Also go at what the river people call low water. High water is when it
floods high, wide, and fast. Those rivers are also full of debris and silt.
The silt will chew up impellers, shafts and props big time. Boat captains I
talk to down at the lower end use stainless steel or monel for those parts.
Unless you are real stuck on going straight south AND if you have the power
to do it (similar to going up the Ohio) go up to Chicago through the canal
into the Great Lakes (actually inland seas) and down to the Hudson
River/Canal System to NYC then around NJ to the Delaware Canal, the
Chesapeake and the ICW or outside on the Atlantic. Best people to talk to ,
back to your original question, are the tug and barge captains. They know
the river best.

MST