat at 8:00 AM

Our 1st River Picture of the Day ...Saturday....  is of blues artist.....GITLO at Longshot Salloon last night.  He is playing there all weekend....Make sure you stop in and listen to him.

    GITLO

Updated Sat at 8:50 AM

Our 2nd River Picture of the Day ...Saturday....  is of the low water conditions at Alton on Friday.  You can see the boat ramp under the bridge is a long way from the water and the barge on the right is high and dry.

  We called the marina for directions.........and made it in and out of the harbor alright in a large cruiser.  

Our River Picture and e-mail of the Day ...Friday....  is from Tracy of the boat "Never Say Never"

    River Rat Cat

Little Bit

Hi River Bill

Thought there should be a River Rat for Cats, I have seen a few other cats on the river, here is a pic of ours.

 Her name is Little Bit........And it not for her size. 

Thanks.

Tracey
Never Say Never

RiverBill says....Thanks Tracy....Guess we will have to start a River Rat Cat page !  

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Updated Sun at 6:30PM

The River Picture on the Day In 2006 --Monday--  was a sunset from Pop Dorn.

  Boy you cant beat this, Mississippi River, Island 521, 9-2-06, Sun Set, Rick Dorn's 24 foot Sun Runner,  this is the way to live. 

Pop Dorn

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Updated Sun at 6:30PM

The River Picture on the Day In 2006 --Sunday--  It was an e-mail and picture sent in byCapt'n Glen Sadowski.

Glen wrote in his e-mail in 2006:

 Hi Bill,

Thanks for the nice write up on RiverBills today.

 Here is a photo that I took today on Lake Borgne, near New Orleans. I have arrived to my destination, near New Orleans and will fly home tomorrow.

Glenn

Click here to see pictures of Glen and Greg Sadowski from Aug 30, 2006 on their recent  travels delivering boats. 

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Click on picture to enlarge

Updated Sat at 7:45

The River Picture on the Day In 2005 --Saturday--  It was one of those great river sunsets...... Wow !    I snapped this picture just a bit up-river from Kinder's.  You can see the lower end of Two Branch Island on the right hand side... 

What a sunset !  

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Click on picture to enlarge

The River Picture on the Day In 2005 --Friday--  It was a picture is of  sailboats maneuvering the summer breeze in front of the bluffs along the Great River Road.   The picture was taken by Larry Byrnes from Captain Gary Bowers' boat.   

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Updated Sat at 8:15

Flood Predictions ......

Predications below are from National Weather Service website as of 8:29 PM Tuesday, Aug 28

Winfield has crested an is predicted to go down below flood stage on Saturday 9-01-07

Grafton has crested an is predicted to go down below flood stage on Sunday or Monday 9-03-07

Alton has crested below flood stage.

Click here for current river levels and forecasts

 at Winfield, Grafton and Alton

The river is almost free of debris - come on out !

ITCS Memo 

  UPDATED ILL. RIVER HIGH WATER ADVISORY........

Received the following e-mail from the River Industry Bulletin Board website:

To: riverbill@prodigy.net 
Subject: UPDATED ILL. RIVER HIGH WATER ADVISORY 
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:16:23 -0500 
ITCS MEMO # 2595


SECTOR UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER ISSUES THE FOLLOWING SAFETY ADVISORY: 

A.   ZONE 7 (MILES 145.6 - 180.9) ON THE ILR IS IN THE HIGH WATER RECOVERY PHASE OF THE ILR WAP ANNEX. 
B.   ZONES 1, 5, AND 6 (MILES 102.0 - 145.5) ON THE ILR ARE IN THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OF THE ILR WAP ANNEX. 
D.   DOWNSTREAMING OPERATIONS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR VESSELS OPERATING IN THE ZONES IN THE ACTION AND WATCH PHASES UNLESS THE VESSEL IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 75 FEET IN LENGTH AND THE VESSEL HAS A MINIMUM OF 1800 HORSEPOWER. 
E.   ZONES 3 AND 4 (MILES 50.0 - 101.9) ON THE ILR MAY ENTER THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OVER THE NEXT 2 DAYS DUE TO THE HIGH WATER CONDITIONS NORTH OF ZONE 4. 
F.   ALL TOWING VESSELS SHOULD PROCEED AT THE SLOWEST SAFE OPERATIONS SPEED BASED UPON PREVAILING CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE WAKE DAMAGE. ALL MARINERS SHOULD EXCERISE CAUTION IN ZONE 7(BETWEEN MILES 166.5-178) AND ZONE 6 (BETWEEN MILES 138 - 139.5) ON THE ILR TO PREVENT ANY WAKE DAMAGE TO WATERSIDE STRUCTURES. 
G.   DUE TO HIGH RIVER LEVELS, DRIFT OF DEBRIS MAY BE AN ISSUE WITH NAVIGATION, AND IT MAY DRAG BUOYS OFF STATION AND SEVER BUOYS FROM THEIR MOORINGS. 
H.   ALL MARINERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENSURE THAT ALL MOORED VESSELS AND BARGES ARE ADEQUATELY SECURED WITH THE ANTICIPATION OF INCREASED VELOCITY AND HIGH WATER. 
I.   COTP UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER REMINDS ALL MARINERS TO USE EXTRA CAUTION AND TO BE ESPECIALLY VIGILANT DURING ALL BRIDGE AND LOCK APPROACHES IN THESE ZONES DUE TO SWIFT CURRENTS. 

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2595  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

River' Report ........John Patrico, of Eagles Landing Marina, reported that the river conditions are fine....The floating debris is almost gone.....come on down.

River's Up - No where to go ........Except to the Yacht club

   Sat Sept 1st ....Labor Day Patio Bar Bash...2PM til Midnight 
BBQ.... Ray the DJ
Click here for more info

Fishing Report  ------ The Missouri Department of Conservation has issued this week's Fishing Report.  

Mississippi River (above St. Louis):

81 degrees, high, muddy; all species slow. 

(Report made on 8/30/2007)

Missouri River (below New Haven)

84 degrees, rising, muddy; catfish fair on natural baits; all other species fair. (Report made on 8/30/2007)

Check out the report for the entire state of Missouri

.................go to  http://www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt/

Updated Sat AT 8:30

RiverBills.com.... Visitor Counts  

We have surpassed last month's all time record visitor count !

     Total unique visitors for July 2007 as of 7-31-07 was......68,856

     Total unique visitors for Aug 2007 as of 8-31-07 is........ 84, 888

We have surpassed the 80,000 visitor mark this month

Thanks everyone for Logging On !

August 31, 1989 in River History ------  
   

St. Louis traded the MacArthur Bridge for the Eads Bridge with the Terminal Railroad Association .

Source: http://bridgehunter.com/mo/st-louis-city/macarthur/

Memorial Celebration for Helen Tully........

Where: Polestar Marina - Belle of the Night
Date: September 15, 2007
Time: 11:00 a.m.

Please join the Tully family, in remembering a beautiful loving woman, Helen Tully. She would love all of her friends and family to gather and have fun and remember.

Thanks!
Jan Schlichting

Palisades Yacht Club........

Bill,

Sunday.......Music by Charles Hillard from 3-6 p.m.

Sunday Night....Music by Heather and the Hollywoods  from 8-11pm see their web page below:
www.heatherandthehollywoods.com

Monday.....Music by "The Last Resort" 2-6pm

Also Barry plans to run Beef Brisket for the Special this weekend!!!

Thanks
Amy

Grafton's Landing Bar and Grill.......

HEY THERE BILL,

WE WILL BE OPEN LABOR DAY MONDAY SEPT 3RD AT 11:00 A.M. AND CLOSING AT 7 P.M.
LIVE MUSIC THIS WEEKEND IS.... TIM SESSION SAT. AT 7 P.M.

LUNCH SPECIAL - CHICKEN PHILLY $7.25
DINNER SPECIAL - ST. LOUIS STYLE RIBS $12.95

NEW HOURS OF OPERATION FOR SEPTEMBER, OCT & NOV
KITCHEN
   FRIDAY 11:OO A.M. - 10:00 P.M.
   SATURDAY 11:00 A.M. - 10:00 P.M.
   SUNDAY 11:00 A.M. - 7:00 P.M.
BAR
   FRIDAY 11:00 A.M. - 11:00 P.M.
   SATURDAY 11:00 A.M. - MIDNIGHT
   SUNDAY 11:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M.

MARK BACHMAN

Saturday, Sept. 8 

    Great Grafton Pub Crawl .....Grafton's Landing Bar & Grill

GRAFTONS PUB CRAWL AROUND THE WORLD IS SEPTEMBER 8TH

JOIN US AT THE LANDING FOR AUTHENTIC JERK CHICKEN
$2.00 RUM PUNCH $3.00 RED STRIPE BEER
LIVE REGGAE MUSIC BY REDEMPTION 6 P.M. - 10 P.M.

$12.OO PER PERSON INCLUDES T- SHIRT AND TRANSPORTATION TO 9 DIFFERENT BARS IN GRAFTON

PLEASE CALL MARK @ 618-786-4745 FOR MORE DETAILS

MARK BACHMAN

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:    BeadMule (glmeinershagen@sbcglobal.net) 
Date:     Thu 30 Aug 2007 11:54:18 AM EDT 
Subject: Debris 

As of last night...8/29/07, the river was clean, very little trash

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Thirstday.. 30 August 2007

The Weekend is almost upon us !

 Updated Thurs at 5:30 PM ..Yacht Club of St Louis Labor Day Patio Bash

Our 1st River Pictures and e-mail of the Day .....  are from Dan and Laura Hamilton of Dan's Boats fame.  They sent us an update of the Hogback 2007 party.

River Bill-

Hogback 2007 was Great!   With the flooding up north the Coast Guard asked us not to bring the group up there- but the party must go on!   Two Rivers Marina said they would make a Hogback Party for us!   Both Jamie and John were great. They had activities planned for our group- about 100 boaters- and even took everyone out on the Party Barge which ended up being a great time on Saturday. We went 8 miles up the Salt River . Dan’s Boats had a Pig Roast on Friday, there were all sorts of contests and a dinner on Saturday Evening. There were great prizes from: Grafton Harbor , Port Charles Marina, Golf Graphics, Captain Jack’s & Bargain Books. On the return trip home we were locked thru with that traveling group of Gypsy’s on that crazy barge of theirs- so here they come! 

Next years commodores are Glen & Julie Morris who hail out of John’s Boat Harbor (I think) and if they hold to tradition it would be Aug 22-23-24, 2008. The motto is “All the way in 08!” So mark your calendars!

Photo courtesy of Steve Bachmann of GR8 XCAPE

Thanks, 

Dan & Laura
Dan's Boats
Your Source for Regal Sport Boats, Cruisers & Yachts!

Our 2nd River Picture and e-mail of the Day .....  are from Dan and Laura Hamilton of Dan's Boats fame.  They sent us an update of the Hogback 2007 party.

Bill - 

   The run to Hogback Island was cut short this year but not short on fun! Two Rivers Marina did a great job hosting us and it made for a good run even with the high water conditions. Laura and Dan Hamilton of Dan's Boats were great commodores! 

Here is a picture from Cutty's Ark! 

THANKS!

Susan 
Cutty's Ark
 

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

The River Picture on the Day In 2005 ---- was sent in by Jeri Behnke, who hails out of Two Branch Marina. 

Jeri wrote in her e-mail:

  Thought you would like these pictures form Sunday morning at Hat Island. I believe his name is Jim from Old Monroe. He landed on the beach....hung out for a little while.... and took off. It was really neat.

Jeri

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Flood Predictions ......

Predications below are from National Weather Service website as of 8:29 PM Tuesday, Aug 28

Winfield has crested an is predicted to go down below flood stage on Saturday 9-01-07

Grafton has crested an is predicted to go down below flood stage on Sunday 9-02-07

Alton Is predicted to crest on Thursday, 8-30-07, below flood stage.

Click here for current river levels and forecasts

 at Winfield, Grafton and Alton

Updated Thurs at 5:30 PM

River's Up - No where to go ........Except to the Yacht club

   Sat Sept 1st ....Labor Day Patio Bar Bash...2PM til Midnight 
BBQ.... Ray the DJ
Click here for more info

ITCS Memo # 2594....

Received the following ITCS memo by e-mail from the ITCS web site on Wednesday.  

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Subject: Safety advisory for high water on the UMR 
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:54:30 -0500 
ITCS MEMO # 2594


THE FOLLOWING ZONES ARE IN THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OF THE UMR WAP
ANNEX.

ZONES 17 AND 18 (MILES 410.5 - 457.1)
ZONES 20, 21, AND 22 (MILES 301.2 - 364.1) 
ZONES 24 AND 25 (MILES 241.4 - 301.1) 
ZONE 28 (MILES 109.9 - 185.4) 

ALL VESSELS SHOULD PROCEED AT THE SLOWEST SAFE SPEED BASED UPON PREVAILING CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE WAKE DAMAGE. 

DOWNSTREAMING OPERATIONS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR VESSELS 
OPERATING IN THE ZONES IN THE ACTION AND WATCH PHASES UNLESS THE VESSEL
IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 75 FEET IN LENGTH AND THE VESSEL HAS A
MINIMUM OF 1800 HORSEPOWER. 

