Costello Lock (Kaskaskia Lock – Angelo’s Tow Anchorage Cairo, MO

Costello Lock (Kaskaskia), MO – Angelo’s Tow Anchorage Cairo, MO

That is The Mississippi River. You on your own with only tows and barges and your buddy boat, if you are lucky to have one. We are still running with Dark Side to the anchorage today. With a good night’s sleep at Costello Lock we are off and running at sun up. Heading south on The Miss past the odd town here and there and tows aplenty. There isn’t much out here. The current is running about 3 knts today which is a welcome pleasure on the diesel consumption. On this stretch we are running about 11 knts and pushing only 8 knts on the engines making this long 100 mile day go by much faster.

The trees are back to being green with very little colour change. As we head south the air is warming but still chilly. Today we do notice a change in not feeling the cold in the wind. The Miss is a long stretch for boaters. Not many anchorages as the tows and barges take up most of the space available. They run 24/7 so hanging out off channel is not a great idea. It is in your best interest to find a good space where those worker bees just can’t get to. That is the few little areas off the main Miss which are few and far between. There are 2 really well marked areas for anchorages. On is Boston Bar and the other is Angelo’s Toe. The Toe is at mile 1.5 on the Upper Mississippi making it a quick run to the left turn for the Ohio River.

Angelo’s Tow is the southern tip of Angelo’s Island where there is a small tributary. We like to anchor off the shoal of the toe to keep the current of The Miss at bay as much as possible. It is possible to anchor in the tributary in about 10 feet of water but do not go in far. It shallows quickly in low water. There is a shoal on the shoreline that comes out a far distance. Look at google maps so you know where it is. It really isn’t a problem however it is nice to know where it is before you start. It is a windy evening and night. I couldn’t sleep so I was up most of the night watching how we swing in this wind. The wind is overtaking the current so our boat will move 90 degrees at times. If there are no winds the current will keep you in the same position. The pic below shows the island. The Toe is the point that sticks out toward the Ohio River.

It’s a busy area. Tows are running around pushing there loads to prepare for the movement of goods. It is amazing how they work in this dark. No city lights and no moon to show where obstacles are. I watch about 10 tows leave the confluence of the Miss and the Ohio River. It is one of the most traveled areas in commerce on these waters. The Miss heads towards New Orleans,. The Ohio Heads toward the cities and towns to Mobile, AL and the Upper Mississippi heads toward the world we just left in Chicago and the Great Lakes. It is the hub for the logistics of commerce to come together all in these barges.

After the Ohio River, the Mississippi river is the most polluted river in the United States and is considered genuinely the most polluted river as it lacks the diluting action of the Ohio River and also due to the recent oil spillage which occurred in the Mississippi river back in 2014.

The little town of Cairo, where Angelo’s Island is located, became a prosperous port following the Civil War due to increased riverboat and railroad commerce. Barges are seen as the white rectangles shown on the Ohio river, which indicate the continued importance of Cairo as a transport hub. Flooding of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers presents a continual danger to the city; this danger is lessened by the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway that begins directly to the south of the river confluence. During major flood events, the floodway lessens flood stages upstream (such as at Cairo) and adjacent to the floodway. Part of the extensive levee system associated with flood control of the Mississippi River is visible in the image. Barlow Bottoms (image right), located in adjacent Kentucky, is a wetland bird-watching location that is replenished by periodic floods and releases of Ohio River water. There are no areas to explore any of these areas.