Little Diversion Canal and the Mississippi

9-9-2024

Katie (and the lemon look) at anchor in Little Diversion Canal just off the Mississippi River.

After a pleasant overnight stop at Kaskaskia lock, we left early, dodging a lot of upbound tows as we flew southward with a strong following current. We had both anticipated and dreaded Little Diversionary Canal, one of the few safe spots for anchoring on this portion of the Mississippi river. This anchorage had achieved near legendary status in my mind, along with sites like the Joliet Wall. In contemplating this portion of the journey for several years, information regarding the suitability of this canal for anchorage and the number of vessels which can fit in have been conflicting. Water levels are low and there is also some concern about the ability to get into this cut and then to get out the following day if the water level should drop further. However, there are no great options on this portion of the Mississippi river because of the Strong current, the volume of bar and the numerous wing dams along the course of the river. Just as we arrived at the canal, we were passed by the faster boats that we had spent the evening with in Kaskaskia. They entered the canal first and anchored. Fortunately, one captain took the initiative to get into his dinghy and organize the group of boats so that everyone could access the canal and anchor. Just coming off the river into this canal is a bit of a dicey maneuver as you are crossing 3 to 4 kn of current and trying to land in a relatively narrow canal mouth without going a ground. We managed it without incident however, anchored and had a very pleasant late afternoon and early evening, sitting on the fly bridge and relaxing. Unfortunately, when we went in for the evening, and I opened the engine room hatch to perform engine checks, we found the starboard compartment of the engine room, covered with about 8 inches of river water. The newly installed seal on the right shaft was copiously leaking, probably as a result of using strong reversed props when exiting the Kaskaskia lock. Following about 20 minutes of near panic, I was able to compress the right shaft seal without too much difficulty and the leak stopped. The anxiety, however, did not as we kept a close eye on the chef seal for the next several days. There was no further leakage.

Following a fortunately uneventful night, we arose early to leave the canal on our way to Paducah, Kentucky. The chef seal had stayed dry overnight, and there was no accumulation of water in the starboard engine compartment to our great relief.

We pulled anchor and left the canal without difficulty only to run into a near impenetrable fog bank about 1 mile downstream. The remainder of the morning was spent watching the radar and GPS carefully as we navigated downstream through heavy fog with a strong following current. We were able to safely pass, several tows without incident, but the whole morning was pretty white knuckle.