DUE TO HIGH RIVER LEVELS, DRIFT OF DEBRIS MAY BE AN ISSUE WITH NAVIGATION, AND IT MAY DRAG BUOYS OFF STATION AND SEVER BUOYS FROM THEIR MOORINGS. ALL MARINERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENSURE THAT ALL MOORED VESSELS AND BARGES ARE ADEQUATELY SECURED WITH THE ANTICIPATION OF INCREASED VELOCITY AND HIGH WATER. 

COTP UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER REMINDS ALL MARINERS TO USE EXTRA CAUTION AND TO BE ESPECIALLY VIGILANT DURING ALL BRIDGE AND LOCK APPROACHES IN THESE ZONES DUE TO SWIFT CURRENTS. 


REH

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

RiverBills.com.... Visitor Counts  

We have surpassed last month's all time record visitor count !

     Total unique visitors for July 2007 as of 7-31-07 was......68,856

     Total unique visitors for Aug 2007 as of 8-29-07 is........ 79,194

Headed for 80,000 unique visits this month

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We have already surpassed the visitor count for the entire year of 2006 ! 

     Total unique visitors Jan 1- Dec 31, 2006....................352,450 

     Total unique visitors Jan 1 - Aug 29, 2007...................391,224

Could top a "Half Million"  unique visits this year !

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Thanks everyone for Logging On !

Fall Classic Cruise ------ 

It's that time again to look forward to seeing all the beautiful fall colors! The ACBS, Mississippi Valley Chapter will be hosting the 2nd annual Fall Classic Cruise from Grafton Harbor to Alton on Saturday, October 20, 2007.
We will meet at Grafton Harbor at 10:30am for those who wish to have a bite to eat first. The "Cruise" will begin promptly at Noon! We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
All boaters are welcome!
For more information email aelockhart@yahoo.com. 

See you on the river!
Alice Lockhart
ACBS-Mississippi River Chapter

Quincy Classic Boat and Outboard Show  ------  Sept 15 - 16, 2007

Hi Bill:

Want to let everyone know of a great event in Quincy, IL , September 15-16, 2007.

The Quincy Boat Club will host a Classic Boat and Outboard Show that is in conjunction with the Arts/Quincy Riverfest! There will be Arts, Crafts, Entertainment, Food and Water Ski Show! This is a great time and it is a nice ride! There are some great boats attending from the ACBS-Mississippi Valley Chapter attending this year. 

For more info contact aelockhart@yahoo.com. 

See you on the river!
Alice Lockhart

Capt'n Jack's Bar and Grill

   Sunday Evening.......Fried Chicken Dinner Special 

Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn

Little John's Motorsports Update ------ Little John sent us the following racing update: 

Hi Bill

Well, we built another engine, and had it ready to race in one week.
Due to, what we thought, were tuning problems, was actually a bad ingnition trigger.
It was probably damaged when the engine exploded.
It was Sun. afternoon before we really got the boat dialed in.
Although we did not do well in the race, I think we held on to our points statous.

Please get the word out, that on the weekend of Sept. 8th &9th there is a race in New Athens Ill.
It is a little over an hour drive from my house at Woodland.
At this race, the association is welcoming anyone with a PWC that wants to race the entire weekend for $25.00
It looks like a lot of fun for many of our local people to see what they can do.
For bragging rights, racers will have time slips and everything.
The only requirements are a life jacket, and helmet.
If interested, please call and leave a message at 636 250 4187, or email to LITTLEJOHNSINC@aol.com

The Family And Team Of Little Johns Motorsports

River Bill says....We wish you and your team the best of luck ....

                         Go show them what your got ...And be safe !  

Little John's Motorsports Website Updated ------ Capt'n Darryll Weil, who hails out of the Yacht Club of St. Louis in the cruiser.....After You ....sent us the following e-mail:

Posted the latest drag boat racing update on www.littlejohnsinc.com

Go to http://www.littlejohnsinc.com/dragboatupdate.htm
to read the latest.
Darryll

Wednesday.. 29 August 2007

Our Pictures and e-mail of the Day .....  are from Justin Hess.  

Bill, 

Thought you might enjoy these. It was bad out this weekend. Tell everyone to be careful. We hit a submerged log just down river from Port Charles about 4 pm on Saturday. We got a tow from Twin Rivers Search and Rescue, what nice guys. The bilge pump had clogged and we were taking on a lot of water. 

Justin Hess
Some Beach

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

The River Picture on the Day In 2006 ---- was sent in by Capt'n Darryll Weil, who hails out of Yacht Club of St. Louis in the cruiser "After You" 

Darryll wrote:

Doug, from the boat "Gin Bucket II" sent me some pictures of Tip's latest return to the river.  Some of you may remember Tipper from Woodland Marina and the boat "Tip One".  Well, last year when he was in town, we did sort of an impromptu "Get Your Picture Taken With Tip" at Sharky's Cove.  Because some people questioned all the hoopla surrounding Tip's visits from Florida, Doug and some friends had T-Shirts made saying "It's All About Tip" and surprised Tipper with them while anchored in Two Branch.  Here's a couple of pictures of the occasion from Captain Gin Bucket, I mean Doug.

Enjoy, Darryll

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ITCS Memo # 2593....

Received the following ITCS memo by e-mail from the ITCS web site on Tuesday.  

Item "E" concerns Pool 26

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Subject: SAFETY ADVISORY FOR ILL. AND UPPER MISS RIVER 
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:21:13 -0500 
ITCS MEMO # 2593

SECTOR UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER ISSUES THE FOLLOWING SAFETY ADVISORY: 

A.   ZONE 7 (MM 145.6 - 180.9) ON THE ILR IS IN THE HIGH WATER ACTION PHASE OF THE ILR WAP ANNEX. 
B.   ZONES 5 AND 6 (MILES 102.0 - 145.5) ON THE ILR ARE IN THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OF THE ILR WAP ANNEX. 
C.   ZONES 17 AND 18 (MILES 410.5 - 457.1), ZONES 20, 21, AND 22 (MILES 301.2 - 364.1), AND ZONES 24 AND 25 (MILES 241.4 - 301.1) ARE IN THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OF THE UMR WAP ANNEX. 
D.   DOWNSTREAMING OPERATIONS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR VESSELS OPERATING IN THE ZONES IN THE ACTION AND WATCH PHASES UNLESS THE VESSEL IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 75 FEET IN LENGTH AND THE VESSEL HAS A MINIMUM OF 1800 HORSEPOWER. 
E.   ZONE 1 (MILES 0.0 - 9.9) AND ZONES 3 AND 4 (MILES 50.0 - 101.9) ON THE ILR ARE ANTICIPATED TO ENTER THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OVER THE NEXT 2 DAYS DUE TO THE HIGH WATER CONDITIONS NORTH OF ZONE 4. 
F.   ALL TOWING VESSELS SHOULD PROCEED AT THE SLOWEST SAFE OPERATIONS SPEED BASED UPON PREVAILING CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE WAKE DAMAGE. 
G.   DUE TO HIGH RIVER LEVELS, DRIFT OF DEBRIS MAY BE AN ISSUE WITH NAVIGATION, AND IT MAY DRAG BUOYS OFF STATION AND SEVER BUOYS FROM THEIR MOORINGS. 
H.    ALL MARINERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENSURE THAT ALL MOORED VESSELS AND BARGES ARE ADEQUATELY SECURED WITH THE ANTICIPATION OF INCREASED VELOCITY AND HIGH WATER. 
I.    COTP UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER REMINDS ALL MARINERS TO USE EXTRA CAUTION AND TO BE ESPECIALLY VIGILANT DURING ALL BRIDGE AND LOCK APPROACHES IN THESE ZONES DUE TO SWIFT CURRENTS.

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

RiverBills.com.... Visitor Counts  

We have surpassed last month's all time record visitor count !

     Total unique visitors for July 2007 as of 7-31-07 was......68,856

     Total unique visitors for Aug 2007 as of 8-28-07 is........ 75,558

Headed for 80,000 unique visits this month

~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~

We have already surpassed the visitor count for the entire year of 2006 ! 

     Total unique visitors Jan 1- Dec 31, 2006....................352,450 

     Total unique visitors Jan 1 - Aug 28, 2007...................387,558

Could top a "Half Million"  unique visits this year !

~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~

Thanks everyone for Logging On !

Palisades Yacht Club Benefit Car Show.......Sunday October 28th

TROPHYS FOR:
  ~ MAYOR’S AWARD
  ~ BEST ENGINE
  ~ BEST PAINT
  ~ BEST OF SHOW

Proceeds go to:  Our Lady Of The Rivers Shrine Children's Cancer Fund

Click here for more information

Fiberglass By Lehman ......  

  If you dream it, I can build it.  If you break it, I can fix it.

  Check out their website at www.fiberglassbylehman.com

New...Yacht Club Of St. Louis Happy Hour Specials ......  

   Wed, Thur, Fri ......4PM - 6PM

        2 for 1 Mixed Drinks

        Crown Valley Wines $3.00 Glass

        Longnecks $2.00.....99 Cent Drafts

....          Click here for more info on Happy Hour Specials

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:      Mary (marygrogalski@charter.net) 
Date:        Fri 24 Aug 2007 01:16:28 PM EDT 
Subject:    Artificial Palm Trees For Sale

Before I list these on ebay, I thought I would see if anybody locally would be interested in buying one. The palm tree is 7 foot tall, with 4 holographic leaves which have the green rope type lighting outlining them, a yellowish/brown rope light that circles around the trunk of the tree and a stand to set it all in. Great for lighting up a boat dock or swimming pool. I'm selling them for $80. If interested call 314-724-1222 or reply to this message

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Paddlefest 2007......   Battle of the Paddle, Kayak Race & Skills Challenge

     September 1, 2 and 3,  2007

     Louisiana, Missouri on the Mississippi River

• Kayak Skills Challenge and Races 

• Guided Tours of the Water Trail 

• Skills Clinics and Demonstrations 

• Sunday Awards Dinner at the Crown Valley Port House - Tievoli Hills 

• Outdoor Cooking Demonstrations 

• Camping and Lodging Available

• Tours of Lock & Dam #24 

• Riverfront Boat Displays 

• Saturday Wine & Cheese Social 

• Live Music and Wine Tasting 

• Local Arts & Antique Shops 

• Local B&B Openhouses 

• Paddling Clubs Welcome 

Click here for more information

Tuesday.. 28 August 2007

Updated Tue at 9:20 PM...... 

Visitor Counts, Added ITCS Memo 2593, My River Home Ad ,  Classic Marine Ad

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day .....  is from Island David Diederich.  He has some good information for the Pool 26 boaters.  

Hello Bill:

Unfortunately, we were unable to warn this boater about the low water conditions on the north side of Piasa Island. So here is a warning to everyone else. 

When high water conditions are expected further north, the Corp opens up the Alton dam. This often creates low water conditions closer to the dam. It is entirely possible to have flood conditions in Grafton and low water conditions in Alton.

Several attempts were made to pull the boat off with a rope, but eventually enough boaters jumped in the water and pushed him off. The water depth in the middle of the slough was about 8 inches. Currently, the deeper water is along the Illinois shore, but this can change at any time.

Island Dave

RiverBill says...Thanks for the picture and information Dave ! 

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

One of Our River Picture on the Day In 2005 ---- was sent in by Jan WIlliams of "Williams Boat Clean". 

Going To Jamaica Daze 2005

Jan wrote in her e-mail:

Here was our family's solution to the question:

Boat not big enough to haul your friends to Jamaica Daze ?   NO PROBLEM MON !!

Had a great time.

Thanks,

The Williams Family

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Flood Predictions ......

Predications below are from National Weather Service website as of 2:40 PM Monday, Aug 28

Winfield Is predicted to crest at 27 ft on Thurs 8-30-07

Grafton Is predicted to crest at 18.5 ft on Fri 8-31-07 

Alton Is predicted to crest at 19.1 ft on Sat Fri 9-01-07

Click here for current river levels and forecasts

 at Winfield, Grafton and Alton

City of Hannibal Installs 2 of 5 Floodgates .... Crest Prediction Lowered ......  

   According to a news story on nbcactionnews.com, the river city of Hannibal has installed 2 of it's 5 floodgates.  The other three will not be installed unless crest predictions are increase again. 

   The river city's downtown is protected by an earthen levee that has slots built in it where streets pass through.   When the Weather Service lowered the crest prediction last Saturday to 19.8 feet, only on streets at the lowest elevation required the gates to be installed.. 

  Click here to read the news story on nbcactionnews.com

ITCS Memo #2592......   
   Subject: Updated MSU Chicago BNM for ILR High Water 
   Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:45:26 -0500 

Marine Safety Unit Chicago Issued Safety Advisory Illinois River High Water:

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2592  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Updated Tue At 7:20 PM

ITCS Memo # 2593....

Received the following ITCS memo by e-mail from the ITCS web site on Tuesday.  

