Hi,

WOW! what great information!

I'll contact you via email.

Thanks,
Mike

On Fri, 11 May 2007 19:18:14 -0500, "JR-CJ" wrote:


"SharewareRadio.com" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,

Sorry to bother you guys but I haven't been able to find much
information in other places.

I am an American who lives in both Finland and Guatemala. Usually at
this time of the year we would be preparing to go to our home in
Guatemala for the summer once school gets out here.

However I've always dreamed of spending time on a houseboat cruising
around the Mississippi river so I just bought this:
http://tinyurl.com/32ukra

The boat is located in Dodge Center, Minnesota. My 15 year old son and
I already had airline tickets to Fort Myers Florida. We will be
arriving there about the 15th of June.

We have no real boating experience. I was a Radarman in the Navy so I
had some experience with navigation and rules of the road.

First of all we want to do the online America's Boating Course. This
page says there is an online version:
http://www.americasboatingcourse.com/

But I can't find it.

Next I haven't been able to find a good online source to Marinas so I
can figure out where to go from Dodge Center, Minnesota.

I was wondering if the Skipper Bob's Cruising From Chicago to Mobile
would be useful.

Also what to do about internet access? I saw the post in here about
WiFi. Are there other options? Do marinas charge extra for this?

Not to mention the dilemma of getting the boat and trailer from Dodge
Center to somewhere. It appears to me that maybe I should buy a cheap
used pickup in Florida and drive to Minnesota to both save on the
airfare and get a rust free vehicle.

Then if we survive the month or so where to store all of this stuff..

Thanks,
Mike Dulin


The area your boat is in, is the most beautiful part of the Mississippi.
On the Mississippi just stay between the buoys, that is the channel and is
11ft deep minimum.
Going up river, green buoy to the right.
Once you are used to the river, you can venture off the channel.
All kinds of sand to pull up onto and spend the night or longer (free).
From LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Dubuque, Iowa you will see bald Eagle all over
the place. This part of the river is called God's Country for good reason.
I personally do not go farther south than Davenport, Iowa.
It just becomes a mud river with high levees you can not see over.
Send me a private email and I will give be glad to show you around the
river.
I sail mostly from Lansing, Iowa to LaCrosse.
No depth charts for the river as it goes up and down based on rainfall.
But Corp of Engineers have free charts.
http://www.tec.army.mil/echarts/
Also you can get a spiral book with CD of the charts from the Corps St. Paul
office $28
Quimby's Cruising Guide has listings of Marina and boat docks on the
Mississippi. $39 spiral book.
Big thing to remember, we have huge tugs and they have the right away
always.
They can not stop nor maneuver very well and will suck your boat under if
you get too close.
Also stay away from bridge pilings. The current can smash your boat into the
piling and it is not fun.
The river has rock wing dams just below the surface and just off the
channel.
They usually run at right angle to shore. So if going to shore watch for
ripples and always turn straight to shore, not run parallel to shore unless
in the channel.
Hope that helps you and enjoy the river.

PS Florida vehicles are rusty. The salt air gets to them as bad as road salt
up north (unless it's an inland vehicle).




----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----