My family and I did it with a 34' House Boat and had a great
time. We also went up stream from the Ill. River. That is a
lot nicer trip.
"Dene" wrote in message
...

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Made the trip from Chicago to New Orleans many years ago
in a 22 foot
sailboat and a 6 h.p. SeaGull engine. That includes the
Illinois Ship
and Sanitary Canal and the Illinois River which enters the
Mississippi
at Grafton, Il. As mentioned earlier, you have to watch
the charts and
stay in the channel marked by buoys or run aground or hit
these dams.
Stay well clear of the huge tug boats which throw up
monstrous
wakes, especially when they are going upstream. The
current is very
strong, especially on bends of the river, so we missed a
few landings,
because we couldn't power against the current. There are
big floating
logs and other debris, which can do a lot of damage. We
had to rebuild
the lower transmission in Greenville, Mississippi and that
was doing
well considering other boats with us who had gone through
numerous
outboards. Don't expect a lot of marinas, but you must
find a place to
get off the main flow of the river for overnight stays.
You have to use
ingenuity, like tying up to barges, or seeking out sloughs
(old beds of
the river). I thought the main Mississippi River was the
most
interesting, especially from a historical viewpoint with
towns like
Cairo, Memphis, and Vicksburg. To really enjoy this trip,
you need
several months to see all the sights. Take with big
fenders, or tires
to protect your boat when tied up next to the huge tugs
inside the
monstrous locks. Not exactly a pleasure cruise and one I
would not want
to repeat, but I'm glad I experienced it

I'm assuming a 32 foot powerboat with twin engines would
have an easier go
of it. Correct?

-Greg