Item "E" concerns Pool 26

~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~

Subject: SAFETY ADVISORY FOR ILL. AND UPPER MISS RIVER 
Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 14:21:13 -0500 
ITCS MEMO # 2593

SECTOR UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER ISSUES THE FOLLOWING SAFETY ADVISORY: 

A.   ZONE 7 (MM 145.6 - 180.9) ON THE ILR IS IN THE HIGH WATER ACTION PHASE OF THE ILR WAP ANNEX. 
B.   ZONES 5 AND 6 (MILES 102.0 - 145.5) ON THE ILR ARE IN THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OF THE ILR WAP ANNEX. 
C.   ZONES 17 AND 18 (MILES 410.5 - 457.1), ZONES 20, 21, AND 22 (MILES 301.2 - 364.1), AND ZONES 24 AND 25 (MILES 241.4 - 301.1) ARE IN THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OF THE UMR WAP ANNEX. 
D.   DOWNSTREAMING OPERATIONS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED FOR VESSELS OPERATING IN THE ZONES IN THE ACTION AND WATCH PHASES UNLESS THE VESSEL IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 75 FEET IN LENGTH AND THE VESSEL HAS A MINIMUM OF 1800 HORSEPOWER. 
E.   ZONE 1 (MILES 0.0 - 9.9) AND ZONES 3 AND 4 (MILES 50.0 - 101.9) ON THE ILR ARE ANTICIPATED TO ENTER THE HIGH WATER WATCH PHASE OVER THE NEXT 2 DAYS DUE TO THE HIGH WATER CONDITIONS NORTH OF ZONE 4. 
F.   ALL TOWING VESSELS SHOULD PROCEED AT THE SLOWEST SAFE OPERATIONS SPEED BASED UPON PREVAILING CONDITIONS IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE WAKE DAMAGE. 
G.   DUE TO HIGH RIVER LEVELS, DRIFT OF DEBRIS MAY BE AN ISSUE WITH NAVIGATION, AND IT MAY DRAG BUOYS OFF STATION AND SEVER BUOYS FROM THEIR MOORINGS. 
H.    ALL MARINERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ENSURE THAT ALL MOORED VESSELS AND BARGES ARE ADEQUATELY SECURED WITH THE ANTICIPATION OF INCREASED VELOCITY AND HIGH WATER. 
I.    COTP UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER REMINDS ALL MARINERS TO USE EXTRA CAUTION AND TO BE ESPECIALLY VIGILANT DURING ALL BRIDGE AND LOCK APPROACHES IN THESE ZONES DUE TO SWIFT CURRENTS.

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Old River News

   Race For The Rivers....... The was a news story in the St Charles County Journal, dated 23 Aug 2007,  that has some good information about the Race For The Rivers Festival that took place last Saturday on the Missouri River and Frontier Park in St. Charles, Mo

    Click here to read the news article

    Click here to go the "Race For The Rivers" website. 

                    (Added to left column of this page RiverBill's)

A Rotten Apple Update.........

Received the following e-mail from the Rotten Apple

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Summer's almost over - but we're just getting revved up at the Rotten Apple!

Make plans now for the next Great Grafton Pub Crawl - September 8. 
'Around the World in 5 Hours'
Tickets are $12 (includes Crawl t-shirt & transportation between Crawl stops)
There are 9 stops on the crawl, each representing a different country.
Visit all 9 establishments (and get your ticket punched) to be entered in a prize drawing at the end of the night.
Call or stop by the Apple to get your tickets!

First ever Rotten Apple Beer Dinner - September 28
'Oktoberfest'
Join us for the first (of many) beer dinners as we celebrate the beers of Germany!
Tickets are $50 per person, and include four courses with beer pairings, as follows:

Assorted Cheeses with pretzels & crackers / Augustiner Edeslstoff
Lamb stew with cucumber salad / Einbecker Mai Bock
Roasted Pork Tenderloin, potato dumpling & gravy and warm red cabbage & apple slaw / Schwelmer Berstein
Black Forest Cake / Tucher Bajuvator
There are a limited number of seats available for this event - so book your ticket EARLY!

Coming in October  - our Second Annual Halloween Haunt!
Details coming soon!

There's always a good time to be had at the Rotten Apple - so come see us whenever you're in our neighborhood! 
 Check out our new event calendar at www.amalgamatedbrewing.com!

Rotten Apple Ciderhouse & Microbrewery
220 West Main Street
Grafton, Illinois 62037
618/786-2798
www.amalgamatedbrewing.com  

Hogback 2007 Trip......  

Bill,

    I wanted to give a shout out to everyone that decide to take part in the 2007 Hogback trip.

   The current river levels caused the event to be called off, however, a great crowd turned out to run up to Two Rivers. Dan & Laura Hamilton helped to put together a nice event on short notice and I thinks all will agree it was an awesome time. 

  Thanks again to Dan, Laura, the Two Rivers staff and everyone that participated.

Thanks,
Jason Haldiman

Updated Tue at 7:00 PM

RiverBills.com.... Visitor Counts  

We have surpassed last month's all time record visitor count !

     Total unique visitors for July 2007 as of 7-31-07 was......68,856

     Total unique visitors for Aug 2007 as of 8-27-08 is........ 71,832

Headed for 80,000 unique visits this month

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We have already surpassed the visitor count for the entire year of 2006 ! 

     Total unique visitors Jan 1- Dec 31, 2006...................352,450 

     Total unique visitors Jan1 - Aug 27, 2007...................383,862

Could top a "Half Million"  unique visits this year !

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Thanks everyone for Logging On !

Kinder's NoWake Inn & Apartments......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Is scheduled to open in Mid October

Apartments

1 Bedroom ...Around $550 / month

2 Bedroom....Around $650.00 month

Overnight Rooms

Couple ........... $85.00 & around $10.00 for each additional adult

Kitchenette......around $125.00 

Will be offering specials during the week

Grand Opening hopefully the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in October.

2nd Annual Boating For Life Event
  Labor Day Weekend Sept. 1st – 3rd 2007

  
Two Rivers Marina and Boat Club, Rockport, IL. would like to invite everyone for Fun and Fundraising. We had so much fun last year we are doing it again.
This year our efforts will benefit the Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis, MO. and the American Heart Association.
For a full list of weekend events, boat and camping accommodations contact tworiversmarina.com 

See you Labor Day !!

Fiberglass By Lehman ......  

  If you dream it, I can build it.  If you break it, I can fix it.

  Check out their website at www.fiberglassbylehman.com

Chocolate Pudding Wrestling ......  

Saturday, Sept 1st ...... at Capt'n Jack's Bar and Grill

Click here 

to go to Capt'n Jack's Bar & Grill website

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:      Bob Dees (robertwdees2003@yahoo.com) 
Date:       Mon 27 Aug 2007 04:46:14 PM EDT 
Subject:   trailer 

I am looking for a boat trailer for a 25 foot Larson if any has one they want to sell please let me know, I'm not worry about condition I can do any repairs 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

For You Running Boaters.....

    Hannibal.......Mississippi River Run and Family Fitness Day  
   

The Mississippi River Run will take place in Hannibal, Mo on Saturday, Sept. 22. The run will start on the east side of the Mark Twain Memorial Bridge in Illinois at 8 AM. Its a 5K/10K Run and 5K Leisure Walk that will cross over the Mississippi River and return to downtown Hannibal. 

A family event, Mississippi River Family Fitness Day will take place shortly following the Mississippi River Run at the Admiral Coontz Recreation Center in Hannibal. Time 10 AM to Noon. 

Go to www.hannibal.net for more information

Tri-State Flooding Keokuk, Hannibal, Quincy

    There was a news article in the in the Sunday, August 26, 2007 edition of the KHQA7online that has some flood information from the Keokuk, Hannibal, Quincy area.  It's coming our way.

Click here to read the news article.

.

Monday.. 27 August 2007

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day .....  is from Capt'n Darryll Weil, webmaster for Con Trios Yacht Club.

Darryll wrote:

The Con Trios Yacht Club Moonlight Cruise aboard the Grafton Ferry on Saturday, August 26th was another fantastic party thanks to Fleet Captain Gary, his wife Judy, The Rail Band, food catered by Sharky's Landing, a full moon, perfect weather and 130 people having a great time dancing the night away on the water. Go to the Con Trios Yacht Club website:
www.contriosyachtclub.org
to see all the pictures.
Darryll

Hale Rail

RiverBill says...This year's cruise was excellent.  Good weather, good food, good friends, great music.  Good job Gary and Judy ! 

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

CLICK ON PICTURE ABOVE TO OPEN THE 360 DEGREE PICTURE

USE YOUR SCROLL BAR TO SEE THE WHOLE THING !

One of Our River Pictures on the Day In 2006 ---- was a 360 degree picture of the 2006 Jamaica Daze Party taken by Cameron Imming of AltonPoolBlogSpot.com. It's great !

Here is part of the e-mail Cameron wrote:

 Bill,
        Here's my compiled 360 degree view from where I parked the other day.

Wonderful party and I can't even say thanks enough for the hard work I'm sure you and all the others put in.

Cameron T Imming

RiverBill says....Great picture Cameron !  It was a team of about 40 people that made Jamaica Daze happen.   They did a great job !

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Debris Report.......  

Mississippi River at the Golden Eagle Ferry......There was lots and lots of large debris floating down the river Sunday afternoon.  The floating debris looked really thick sometimes and it extended across the entire river once in a while.  

Illinois River around Grafton....Looked pretty clear Sunday afternoon.

Pallisades yach Club 

Thurs...Purchase any 2 appetizers or one pizza & receive a bucket of beer half price.

          Free Trivia every other Thurs with Karaoke (7-10PM) on opposite Thurs.

          Winners will receive a round of drinks.

Click here for more info     

ITCS Memo #2591......

   SAFETY ADVISORY FOR ILL. AND UPPER MISS RIVER ........Dated  8/25/07 

From the River Industry Bulletin Board website

    ITCS Memo with Safety Advisory for Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River.

• High water watches with river locations.

• Warning for tow vessels to proceed at slowest operating speed to minimize wake damage

• Debris warnings

• Secure all moored vessels warning

• Use extra caution warning

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2591  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Added New River Link......  To the River Industry Bulletin Board (RIBB)

  The site contains all type of river info.  Click here and check it out.

Visitor Count......  

We are going to surpass last month's record of 68,856 unique visitors to RiverBills.com today !   Headed for 80,000 unique visits this month

Thanks everyone for Logging On !

Kinder's NoWake Inn & Apartments......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Is scheduled to open in Mid October

Apartments

1 Bedroom ...Around $550 / month

2 Bedroom....Around $650.00 month

Overnight Rooms

Couple ........... $85.00 & around $10.00 for each additional adult

Kitchenette......around $125.00 

Will be offering specials during the week

Grand Opening hopefully the 2nd or 3rd Sunday in October.

Pictures tomorrow !

Missouri State Water Patrol News Release

2 Boat Collision, Meramec River........ 08/22/07

   According to the news release, both of the boat operators involved in the incident are from St. Clair, Mo and have a history of disagreement with each other. 

   They met while boating on the Meramec River and the operator of Boat #1, in an 18 ft Wellcraft, threatened to spray the operator of Boat #2, in a 16 ft canoe, with water from his jet motor. The operator of 16 ft canoe then threatened the operator of the 18 ft Wellcraft. 

    The 18 ft Wellcraft ran into the 16 ft canoe..... turning it over and ejecting the operator. 

Click here to read the Missouri State Water Patrol News Release N07070164 

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Ernesto Da Mayor (rinkriverern@charter.net) 
Date:        Fri 24 Aug 2007 02:20:55 PM EDT 
Subject:    Wall of Water 
Some serious water coming down the pike! Looks like almost 5' over FS at Winfield midweek! Check latest forecast from 1:03pm CDT on link below !

  http://www.riverwatch.noaa.gov/forecasts/STLRVSLSX_MS.shtml 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

August 1979 in River History ------  
   

President Jimmy Carter and his family cruised the Mississippi River aboard the sternwheeler Delta Queen from St. Paul, Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri.  The Delta Queen and the President were escorted by U.S. Coast Guard and Auxiliary vessels. 

For more info click here.

River News From Afar.......  According to a news article in the August 27 - September 2 edition of the Waterways Journal...... The navigation channel on the Mississippi River at the I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis may reopen in about two weeks.  The channel has been closed since the August 1 collapse of the bridge.

Click here to read the news article.

Fri, Sat, Sun.. 24, 25, 26 August 2007

Updated Sun At 10:20 AM...Moonlight Cruise last night was Great....Means I am running late this morning....Stay tuned for more river info

Bill

River News Flash !

Captain Jack's Bar and Grill Is

 "Open For Business"

Sorry For The Inconvenience !

Capt'n Jack Gorecki 

 Updated Sun at 9:50 AM

Our Picture of the Day ....Sunday..  is from Pat Riley, of Pat Riley Marine Services fame and also a St. Charles County Sheriff.  Pat sent us a picture of a a boat that was in the ditch on Dwyer Rd in St. Charles County.

 A Place You Never Want To See

Your Boat

RiverBill says...Thanks for the pictures Pat !   

Updated Sat At 9:30

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day ....Saturday...  is of River Dawg named

 "Scrappy"
Owners Warren & Christa Spiller

From 222 Yacht Club

RiverBill says...Welcome to RiverBill's River Dawg Club Scrappy !

   I have a lot of River Dawgs to add to RiverBill's ! 

  If you sent a picture of your River Dawg in, please be patient.... 

  They will get their day on RiverBill's.!

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day ..Friday...  is from Harry Ragland, who hails out of Palisades Yacht Club in the sailboat Tapacolo.

Bill,
This past weekend I spent Friday night at Grafton and then sailed to Alton on Saturday. Normally the prevailing winds would make this easy, but last Saturday the winds were strong out of the East. I had to work hard tacking the whole way. However, this O'Day 34 between Alton and Harbor Point makes it look easy because she's going the other way under a giant spinnaker.

