Day 66 Saturday July 16

Dinner at the Old House last night was really good. When we got back to the boat a beautiful 65? trawler named Tesoro pulled in for the night. They had come upstream from New Orleans via the Tombigbee on their way to Chicago. In August they go to Blakely Island WA via the Panama Canal. Todd and Sandra and two boys were aboard along with two dogs and a cat. The youngest son is being home schooled during the cruise. Todd is able to work at his business on the way and has a satellite connection to the Internet which seems to be about as trouble prone as my cell phone system. I was able to show them some of our photos from the North Channel and they are hoping they can go through there. The main problem is the boat draws 8 ft of water. If anyone is interested in more information on this unique wood trawler and their cruise there is a website at http://www.mvtesoro.com. Today we cruised 105 miles down the Mississippi to the Little River Diversion Canal just below Cape Girardeau. A passing fisherman filled me in on the history. This was once a huge area of cypress wetland. The diversion canal drained it to create farmland. Only now are they starting to replant the cypress trees. It is one of only two places to stop in 158 miles of river.

Lat 37.25 Long 89.52