Harry Ragland

RiverBill says...Thanks for the great picture Harry.  

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Updated Sun at 9:30 AM

One of Our River Pictures on the Day In 2005 ---Sunday-- was of developer Joe DeSherlia speaking at the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the Grafton Harbor on Wednesday afternoon.  The ground breaking ceremony officially started the construction on the new facility that is scheduled to be completed by February of 2006.  This project has been in the works since the 1960's and it has now become a reality.  The new harbor will be built along the bank of  the Illinois River in the town of Grafton, IL, near the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi.  It will be located just up-river from the Grafton Ferry Landing and in front of the old school building.  (You know the school building that is next to the road that goes up the bluff to Aries Winery.)

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Updated Sat at 8:40 AM

One of Our River Pictures on the Day In 2005 ---Saturday--- was sent in by Stan and Sharon Ashberry.  It is a  2005 Jamaican Daze Sunset over the Isle of Two Branch.  The day time activities are over and the night time party is just getting under way.  What a shot ....  Look at those colors !

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

One of Our River Pictures on the Day In 2006 ---Friday--- was of Sue Schneider's and Chuck Beach's wedding at the 2006 Jamaica Daze Party on the (almost tropical) Isle of Two Branch.

From All of Your River Friends..

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

 "Chuck and Sue "

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

 Updated Sun At 10:20 AM

Flood Warning......

Graph's and predications below are from National Weather Service website

Winfield Is predicted to go above Flood Stage Sun 8-26-07

~~~~^~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~^~~~~~

Grafton Is predicted "Not" to go above Flood Stage

~~~~^~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~^~~~~~

Alton Is predicted to go above Flood Stage Next Thur 8-30-07

Click here for current river levels and forecasts

 at Winfield, Grafton and Alton

Updated Sat At 1:15 PM

Pallisades yach Club 

Thurs...Purchase any 2 appetizers or one pizza & receive a bucket of beer half price.

          Free Trivia every other Thurs with Karaoke (7-10PM) on opposite Thurs.

          Winners will receive a round of drinks.

Click here for more info     

Updated Sat At 11:50 AM

ITCS Memo #2589......

   Illinois River Broadcast ........Dated  8/24/07 

From the River Industry Bulletin Board website

    ITCS Memo with updated information about the water and lock conditions on the Illinois River near Chicago. 

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2589  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Updated Sat At 11:30 AM

ITCS Memo 2590......

   Water Levels on the UMR ........Dated  8/24/07 

From the River Industry Bulletin Board website

    Rock Island District.... Water Control .........as long as no additional substantial rainfall takes place.........they feel that water levels " will not" rise enough to make any of the locks on the Upper Mississippi River to shut down. 

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2590  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Updated Sat At 11:40 AM

Added New River Link......  To the River Industry Bulletin Board (RIBB)

  The site contains all type of river info.  Click here and check it out.

Con Trios Yacht Club's Moon Light Cruise.........  

This Weekend's

Moon Light Cruise is SOLD OUT

www.contriosyachtclub.org has been updated accordingly.
Gary already has quite a waiting list should there be any cancellations.

Ferry Tales....... There was an interesting news article, with video, in the on-line ChicagaTribune.com ......... about the Miss Illinois Ferry  that carries motorist across the Illinois River at Kampsville, IL. 

     It's a news article packed full of interesting information about the 4 ferries that connect Calhoun County to the mainland of Illinois and Missouri, some history about the ferry at Kampsville and some good stories about things that have happened on the Miss Illinois ferry over the years.

  The article described Calhoun County as the "most boat-dependent county" in the State of Illinois.

       Click here to read the story and watch the video.

Grafton's Landing ......Specials For This Weekend

LUNCH SPECIAL : 8 OZ SIRLOIN STEAK SANDWICH $9.95
DINNER SPECIAL : 1/2 SLAB ST. LOUIS STYLE RIBS $12.95

LIVE MUSIC SAT BY TIM SESSION 7 PM - 11 PM BEST ONE MAN BAN PERIOD.
LIVE MUSIC SUN BY LENNY FRISCH 1 P.M. - 5 P.M. STEEL DRUMS

MARK BACHMAN

Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Is scheduled to open in late September

Little John's Motorsports Racing Team ------ Received the following e-mail from Greg Lewis with an update on Little John's Motorsports:

BILL ,

  JUST WANTED TO DROP YOU A NOTE.

  WENT BY LITTLE JOHNS SHOP LAST NITE, HE HAD PULLED THE MOTOR OUT OF THE TOW TRUCK JUST TO BE SURE THAT ASHLEY WOULD BE AT THE LITCHFIELD RACE.   THAT IS REAL DEDICATION TO HIS RACE TEAM, SPONSORS AND ALL THE FANS. 

  COME ON UP AND HELP CHEER THEM ON.

THANKS,

GREG LEWIS

LEWIS ENGNIES

More About the USS LST 325 ------ 

2 More News Articles

Click here to read the news article in the Kankakee Daily Journal

Click here to read the news article in the Panagraph.com

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From yesterday's edition of RiverBill's:

RiverBill says.......Your right.....during WWII the USS LST's probably were a common site on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers as they cruised down-river  from Seneca, IL to the Gulf of Mexico.  They probably couldn't get into the Great Lakes because of the low bridge clearances. 

We an e-mail response to the above from Dan Owens with some very interesting info about the Illinois River bridges in Chicago i

Bill;
The bridges through the Chicago area were able to open during World War II. Many submarines built at Manitowoc, Wis., were placed in drydocks and towed through Chicago to get to the Gulf of Mexico. Following the war they were all welded shut. There are no low level fixed bridges from Lemont to the lake. In the event of another war, they can be made to open again by an Act of Congress. At least, that is what was passed along to me.


Dan Owen
boatphotos@mindspring.com

~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~

USS LST 325    Open To Public      Friday, Sept 7 - Tuesday, Sept. 11

Alton, IL Riverfront

The US LST 325, a World War II Landing Ship Tank, built at "The Prairie Shipyard" on the Illinois River will dock at Alton, IL on Sept. 7 -11.

The ship will be open to the public 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 5-18, and free for children under 5.

~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~

Fiberglass By Lehman ......  

  If you dream it, I can build it.  If you break it, I can fix it.

  Check out their website at www.fiberglassbylehman.com

Fishing Report  ------ The Missouri Department of Conservation has issued this week's Fishing Report.  

Mississippi River (above St. Louis):

83 degrees, normal, dingy; channel catfish fair on prepared baits; drum fair on nightcrawlers; all other species slow.
(Report made on 8/23/2007)

Missouri River (below New Haven)

82 degrees, rising, muddy; catfish good on natural baits; all other species fair. (Report made on 8/23/2007)

Check out the report for the entire state of Missouri

.................go to  http://www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt/

 Updated Fri At 12:25 PM 

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:      Mary (marygrogalski@charter.net) 
Date:       Fri 24 Aug 2007 01:16:28 PM EDT 
Subject:    Artificial Palm Trees For Sale 

Before I list these on ebay, I thought I would see if anybody locally would be interested in buying one. The palm tree is 7 foot tall, with 4 holographic leaves which have the green rope type lighting outlining them, a yellowish/brown rope light that circles around the trunk of the tree and a stand to set it all in. Great for lighting up a boat dock or swimming pool. I'm selling them for $80. If interested call 314-724-1222 or reply to this message. 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Old River News

    Motor Vessel Mississippi ------  I ran a-ground on an oldler news article about the Motor Vessel Mississippi in the on-line Alton Telegraph dated Aug 12, 2007..... 

Some interesting facts from the article about the towboat:

• Serves as an inspection vessel for the Mississippi River Commission 2 times a year .

• The Mississippi River Commission conducts public meetings aboard the vessel at river communities.

• The towboat is on its annual low-water inspection trip right now

• The towboat will soon be used to move a variety of floating plant and barge loads of articulated concrete mattress for revetment operations along the river.

• This is the 5th towboat named Motor Vessel Mississippi.

• The towboat has a dinning hall that will accommodate 85 people.....and ... a meeting room that accommodates 200 people.

• The towboat uses almost 6,000 gallons of fuel a day to travel upriver at 10 mph.

  Click here to read the article in the on-line Telegraph.

Thirsty Thursday.. 23 August 2007

River News Flash !

Captain Jack's Bar and Grill Is Closed Until Further Notice.

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day ...  is from Larry Hellrung who hails out of Grafton Harbor in the houseboat named "Liberty".

Hi Bill,
Tauni and I took a ride up the Illinois River to Hardin, Illinois on Saturday, it's a beautiful ride!
Here are some pictures of the Joe Page Bridge and a bit of info about it.
Happy Boating,
Kim

Source: http://www.greatriverroad.com/Cities/Hardin/pageBridge.htm

"The Great River Road (Highway 100) crosses the Illinois River at Hardin. Linking Calhoun and Greene Counties is the vertical lift Joe Page Bridge. Its lift span, 308 feet 9 inches long, is the largest span of this type in the world. A vertical lift bridge uses a system of counterweights and cables to raise an inner section. This section remains horizontal as it is raised upward, allowing river traffic to pass beneath the bridge. The lift is operated by by two 50-horsepower motors and is equipped with a gasoline engine in case of emergency. Approximately five million pounds of steel and 9,000 cubic yards of concrete were used in its construction. At 1,728 feet in length it is the longest bridge in Illinois."

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Our River Pictures of the Day In 2006 ------ were a few of those sent in by Steve Schulte  of last year's 2006 Jamaica Daze Party....

I have named them:

"Sea of Boats"

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Con Trios Yacht Club's Moon Light Cruise.........  

This Weekend's

Moon Light Cruise is SOLD OUT

Illinois River Coordinating Council Meeting------  According to a news article in the on-line Alton Telegraph ..... the Illinois River Coordinating Council met last week at  Principia College in Elsah.  Illinois Lt. Gov. Quinn, chairman of the council, presented a conservation progress report highlighting conservation efforts in the river bend area. 

   Discussion topics included:

• Hauling mud from the Illinois River bottom to the Lake Michigan area.

• The Palisades Preserve project

• Water- and nature-based tourism

• Habitat restoration

• Dam safety

• The Illinois River Basin Restoration Project

• Clean water."

Click here to read the article in the on-line Telegraph.

ITCS Memo #2586 ......

Watch Phase on the Illinois River

RM 200 - 244.6 of the upper Illinois River are in a "Watch Phase."   Watch for swift currents, floating debris, and bridge clearances. More rain is forecast. 

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2586  dated 8-22-07

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Is scheduled to open in late September

More About the LST 325 ------ Received the following e-mail from Chris Fox about the LST 325.

Bill,

It was great to see a great American warship on the river. Nice to see the coverage on the website. 

As was stated in the KSDK story, LST 325 was made in Evansville, Ind.,and is going to Peoria and Henry Illinois. But, what is not stated in the story is that an LST shipyard existed on the banks of the Illinois River at Seneca, Illinois. 157 LST's were made there during the war. 
The shipyard was operated by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company. Here's a link to a website with some information.

http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1995/ihy950467.html

Click here for a link to the ships that were built. It looks like a few others besides the LST's were made there. It's amazing to me that some of the LST's were completed in under 100 days!

So, looks like we missed the heyday of the LST's running the
Mississippi and Illinois rivers in our area.

BTW Seneca, Illinois is not too far from where I grew up on the
Illinois River in LaSalle, Illinois.

Chris Fox
22ft. Crest Family Fish Pontoon
115hp Johnson 4 Stroke

RiverBill says....Thanks for the info Chris !    

Your right.....during WWII the LST 325's probably were a common site on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers as they cruised down-river  from Seneca, IL to the Gulf of Mexico.  They probably couldn't get into the Great Lakes because of the low bridge clearances. 

Fiberglass By Lehman ......  

  If you dream it, I can build it.  If you break it, I can fix it.

  Check out their website at www.fiberglassbylehman.com

Mississippi River Commission Low Water Inspection Trip..... 

According to US Army Corps of Engineers News Release....The Mississippi River Commission is conducting it's annual low-water inspection trip on the Mississippi River from August 11 -24 aboard the Motor Vessel MISSISSIPPI.  

(Old news)....They were in St. Louis on August 17.

Click here to read US Army Corps Of Engineers News Release #17-07

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:      Tony and Debbie (tony-debi@peoplepc.com) 
Date:        Wed 22 Aug 2007 10:26:38 AM EDT 
Subject:   Want to buy or lease river front property 

We are looking for river front property on the Mississippi in Missouri or Illinois. If anyone is considering selling or leasing their property please send us an email. Thanks 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Free 3 Month Heartland Boating Magazine..........

   I ran a ground on this offer while cruising around on the wet internet........

   Go to the Heartland Boating Magazine website below and sign up for a free 3 month subscription to the magazine.

www.heartlandboating.com/tryitfree.htm

Wednesday... 22 August 2007

USS LST 325

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day ...  is from Larry Hellrung who hails out of Grafton Harbor in the houseboat named "Liberty".

Bill,

Returning to Grafton Harbor from the 3rd chute Sunday with my friends Billy Moyer. Sharon Skaggs, Pete Zimmer, his side kick Sophie and my wife Patty we encountered this tank landing ship that was going up the Illinois River.

Larry sent us the following from the Wikipedia Encyclopedia

"The tank landing ship (LST, for "Landing Ship, Tank") was created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore. More than a thousand of these ships were laid down in the United States during WWII. Eighty were built in the UK and Canada to a modified design and known as LST (3)."

More information can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_landing_ship

Larry Hellrung

LIBERTY/ Grafton Harbor

USS  LST 325...... According to a news story on KSDK News Channel 5 date 7-31-07 .........A World War II ship that serves as a military museum is on a trip to river towns in Illinois.  The LST 325 is scheduled to travel along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and dock in Peoria and Henry.  It departed from Evansville, Indiana, on August 17 and is scheduled to return after about 1 month out.

  Click here to read the news story.

  Click here to go to the Official Website of The USS LST Ship Memorial

                 (USS LST 325)

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click Pictures To Enlarge

Our River Pictures of the Day In 2006 ------ were sent in by Mike Vitale of the cruiser IN-XS with the following notation:  

IN-XS having more fun than a boat should be allowed to have

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Con Trios Yacht Club's Moon Light Cruise.........  

Moon Light cruise is SOLD OUT

Sherri Stanczak...... one of our "River Family" and regular contributor to RiverBill's had an article written about her in yesterday's on-line Post Dispatch.  

  She recently published a book titled "From the Heart of a Mother".     It's about the "joys and challenges of motherhood and the struggles of raising her three sons as a single working mom with multiple sclerosis." 

  You can see Sherri and her husband, Mike, flying around the river in a red and black powered parachute.

Click here to read the story.

RiverBill says......Thanks for all you do for RiverBill's...... Keep up the good work Sherri !

St. Louis Beaches...... Yesterday's on-line Post Dispatch had an article about St. Louis Beaches. One of them they included was Royal Landing, located on the Mississippi River just up-stream from the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.  It's one of the beaches in pool 26 that a person can motor to in a land yacht. 

   If you non-boaters want to get a good look at the Mississippi River, the river boaters and the river culture   ...check this place out.  

Click here to read the news story.

Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Is scheduled to open in late September

Inquiry from Little John website ------ Little John of Little John's Motorsports Racing Team sent us the following e-mail he received through his website:

Hi John.
This is from Patrick Hill of the K.D.B.A. rescue team. I didn't get to talk to you guys much before you all left Livermoore. Hope you had a safe trip home. You got out just in time. Geeeeezzz did it rain before we got the track torn down! I was very happy to see you guys win. No one deserves it more. You guys are one outstanding team. It was a pleasure to have you all with us this year. I think it was a very positive thing for all to see a family be a team, and a wining team at that works together so well. That's more of what K.D.B.A is about than anything, and you all fit in very well. You guys broke a motor. And yeah, there where people who offered theirs up. Well, that's just how it is there. A great bunch of people with strong, caring values. I guess that's what keeps me on the rescue boats, and working on the track all weekend. It's a very worth while cause due to the people involved. I hope to see you all back next year. I may come to New Athens, if not, wish you all the best luck for the rest of the season. 

Patrick Hill
K.D.B.A. rescue

Fiberglass By Lehman ......  

  If you dream it, I can build it.  If you break it, I can fix it.

  Check out their website at www.fiberglassbylehman.com

Teen Hurt In Fall From Bluffs Near Piasa Bird..... 

According to a new story in the on-line Alton Telegraph...... a teenage boy from Granite City survived a fall from the bluffs near the Piasa Bird.  The boy was climbing on a tree on a ledge on top of the bluffs when the accident occurred. 

Click here to read the news story.

Free 3 Month Heartland Boating Magazine..........

   I ran a ground on this offer while cruising around on the wet internet........

   Go to the Heartland Boating Magazine website below and sign up for a free 3 month subscription to the magazine.

www.heartlandboating.com/tryitfree.htm

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name: Klaus Stendebach (kesound@warpdriveonline.com) 
Date: Tue 21 Aug 2007 05:20:10 PM EDT 
Subject: Junk Boaters 
I'm the harbormaster here in Hannibal and I like to assure you that these fine Folks are no threats to the Community. It was not in there intention to explore the mighty Mississippi with a million dollar Yacht to please the community. They are very proud of there creation. If you really like to find out more about them, go to missrockaway.org and you will get the idea. I also found out that those two that got into minor problems are no longer with them. So relax and enjoy and see what they have created out of Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Thank you 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Latest Image from Winfield Lock and Dam Rivercam....  The rivercam is stuck again...This time on Monday Aug 13...

Below is a picture of a southbound tow getting a little help aligning barges to the lock at Winfield Dam

Web Camera Images at ERDC/CRREL Real-time Images from Lock and Dam 25, Mississippi River near Winfield, Missouri

 Click here to go to the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center website

Tuesday... 21 August 2007

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day ...  is from Donnie and Jessie

Bill:
This was taken just below two branch.. thought it would make a good pic for you to post on your web site.

Donny & Jessie

of the boat 

"SUN DAZED" 

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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2006 Jamaica Daze Party   

Loading the barge with BBQ pits, palm trees and party stuff

Towing the barge to the island

All set up...palm trees, Tiki hut, flags, banners & tents

Best Dressed Contest

The guys cooking Jerk Chicken

And corn on the cob

Some of the crowd

Notice the BBQ smoke !

Party goers dressed for the occasion

Shooting prizes out into the crowd

Click Pictures To Enlarge

Our River Pictures of the Day In 2006 ------ were from the 

2006 Jamaica Daze Party   

  The weather was good on Friday, when we were setting up...Thanks everyone !  Then the storm came through that evening.  The wind, the rain and lighting....boats broke loose, decorations came down and some boats were damaged....it got real intense for a while, but we survived !

  Saturday was a perfect day.  Started out a little cloudy, but then the sun came out and the party goers started arriving.  The cooks started cooking chicken and corn on the cob early and didn't stop until late in the afternoon.  It was sea of boats...boats everywhere !

    One of the big events was a Jamaica Daze wedding...Sue Schneider and Chuck Beach tied the knot !  Congrats Chuck and Sue.

  We had contests and gave away prizes from our sponsors all day long.

  As the daylight faded into evening....the band Rail started the playing rock and roll, followed up by the band named Stripper Named Phoebe.

A Big Mississippi River Thanks

 to everyone that made the 2006 party possible !

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New Flood Plain Zone......... According to a news article in the on-line Alton Telegraph dated 8-15-07.........The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers presented FEMA with information that the 5 levee systems in the Illinois counties of St. Clair and Madison do not provide sufficient flood protection because of "under-seepage". 

   Flood plain maps will be revised to include the area and the change will affect 150,000 property owners in the area, who should now carry flood plain insurance.

Click here to read the news article

US Army Corps Of Engineers Does Not Have Money To Repair Levees......... According to a news article in the on-line Post Dispatch dated 8-16-07.........The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacks the money to make repairs to the aging levee system that protects areas of St. Clair and Madison counties. 

Click here to read the news article

Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Should be opening sometime in late September

Benefit for Motorcycle Accident Victim ------ from Mike & Vickie Cosgrove of the boat ..."She's Wet"

Vickie's brother, Gordon, was in a motorcycle accident over two months ago and was just released from the hospital. He had to have emergency brain surgery and lost both his legs. 

Attached is a flyer for the benefit to help them handicap the house. Please let Mike or Vickie know if you can attend or if you can help donate items for the raffle, silent auction, food or drinks.

Thank you!
Mike & Vickie Cosgrove
"She's Wet"
314-966-3274
314-269-3224

Click here for Flyer

Fiberglass By Lehman ......  

  If you dream it, I can build it.  If you break it, I can fix it.

  Check out their website at www.fiberglassbylehman.com

Free 3 Month Heartland Boating Magazine..........

   I ran a ground on this offer while cruising around on the wet internet........

   Go to the Heartland Boating Magazine website below and sign up for a free 3 month subscription to the magazine.

www.heartlandboating.com/tryitfree.htm

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:    Jaime Aslin (jaime@tworiversmarina.com) 

Date:      Mon 20 Aug 2007 10:53:07 PM EDT

Subject: Junk Boats 

Just wanted to let everyone know that the junk boats that Pat Riley was talking about a while back are located about one mile north of Two Rivers Marina at mile marker 285.5. The authorities up here are keeping a close eye on them and I will try to update when they lock through at Clarksville. They are headed south to New Orleans is the story so we will all have to keep each other updated on their where abouts. Just wanted to let everyone know. 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Latest Image from Winfield Lock and Dam Rivercam....  The rivercam is stuck again...This time on Monday Aug 13...

Below is a picture of the Delta Queen approaching the lock about  a month ago

Web Camera Images at ERDC/CRREL Real-time Images from Lock and Dam 25, Mississippi River near Winfield, Missouri

 Click here to go to the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center website

Its MONDAY... 20 August 2007

There were no updates this past weekend !

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Picture and e-mail of the Day ...  is from Capt'n Darryll Weil who hails out of the Yacht Club of St. Louis in the cruiser  "After You"

Yellow Submarine

Bill:
Don't know if you have seen or heard of it yet but Trivia King Trout has a Yellow Submarine in his yard! Guess it is some sort of Beatles tribute? 

   You can see it as you come into Woodland Marina from the first entrance.
Darryll

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------ was of  an  (almost) -  full moon  rising above the tree line along the lower end of the Isle of Two Branch. 

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Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Should be opening sometime in late September

Illinois Department of Natural Resources - Fishing Report......... is out for this week for the  Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

Click here for the  "Mississippi River"  section of the report and scroll down to your favorite fishing area. 

Click here for the  "Illinois River"  section of the report and scroll down to your favorite fishing area.

Go to   http://www.ifishillinois.org for the complete report.

Upcoming River Events......... There are a lot of "river- things" going on this next upcoming weekend........

 Click here and check it out ! 

Little John's Motorsports Update ------ Little john sent us the following racing update: 

Hi All

We have Good news and Bad news
We have just arrived home from Livermore Ky.
Ashly Ruf, and Little Johns Motorsports are High Points Champion for 2007 in KDBA
Ashly also took the purse this weekend for fastest reaction time

NOW THE BAD NEWS
In our last pass, the engine went off like a BOMB
Ashly is fine, all of our safety equipment worked, and the boat is OK
We spent most of the night , after some pouting, and a few tears, tearing the motor down
before we came home, we know the damage, and parts are ordered
We HAVE to build a motor, and be in Linchfield Ill, by this coming Friday.
We are #3 in SLDBA, we have to win one race, and place in another, to be #1
There are only three races left.
THANK GOD FOR CREDIT CARDS

I would like to take a moment to say thank you to a few people, and I really dont even know their names.
Most of the people that we race with, did not know that all we had to do was enter, to win the Championship.
We did aquire that many pionts.
Four individuals stepped forward last night, and offered to pull the motor out of their boat,and help put in our boat, so Ashly could run and win today.
That gesture meant more to me than winning the championship.
ALSO, a thank you to Scott, and his father, who drove about 8 hours, from Gadsten Ala. to help us.

Ashlys mom was with us this weekend, and had a great time.
The eye surgery worked, and she can now actually watch Ashly go down the track
The pressure is on, but life could be a lot worse

The Family And Team Of Little Johns Motorsports

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Little John's Motorsports Web Site Updated..........

Capt'n Darryll wrote:

    Updated www.littlejohnsinc.com with the latest drag boat racing update from LJ. Go to http://www.littlejohnsinc.com/dragboatupdate.htm to read the latest news.

Darryll

Cedar Hill Resort....New Hours ----  

Cedar Hill Resort New hours will be 

Friday 4:00p.m. till 9:00p.m., 

Saturday 11:00a.m. till 9:00p.m. 

Sunday 11:00a.m. till 7:00p.m. 

Starts the week of August 20, 2007. 

Open Labor Day (Monday) 11:00a.m. till 7:00p.m

Its FRIDAY... 17 August 2007

Updated Fri at 11:00 PM

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Pictures and e-mail of the Day ...  are some great aerial shots from Crystal

River Bill, 

   These are some pictures that I took flying this weekend. I thought you might be interested. The first picture is where the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers meet and you can pick out which river is which. The last couple of pictures are boats that were out on Sunday. If you look closely in some you can see the boats lined up along the sandbars.

Hope you enjoy.
Crystal

RiverBill says....Thanks for the great pictures Crystal !

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------ was from Captain Greg Sadowski.  

Greg Wrote in his e-mail:

Bill,

Here's a picture.

Tonight's sunset (8-16-06) over the Chesapeake bay through venetian blinds from the pilot house of this boat named "Lady Pintail".

Greg

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Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Should be opening sometime in late September

Click here to open Yacht Club Of St. Louis website

Click here for upcoming Events at Yacht Club Of St. Louis (pdf file)

Mid August 2005 in River History  ------  

Paying Too Much For  Boat Insurance ?....... Check out Mixon Insurance. 

Fill out Bill Mixon's  on-line quote form for a fast, friendly insurance quote for rates on your boat..

Fishing Report  ------ The Missouri Department of Conservation has issued this week's Fishing Report.  

Mississippi River (above St. Louis):

85 degrees, normal, dingy; channel catfish fair on prepared baits;  drum fair on nightcrawlers; all other species slow. (8/16/2007)

Missouri River (below New Haven)

81 degrees, rising, muddy; catfish good on natural baits; all other species fair. 
(Report made on 8/16/2007)

Check out the report for the entire state of Missouri

.................go to  http://www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt/

It's Our Island Paradise ... Lets Keep It Clean !

Missouri River Relief Cleans Up  Banks Of Missouri River Near St. Charles ------  According to a news article in the on-line St. Charles Journal..... the Missouri River Relief organization and a group of about 130 volunteers, in 6 boats, spent Saturday cleaning up the river banks near St. Charles, Mo. 

    Some of the trash collected on this 98 degree day included more than 80 tires, multiple refrigerators, bicycles, meat cleavers and freezers.  A hot water heater, parts from a 1961 Impala, a washer, a dryer and more.

Click here to read the news story in the on-line St. Charles Journal

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What is Missouri River Relief ?

   According to their website..... they have been cleaning up the banks of the Missouri River for the past 7 years.   The group has organized  25 river clean-ups where  5083 volunteers removed  341 tons of trash from the banks of the Missouri River....Wow !

"Missouri River Clean-ups are a fun, muddy day of hard work, with a free boat ride and a chance to meet others that share your love for this river."

  Go to www.riverrelief.org for more info.

Look for their logo

Get involved !

St. Charles County Council Is Opposed To Confluence Corridor ----  According to a news article in the on-line St. Louis Post Dispatch..... the St. Charles City Council passed a resolution that opposes the creation of a Confluence National Heritage Corridor in Missouri and Illinois. 

   Some of the people, including farmers, who live in the area of the proposed corridor are concerned about how it could affect what they can do with the land they own.

  Backers of the Confluence Corridor propose that such a designation will help attract federal funding for such things as managing programs and the marketing of attractions located in the confluence area..... And it will not change "land ownership or jurisdiction."

Click here to read the news story on STLtoday.com

Thursty Thursday... 16 August 2007

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Pictures and e-mail of the Day ...  is from River Dawg WillyMilly

River Dawg WillyMilly

River Bill, 

   Hi my name is milly hausman and i live in brighton illinois. i love to go boating with my owners, wil and denise hausman, but i do not like the water! i am a 6yr old beagle. i would like to join the river dawgs club. my picture is attached. please put in in, thanks milly.


willymilly

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Pictures and e-mail of the Day ...  are from Michelle Mick...

It's River Dawg Sadie Tinckell

Bill,

Here are two pictures of Sadie Tincknell. She belongs to friends of ours, Vic & Colleen and loves riding on the boat and swimming in the river. She is a chocolate lab.

Michelle Mick

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------ was of some of the shrimper's on Condo Beach about 1 mile up river from Kinder's Restaurant.  

It was at the 2005 Con Trios Yacht Club's 

Beach Party.  

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Kinder's NoWake Inn......

   
   Kinder’s  "No Wake Inn"…Should be opening sometime in late September

16 August 2007 in River History  ------  You gotta remember this one !

  To read the complete article go to  www.fishsniffer.com  

Little John's Motorsports  Website Updated  .......  Capt'n Darryll Weil has updated www.littlejohnsinc.com website with some pictures of Ashly and Kwitchabitchin at the IHBA Augusta Southern Nationals where she took 2nd Place. 

Go to: http://www.littlejohnsinc.com/2007augusta/ to go directly to the pictures.
Darryll 

It's Our Island Paradise ... Lets Keep It Clean !

Upcoming Entertainment at Palisades Yacht Club

• Ricky Lee Tanner Band/Powder Keg Friday Night August 17th 9:00 p.m.

• The Last Resort Sunday August 26, 3-6:30pm

• Music by Dawn Turlington September 2, 4-7pm

• The Last Resort Monday September 3, 2-6:00pm

Click here for more info

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:   Mike Mitchell (amymit@msn.com) 

Date:      Wed 15 Aug 2007 05:24:38 PM EDT 

Topic:     Pat Riley-river bill article junk pontoons-theft 
Comments:  At noon today, the three boats were at the Hannibal boat marina. I sent you an email, but it came back as undeliverable. Thanks, Mike Mitchell

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Latest Image from Winfield Lock and Dam Rivercam....  The rivercam is stuck again...This time on Monday Aug 13...

Below is a picture of a south bound tow locking through early Monday afternoon.

Web Camera Images at ERDC/CRREL Real-time Images from Lock and Dam 25, Mississippi River near Winfield, Missouri

 Click here to go to the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center website

Wednesday... 15 August 2007

Click on picture to enlarge

Our Pictures and e-mail of the Day ...  are from Pat Reid of Crystal Photography. 

  Pat and I worked together a couple of Friday's ago to find the exact location of the American Queen as she churned her way down the Mississippi River towards St. Louis. Not a real easy job !   After some internet checks and lots of phone calls Pat was on his way,  camera in hand,  to snap a shot of the Queen.  

Here is his story.

Bill, 

   On Friday, 8/03/07, after getting info from you, we left Moscow Mills about 4:30 PM and raced to Clarksville with our friends Terri & John, hoping we could still catch it their.

   Just missed it, the American Queen was already down river, raced to Elsberry at the marina, thinking we would see it there, after surveying the situation we thought it would be limited visibility at this spot, so we headed to Winfield Dam to stake out a spot, called the Dam and was to it would probably be about 9:00 pm. We just past Hwy M turnoff at Foley public access, turned around and ran the river to find a good access spot. 

  Finally found one that we thought would be good, couple of people were camping and fishing there and asked if they had seen the Am Queen yet,  they indicated no, so I set up camera and tripod and waited, by this time it was about 7:00 pm.

  The sun was starting to drop fast and it was muggy and hazy. Finally you could see the stacks in the distance, so we waited. These are the best we could do for the conditions. Decided to go to Winfield Dam and try to get some pics while American Queen was locking thru but was ran off because they locked gates about 8:30. 

Hope you enjoy.

Pat

RiverBill says...Great pictures Pat.  

Sounds like you had quite an adventure on this photoshoot.  THANKS !

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------ was of 

"Cherlyn & Amanda"

of Kinders Fame !  

 Two of the best looking bar tenders on the river !   

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ITCS Memo 2583......

   Periodic Lock Closures at Dam 22 ........ Aug 21 or 22

    A diver will be working in the lock chamber at Lock and Dam 22 on Aug 21 or 22.  Several lock closures, lasting from 1½ to 2 hours, will occur.  Boats will be locked  through the dam in between the dives. 

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2583  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

Looking For That New Home or a River House  ------  

Call Phil Carapella........ 314-359- 2423.........The St. Peters REMAX Stars

Submerged Car Pulled From Missouri River  .......According to a news article in the on-line St. Charles Journal ...... Divers from the Missouri Water Patrol located a car in the Missouri River late Friday just south of Frontier Park in St. Charles.  The car was pulled from the water on Saturday.

  The body inside is thought to be that of a woman from Lincoln County. The vehicle is believed to have entered the river at the boat launch near the Lewis and Clark boathouse on July 31st.  The river currents probably pushed the car downstream about 100 yards. 

  Click here to read the news story in the on-line St. Charles Journal

Four People Stranded In Boat On Mississippi River  .......According to a news article in the on-line Post Dispatch ...... At about 10 PM on Monday night, a boat loaded with 4 people, had engine problems near Spanish Lake.  The occupants steered the boat to the bank on the Missouri side of the river and called for help on their cell phone. . 

   The Spanish Lake Fire Protection District and the St. Louis Fire Department responded.  No one was injured

  Click here to read the news story in the on-line St. Charles Journal

Con Trios Yacht Club's Moonlight Cruise  .......

 The Con Trios Yacht Club's "Moonlight Cruise" on August 25th aboard the Grafton Ferry is fast approaching.  This event is limited to the first 130 people that send in their reservations.  The band "Rail" is playing again this year.  

Click here for the reservation form.

It's Our Island Paradise ... Lets Keep It Clean !

Rickie Lee Tanner and Powder Keg

"RICKIE LEE TANNER AND POWDERKEG" ARE PLAYING FRIDAY, THE 17TH, AT PALISADES YACHT CLUB ......AND..... SAT THE 18TH,  AT KJ'S

Click here for more information

Race for the Rivers & Clean Water Challenge ......

Saturday & Sunday....... August 25 & 26   
 
Time:           9:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Location:     St. Charles
Description: 

     A two day canoe and kayak race on held on Sat and Sun  from Washington, Mo to Columbia Bottoms  ......... for serious racers. 

    Clean Water Challenge is a 1 day race (Sat) for amateurs... from Weldon Spring,  St. Charles boat ramp to St. Charles Riverfront.

Contact Info:    Charlene Waggoner.....636-379-6333

Old National River News ------ Dated Aug 6, 2007.......According to a news article on  wqad.com ...... The U.S. Senate adjourned for summer recess without passing the Water Resources Development Act, a $20 billion bill aimed at replacing outdated locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River and the Illinois River.

    A final vote on the bill was blocked by Senator Russ Feingold from Wisconsin.  Senator Feingold wants a stronger oversight of US Army Corps of Engineers projects to prevent wasteful spending.

   Missouri Senator Kit Bond expects that the bill will pass the Senate when the legislators come back in September. 

    The House has already passed the bill  

  Click here to read the news story on wqad.com

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:    Dave (dabatty@charter.net) 

Date:      Mon 13 Aug 2007 10:47:57 PM EDT  

Topic:     Boat for sale 
Comments:  
I have a 2004 Rinker Captiva 232 Liberty Edition for sale. The boat is red and white with the American Flag graphics on the side. It has a 5.0 MPI 260 HP engine with silent choice exhaust with a Tennessee trailer. Lots of extras looks good runs good. My kids want a wakeboard boat wife wants a Baja. $31000 Call me or drop me an email for pics. 618-973-5171 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

St. Louis Post Dispatch Area Fishing Report       

Click here to view the St. Louis Area Fishing Report in the on-line St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Tuesday... 14 August 2007

Click on picture to enlarge

Our 1st River Pictures and e-mail of the Day ...  are from David and Tami Leckbee from Elsberry, Mo.  They motored past us while we were up in pool 25 this past weekend.

Hey River Bill,

Loved the picture of the day, I think we saw your group when we were returning Sunday from our annual boat trip down the river to Alton IL, we are from Elsberry MO.....I am emailing
you a few pictures. Have a great day and stay cool....

David & Tami Leckbee
Norsemen Transportation

RiverBill says...I remember seeing a large group of boats heading up-river past us on Sunday afternoon.  It would have been great if you would have stopped in and said ...Hello !

Click on picture to enlarge

Our 2nd River Picture and e-mail of the Day ...  is from RiverBill's "East Side River Reporter"...Capt'n Carl Seidler.

Welcome Bret and Kim

Bill,

  Here is a group picture of our Cookout on Saturday in the upper end of Mason.  We had a great turnout with friends from various areas.

  We had boats from Alton, Grafton, Freeburg,IL, Yacht Club, Lake Center and one Boat from Lake Michigan.  My Friends Brent and Kim just made the Trip down from the lake and are staying in Alton for a month and we are trying to show them a Big River Welcome

Take Care, Carl

RiverBill says...Looks like a good time Carl.  I see you had some of those river-rat in-water food tables setup for the occasion.  Thanks for sharing your pictures....and welcome Kim and Bret.

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------ was of the cruiser

"In XS"

It's Mike & Tammy Vitale's Cruiser In XS  all decorated up in  Jamaica flags in preparation for the Jamaica Daze Party in 2005.   Way to go Mike and Tammy!.....Yah MON..........   

   This picture was taken on the Saturday prior to the Jamaica Daze Party as Mike and Tammy were heading to the lower sandbar behind Two Branch Island for the Con Trios Yacht Club's "Shrimp Boil and Beach Party". 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Missouri State Water Patrol News Release.....

Drowning in Meramec River....

Date: 8-12-07

According to the Missouri State Water Patrol News Report....a teenage male from New York City was swimming in the Meramec River, in about 12 feet of water, in the area of the train trestle in Castlewood State Park.   He went under after trying to remove his water shoes.

Click here to read the Missouri State Water Patrol News Release N07070157  

"Dock Electricity Poses Potential Hazard" ....

Date: 8-08-07

The Missouri State Water Patrol cautions dock owners in it's news release to "check their boat docks and swimming docks for potential electric shock hazard."  Recent high water levels could have put docks under additional strain,  causing anchor cables to weaken and causing to electrical conduits on the docks to crack or break. The exposed electrical wires are a safety hazard. 

   Electrocution recently occurred at Lake of the Ozarks when victim grabbed a ladder attached to a swim dock.  She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Click here to read the Missouri State Water Patrol News Release N07070144  

Alert !   Be on the Lookout .....Clarification and Pictures .........A post by Pat Riley on RiverBill's Message Board is worth paying attention to.....  

  The original post is as follows.  A clarification and pictures follow below.  Please take a minute and read it.

~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~

Name:   Pat Riley (muldoonhere@sbcglobal.net) 

Date:     Fri 10 Aug 2007 06:36:49 PM EDT 

Topic:    Be on the Lookout 
Comments:   Fellow boaters, As many of you know I have a marine business but I also work for the St. Charles County Sheriff Dept. I recently found out that the three junk pontoon boats that were on this web page are also thieves that are stealing and burglarizing many of the boats and houses that are on the Mississippi. Please let everyone know that these people are not to be trusted and should be sent on their way if seen. Two people from their party have already been arrested for burglary in Lewis County Missouri for burglary. That area is up river from us but this information was from two days ago. 

~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~

Pat clarified the information about the pontoon boats in an e-mail that he sent to me: 

Bill,
The pontoon boats were in a picture that someone sent to you a while back that showed the boat with junk all over it.

Pat

~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~

RiverBill says...Thanks for the info Pat !

I re-posted the pictures below for everyone's reference..

Click on picture to enlarge

It's Our Island Paradise ... Lets Keep It Clean !

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:    Dave (dabatty@charter.net) 

Date:      Mon 13 Aug 2007 10:47:57 PM EDT  

Topic:     Boat for sale 
Comments:  
I have a 2004 Rinker Captiva 232 Liberty Edition for sale. The boat is red and white with the American Flag graphics on the side. It has a 5.0 MPI 260 HP engine with silent choice exhaust with a Tennessee trailer. Lots of extras looks good runs good. My kids want a wakeboard boat wife wants a Baja. $31000 Call me or drop me an email for pics. 618-973-5171 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

River Destinations ......

   Fast Eddies, Alton IL  ....According to a news article in the on-line Alton Telegraph..... the owner of Fast Eddies Bon-Air tavern is working on a land-swap proposal with the city of Alton "to give him a piece of a neighboring street, so he can put in outdoor seating — particularly for smokers."

  The street in question is Pearl Street.  It runs between the bar and the parking lot.

   Click here to read the news article

   Click here for street map from MapQuest

.  

River News From Afar ......

   Eat The Fish Out Of The Chicago River ?  ....According to a news article in the on-line Chicago Sun-Times.... Mayor Daley said "sure" he'd nibble on fish out of the cleaned-up Chicago River. 

  So the Sun-Times sent their outdoors writer on a fishing trip to the river once considered a sewer.  His catch was sent to an environmental laboratory in Green Bay, Wis., where they were tested them for mercury as well as toxins, including PCBs. 

The results....
The levels of the pesticides DDT and DDE  was relatively low and the mercury level was also way below the safe limit. The PCBs found in the fish made them unsafe for daily consumption..

   Click here to read the news article

.  

Monday, Monday... 13 August 2007

Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day ...  Is of the sun setting behind Ronnie and Linda Steven's houseboat, "Summer Breeze." Ronnie is cooking up some steaks for dinner!

  Laura and I, along with Carl and Mary Tiemann, were their guests this weekend on a overnight trip above Winfield Dam.  The water was up a few feet, just like in pool 26, but we found a nice sandbar to spend the afternoon and night.  Thanks Ronnie and Linda

RiverBill's Sunday Update   .......  was done aboard Summer Breeze using my laptop and AT&T air-card.  Everything was a lot slower than working at home on a DSL line, but I was able to make an update. 

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------ was of one of the   Water Patrol boats heading up-river .

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Little John's Racing Team Update ......

Hi All

It is Sun. night and we just got home.
We took 3rd. place in Evansville Ill.
Our biggest problem for the weekend, was a bad spark plug in the golf cart
(We drive it around the pits, So Ashly's mom can watch her race, but mostly to show off)
Third place may not sound like much, but it is a very tough crowd.
We lost by 3 thousands of one second.
The boat was great, and Ashly was fantastic, as usual.

As an update to show how our consistency pays off, here are the standings
We are High Points Champion in KDBA
We are 4th place in SLDBA (really tough in front of our home town crowd, but working on it)
We are #2 in IHBA Div 2 and only 96 points from first.
We are #1 in IHBA DIV 3 we are ahead by 110 points

Teri Ruf (Ashly's mom) was not with us this weekend.
She is recovering from eye surgery last Thurs. SHE NOW CAN SEE.
About 50 phone calls went back and forth, everyone checking up on each other

After the race today, the top of the engine was torn down, and checked as maintenance.
Everything is fine , and we are ready to go.

Next weekend, we, including Ashly's mom, will be in Livermore Ky
The following weekend, we will be in Litchfield ill.
This will be a very good show, (the whole city is involved)
If anyone has an afternoon to spend, it is only about 1 to 1 1/2 hour from home
HELP US SHOW WHAT THE RIVER PEOPLE CAN DO

The family and team of Little Johns Motorsports

Capt'n Darryll has LittleJohn's website updated...Click here and take-a-look !

Grafton's Landing   .......  Correction 

We are running a 2 for 1 rail drink special every Thursday. 

Thanks,
Matt Henderson 

It's Our Island Paradise...Lets Keep It Clean !

Hey Bill -

I've been visiting this site for about a year now, and I really enjoy the various postings and general information. My family has been boating on the river for the last 35 years or so, and we've seen a lot of changes. We definitely enjoy meeting our friends out on the sandbars, and meeting new people, too. However, one of the negative things we've noticed lately is the increased amount of litter that doesn't get taken home. This includes everything from cans and bottles to dirty diapers and cigarette butts. Friday night we were parked on Iowa and relaxing just behind the boat with our son nd friends. Much to our disappointment our feet found several beer cans and GLASS ottles in addition to Mardi Gras beads and corn cob husks. We emptied the cans and bottles of sand and water and then took the trash home with us. Please remind all boaters and their guests to please clean up after themselves. The river has always been a beautiful place and it's up to all of us to keep it that way.

Anne Woods
Yacht Club of St. Louis

Fri, Sat, Sun... 10, 11, 12 August 2007

The Weekend is Upon Us !

Updated Sun at 8:00 AM

Click on picture to enlarge

Updated Sunday at 9:00

Our River Picture of the Day ...  Sunday ....Is of boaters tubing yesterday afternoon   up near Winfield Dam

Click on picture to enlarge

Updated Sat at 9:45

Our River Picture of the Day ...  Saturday  ....Is from Capt'n Pat Reid of Crystal Photography, better known in a lot of circles as...Captain of the Camera

    Pat sent us this picture of the American Queen heading down river towards Ol' St.Lou. He made it look Old Tyme !

    Pat raced around last weekend from location to location in his land yacht tying to find the Queen on the river. We knew it was close, but didn't know the exact location. We talked to the folks at Two Rivers Marina and a lot of the lock masters trying to find her.   Pat missed it once or twice and had to leave lock and dam 25 when they locked the grounds for the night.  He got some good shots for us though !

RiverBill says....Great picture Pat !

Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Pictures and E-mail of the Day ...  Friday

Bill,

On July 28th weekend, boaters may have noticed a swarm of friendly pirates exploring the Mississippi. Captain Logan celebrated his 11th birthday with seven other pirate friends via a campout on Pirates Cove (Enterprise Island), and a birthday lunch at...none other than Captain Jack's. 

This picture was taken at Captain Jack's. 
Fellow pirates are: back row, Brennan, Henry, Neal, Nikhil, Arron; front row, Jeric, Captain Logan, and Connor. 

The event was hosted by Joan and John Gefferth, parents of Logan, who hail out of Lake Center Marina. A swashbuckling good time was had by all. 

Joan 

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Updated Sun at 8:00

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ----Sunday-- was one of the

" Girls of Alton Lake"  

We have some of the best women in the world boating on Alton Lake and  ... Kim.... is one of them.    Here she is "cooling off"  in the mighty Mississippi on a hot summer day.....and looking beautiful.   

  Photography by Marty Henderson of www.fotou.net .

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Updated Sat at 8:30 Am

Our River Picture of the Day In 2006 ----Saturday-- was of the "12 Volt Band"  playing Jimmy Buffett type Caribbean Rock and Roll out on the tiki bar deck at Capt'n Jack's Bar and Grill.

RiverBill says..As them to do  "Pirate Looks At 40" ...next time you see them play !

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ----Friday-- was sent in by Captain Ronnie Stevens, who hails out of  Two Branch Marina in the houseboat "Summer Breese".

    It is an action shot of some of the  party-goers dancing to the Cajun beat on the swim platform of the boat "Just Not Right".    It was taken at the Mardi Gras party on Iowa Beach in 2005  I am not sure what kind of problem the Jamaican Braid Boy was having when this picture was snapped...... I just hope everything came out OK.

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

 Save The Ma Belle

Click on picture to enlarge

Updated Fri at 11:45 AM

Update on the "Riecherts" and Location of Generator Exhaust Port------  

   From Murphy (aka Cliff Akers)

Bill.
Just wanted to give you an update on the "Riecherts". They are doing well but are still in the hospital. They need to have some more test today to see if there has been any damage to vital organs.
I wanted to personally thank Lisa Dattilow(the nurse that assisted us on Sunday) and Rick Pelton (from the "Weekend player") and Mike Halley ( from the "OVER EXPOSED") who assisted us in getting Rich out of the cabin. I cannot thank them enough!!

I just wanted to correct one aspect of the story being told, Bruce Keachie (from the "Keach 22" out of Woodland Harbor enlightened me that the Riecherts Generator port WAS NOT FACING THE HOUSEBOAT. As you can see in the picture, the exhaust is on the port side of a 42 foot Searay and the Riecherts' Starboard side was against the houseboat. The Water Patrol is having the boat inspected by a mechanic to see if the generator's exhaust system has a defect. It is still unclear on how the fumes got into the cabin. Having all the canvas up may be a contributing factor and the fumes may have found their way into the cabin thru a sink drain.
A good friend of ours, Captain Geg Joste suggest that boaters should plug all drains in sinks and fill them with water to assure no fumes can get into the cabin through a thru hull fittings of sink discharge. Sounds like a good idea!! 

Respectfully, 

Murphy (aka Cliff Akers)

MURPHY II Houseboat (out of Woodland Harbor)

Updated Fri at 11:20 AM

Humboldt Boat Services Rescues Man From Mississippi River------  According to an article in Friday's on-line Post Dispatch..... the workers at Humboldt Boat Services   rescued a man from the Mississippi River that had jumped from the Old Chain Of Rock Bridge.    Humboldt Boat Services is located on the banks of the Mississippi River on Humboldt Av. near Hall Street.

  Click here to read the story in the on-line STLtoday.com

Updated Fri at 11:00 AM

ITCS Memos ......

    ITCS MEMO # 2580

"The Hannibal RR Bridge is in the closed to navigation position due to a
failure. The cause is being investigated. It is unknow at this time
when the bridge will be back in operation. The USCG Bridge Branch is
monitoring the progress and the bridge will be back in operation as soon as
possible."

     ITCS MEMO # 2582
            "The Hannibal RR Bridge, Mile 309.9, is back to normal operations."

Click here to read the ITCS Memo #2441  

Check the ITCS website for most current memos

More on The Two Branch River Rescue   .......   

Received the following e-mail from Gayle LaMarr

 Hi Bill,
 
 I wondered if you might be able to clarify one of
 the details about the couple that was overcome by
 carbon monoxide this past weekend. Were they running
 a generator on their boat or was it the fumes from 
 the house boat they were tied up with?
 It was not very clear in the story on RiverBills
 or the Post Dispatch.
 
 Thanks,
 Gayle 

RiverBill's sent it on to Mike Halley, who was at the scene and helped in the rescue......Mike replied with the following e-mail

Bill,

They were running their own generator. Their gen set discharged out toward the houseboat. The houseboat's generator discharged out the other side where no one was tied up and the discharge for the houseboat is set up to go through a pipe going to the top of the houseboat. No matter which side of the houseboat someone would tie up, there's no way the houseboat would be emitting fumes toward anyone. The houseboat was not responsible in any way. 

Hope this helps.

Mike

Capt'n Jacks   .......   

We are running a 2 for 1 rail drink special every Thursday beginning 8-9-07. We will also be offering lunch and dinner specials this weekend. On Saturday the 11th, Triple Play will be here from 7-11pm providing live music inside.

Thanks,
Matt Henderson 

MarineMax Demo Days at Grafton Harbor   .......     

 This weekend the 11th of August MarineMax and Grafton Harbor are putting on a demo days on sport boats and water toys. We will be showing boats from 17' to 24' and 1 thru 4 person tubes, along with wake boards and body glove wake skis. Come out from 11:00 A.M. thru 4:30 P.M. and try out the new boats and water toys. 

P.S. All of the water toys are at blow out prices for the day!!!!! 

For more info contact morgan.mayer@marinemax.com 

Dos Rios Mexican Grill

Click to enlarge

Ernesto and Brandie 

Welcome All Boaters to Stop in for A Cold Drink...

...and....The Best Mexican Food Around...

Margaritas, Import Beer, Domestic Beer

Sun - Thurs................11:00AM  -  9:00PM

Fri, Sat.......................11:00AM -  10:00PM

Grand Opening Saturday, Sept 1

9 East Main St    Grafton     IL.... 618- 786- 8226

      Just a short walk down-river from Grafton Harbor

"Dos Rios" means "Two Rivers" in plain river english.

Updated Sat at 8:30 AM

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:    Pat Riley (muldoonhere@sbcglobal.net)

Date:      Fri 10 Aug 2007 06:36:49 PM EDT

Topic:     Be on the Lookout . 
Comments:  
Fellow boaters, As many of you know I have a marine business but I also work for the St. Charles County Sheriff Dept. I recently found out that the three junk pontoon boats that were on this web page are also thieves that are stealing and burglarising many of the boats and houses that are on the Mississippi. Please let everyone know that these people are not to be trusted and should be sent on their way if seen. Two people from their party have already been arrested for burglary in Lewis County Missouri for burglary. That area is up river from us but this information was from two days ago. 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Boeing's "New" U-787 Unlimited Hydroplane   ------ Capt'n George Shindel sent us some information on a news story in the on-line KNDO / KNDU Tri-Cities Newspaper about the U-787 Hydroplane.  The "new" Unlimited Hydroplane has been painted three shades of blue to match the colors of the company's 787 Dreamliner .

    The U-787 Hydroplane was in the Seafair Torchlight Parade held in Seattle, Washington on July 28th and on display at the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent, Washington on August 2nd for their annual Gala Banquet & Auction.

  Click here for a picture of the U-787 and to read the on-line news article.

   Click here to go to "seafair.com"  for a neat picture of a US Navy Blue Angle F-18 flying over the top of some pleasure boats.  Looks close enough to the boats that the passengers could reach up and touch it !    There is also a good video showcasing the hydroplane races...take a minute and watch it !

~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~

Click here for information on more Boeing boats.

Fishing Report  ------ The Missouri Department of Conservation has issued this week's Fishing Report.  

Mississippi River (above St. Louis):

83 degrees, normal, dingy; channel catfish fair on prepared baits; drum fair on nightcrawlers; all other species slow. 

(Report made on 8/9/2007)

Missouri River (below New Haven)

81 degrees, normal, dingy; catfish good on natural baits; all other species fair. 

(Report made on 8/9/2007)

Check out the report for the entire state of Missouri

.................go to  http://www.mdc.mo.gov/fish/fishrt/

Two Moons  ------ We ran some info on having Two Moons in the sky in near the end of August.  It was in error and has been removed.

Latest Image from Winfield Lock and Dam Rivercam....  The rivercam is still stuck on Saturday, Aug 04.......below is a picture from last Saturday afternoon.  Two southbound pleasure craft waiting to lock through into pool 26.

Click on picture to enlarge

 Click here to go to the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center website

Thursday... 09 August 2007

Updated at 7:45 AM

Huge Price Reduction 360 Sundancer

Monday Night Sunset at Lake Center Marina

Mike Stanczak Skiing Monday Night 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE !

Tuesday Aug 7th

Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Pictures of the Day ...  are from Sherri Stanczak.  It's a Sunset taken from Lake Center Marina on Monday night and a picture of her husband Mike doing a bit of skiing on the night before his birthday.

Happy Birthday Mike !

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Our River Picture of the Day In 2006 ------  was a picture of Marty Haugh motoring around on the river in his wooden 1967, 26 Sleeper.  What an immaculate boat !

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

 Save The Ma Belle

Weight 56 Pounds

Weight of Blue Cat....  in yesterday's edition was 56 pounds !  Sorry I left that information out ! ....

Once again... nice catch Darryl !

MarineMax Demo Days at Grafton Harbor   .......     

 This weekend the 11th of August MarineMax and Grafton Harbor are putting on a demo days on sport boats and water toys. We will be showing boats from 17' to 24' and 1 thru 4 person tubes, along with wake boards and body glove wake skis. Come out from 11:00 A.M. thru 4:30 P.M. and try out the new boats and water toys. P.S. All of the water toys are at blow out prices for the day!!!!! 

For more info contact 

morgan.mayer@marinemax.com 

Carbon Monoxide Exposure And Boating   .......     

 Bill,

   I just returned from a reservoir lake in Idaho, where I was investigating a marine carbon monoxide exposure incident that resulted in the deaths of four individuals aboard a boat, to read about another carbon monoxide incident in our area. I am concerned for the individuals involved and proud of the many boaters who stepped in to help them. Over the past year or so I have investigated carbon monoxide incidents on boats that resulted in eight deaths and other long term injuries. It saddens me to continue to see these types of incidents when they are totally preventable. Even if a person survives the initial incident, significant carbon monoxide exposure can have permanent effects on the human body. Children and elderly are especially sensitive to the effects of carbon monoxide exposure.

   The primary responsibility for the prevention of such incidents lies with the captain of each vessel!!! I know this message may sound like I'm preaching, but the captain should not allow the engines or generator to run while the boat is moored and people are sleeping aboard or if other boats are moored in close proximity. Additionally, every boat should be
equipped with at least one marine grade carbon monoxide detector, and it is best to have one in each sleeping area. Carbon monoxide detectors need to be tested on a regular basis, check the instructions for the details. If the carbon monoxide detector is going off, it should not be ignored and/or turned off, it is doing its job. Humans cannot smell carbon monoxide, it is odorless and tasteless.

   The exhaust systems of the propulsion engines and generators should be inspected for leaks on a regular basis, especially just after de-winterization when it is most likely for hoses and drain plugs to leak. It is also possible, under certain conditions, to be exposed to carbon monoxide from an operating engine or generator of a nearby boat. The carbon 
monoxide does not have to come from within the boat you are on for you to be exposed to dangerous and potentially lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide.

   Please post the following link on your web site: 
http://www.uscgboating.org/command/co.htm.      

    It is a great source of information regarding carbon monoxide and boating. For the protection of all of our families and friends in the boating community, it is time for every boater out there to step up and get educated on the risks of carbon monoxide while boating and how carbon monoxide exposure incidents can be prevented. Due to the significant differences in emissions control systems, the reality is that a person can be exposed to higher concentrations of carbon monoxide while standing on the swim platform of a single engine ski boat than sticking their face directly in the exhaust pipe of just about any 2005 or newer passenger vehicle. Add up the engines and generators of boats moored in a tight group and you can have a real problem.

Thank you for your time. Everyone, please use this incident as a wakeup call and take the time to educate yourselves and your fellow boaters. Some may not like the message, but it is for the good of all of us.

Randy Bicknese
Lady Di

~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~

RiverBill wrote Randy the following e-mail:

Randy,
How are you doing. Good to hear from you.
Thanks for the information. I have to ask...What kind of a job do you have ?
And ...how is it that you are so knowledgeable in this area ?

Please respond.
Bill 

~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~~^~~~~~

Randy replied with the following e-mail:

Bill,

   I work as a forensic engineer and I typically investigate vehicular and boating accidents, fires, and explosions in an attempt to determine the cause(s) and contributing factors. Unfortunately, I also investigate a number of carbon monoxide exposure cases involving recreational boats and homes with gas-fired furnaces. I have studied the various sources of carbon monoxide in boats, how carbon monoxide migrates within boats, and from boat-to-boat. I am also familiar with most of the carbon monoxide detection and control devices available on the market today, including sensors that will shut down the generator or engine if carbon monoxide is detected.

   Unfortunately, there does not seem to be widespread use of such devices in the recreational boating community.

   I am very interested in attempting to educated boaters in our area of how dangerous of a situation can develop in a relatively short time aboard a boat or while swimming in the area of the exhaust outlet of operating engines or generators. Don't get me wrong, I like to enjoy a few cocktails and have a good time out on the river and I don't want to sound like a stiff.  People are free to do as they wish with their boats, but they need to understand that the early warning signs of carbon monoxide exposure can be mistaken for the combination of heat exposure and alcohol consumption. If I have information that can prevent one incident, it is worth the effort. I don't like the thought of having to possibly investigate an incident involving someone I know and/or in an area I go to frequently every boating season. I prefer to remember Two Branch as shown in the attached photographs. (See Below)

Talk to you soon,

Randy Bicknese

Two Branch Sunsets by Randy Bicknese

Click on picture to enlarge

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

Name:    Dennis Mintert (dmintert@conocophillips.com) 

Date:      Thu 02 Aug 2007 01:33:40 PM EDT 

Topic:    Deckboat for sale 

Comments:  

Subject: Deckboat for sale 
Bill, I have just purchased a houseboat and need to sell my deckboat. It is a 2000 V.I.P. Deckliner w/ a 5.7L Mercruiser and Alpha 1 outdrive. Very low hours ( 200-300) . Beautiful Red/Cream in color. Also has new foot control trolling motor (24 volt). It is located at Grafton Marina in slip B-14. This comes with a 6000lb galvalift and a V.I.P. tandem axle trlr. Slip rental is paid thru April 2008. $ 23,500 takes all or may separate. A picture of this boat can be found in Riverbills Archives dated September 2006. Scroll 2/3 of the way down and look for " Johnboat Thursday". By the way the boat length is 21.5 ft X 8.5 ft wide. Thanks and LOVE your site. Dennis Mintert cell: (618) 910-2306 or E-Mail above. 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Introducing 

 For Sale 

"The River"  T-shirts

Call John (618 - 973 - 7994) or Kelli (618 - 920 - 7993)

Click here for picture of front

Latest Image from Winfield Lock and Dam Rivercam....  The rivercam is still stuck on Saturday, Aug 04.......below is a picture from last Saturday afternoon.  Two southbound pleasure craft waiting to lock through into pool 26.

Click on picture to enlarge

 Click here to go to the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center website

Wednesday.... 08 August 2007

Catch Of The Day !

Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day ...And Catch of the Day........ was sent in by Darryl Vaughan of Winfield, Mo.  

What a catch it was !

Bill,

I caught this blue cat Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 near Alton on the Mississippi River. She was photographed and released.

It wasn’t a freight train hit. Pole just started going down and KEPT GOING! The battle was on. I am by myself. Oh Cr@P!

Fought for a while, finally got her to the boat, holy smokes! Tried twice to get her in net, she didn’t like that. Decided to give up on the net and chucked it to the floor of the boat. Fought fish a while longer to wear her down because I was going to have to lip her.

Looked downstream and here came Robert and Bev, a brother and sister that I didn’t know. They saw that I was in a predicament and were motoring over to help, keeping their distance till they got my attention. I motioned them to come on over. In the mean time the fish came to the side of the boat and I was able to get one hand in her mouth. She didn’t blow up so I put my rod down and got my other hand in her mouth. Placed both my feet on the gunwale and PULLED. The fish and I both slid onto the floor of the boat in one fluid motion.

I lay there for a few seconds, wore out, looked down at Robert and Bev. Then I stuck my hands in the air, whooped and hollered and they did the same. They were really happy for me.

They tied up to my boat and Robert came aboard, helped me weigh it and took photos for me.

If Robert and Bev read this I just want to say thanks for your help!

Darryl Vaughan, Winfield, MO

RiverBill says.....Wow Darryl ........ What a catch ! 

  I commend you for getting your trophy, taking a picture and releasing her. 

FYI:  Darryl caught this trophy on live shad in 50 ft of water.  Below is a picture of the release.   Darryl wrote:

Above is a picture of the release.   

Darryl wrote:

She swam off like a champ, kicked her tail and was gone!

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------  was a picture of a few of us gathered at Capt'n Jack's a few years ago,before they officially opened for business, to check out the food, service, drinks, tiki bar, atmosphere and everything else. 

~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~^~~

 Save The Ma Belle

Trivia Night at Yacht Club of St. Louis....  

   Capt'n Darryll Weil reported that he got an e-mail from Cindra Smith, of Sharky's Cove fame......

    Cindra will be bartending at the Yacht Club of St. Louis for trivia night this coming Thursday  .......stop by say hello.

Introducing 

 For Sale 

"The River"  T-shirts

Call John (618 - 973 - 7994) or Kelli (618 - 920 - 7993)

Click here for picture of front

From RiverBill's Message Board.....  

E-mail:   MARINEMAX OF ST. LOUIS (morgan.mayer@marinemax.com) 

Date:      Tue 07 Aug 2007 05:31:11 PM EDT

Topic:     DEMO DAYS AT GRAFTON HARBOR

Comments:  This weekend the 11th of August MarineMax and Grafton Harbor are putting on a demo days on sport boats and water toys. We will be showing boats from 17' to 24' and 1 thru 4 person tubes, along with wake boards and body glove wake skis. Come out from 11:00 A.M. thru 4:30 P.M. and try out the new boats and water toys. P.S. All of the water toys are at blow out prices for the day!!!!! 

Click here to go to RiverBill's Message Board

Two Moons  .......     

Bill: 

No it is not what you are thinking. It’s the ones in the sky!

Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth this month.
It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. 
This will cultivate on Aug. 27.
Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the
earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY (except for me) will ever see it again.


Michael Vitale
Regional Vice President
Merrlin Mortgage Corporation

Latest Image from Winfield Lock and Dam Rivercam....  The rivercam is still stuck on Saturday, Aug 04.......below is a picture from last Thursday evening.   A southbound tow in the lock and another aligning itself in the background to "lock through" next.

Click on picture to enlarge

 Click here to go to the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center website

Tuesday.... 07 August 2007

Click on picture to enlarge

Our River Picture of the Day ........ was sent in by John & Sherrie and friends on C-Dock of Grafton Harbor.   It's a picture of Jan and Joe DeSherlia, owners,  in the new swimming pool at the harbor....Hah !. 

Water looks fine...come on in !

RiverBill says.....As most everyone knows, the harbor's pool is in the harbor's parking lot and can't be installed due to problems.  Looks like Jan and Joe were good enough sports to pose for this picture.  Thanks John and Sherrie for sending it in.

Yester Year's "River Pic of the Day"  .......  What was the.... Pic On This Day... in years past ? 

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Our River Picture of the Day In 2005 ------  It was a picture of  Mr. Mardi Gras,  Gary Meinershagen at the 2005 Iowa Beach Mardi Gras Party.   Gary is standing beside a poster sized picture of himself that was taken on one of his and Judy Beads' many trips to the New Orleans Mardi Gras.....

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 Save The Ma Belle

More on Sunday's River Rescue     

News Article in Yesterday's on-line Post Dispatch....

"Couple rescued from Mississippi River houseboat".... Click here to read news article on STLtoday.com