Moving A 42ft Houseboat up the River - Part 2: La Crosse, WI to Alma, WI

This is part two of a trip up part of the Mississippi River in a 1980s Gibson houseboat. This isn't one of my own boats, I was just along as the "experienced" river pilot, because a growing up on an island in Alaska plus owning 500 terrible boats probably adds up to river pilot experience, right?

This is the second day of the journey. Today started in La Crosse Wisconsin and went up the Mississippi River to Alma Wisconsin. We had a transient slip reserved in Alma, which is one of the few harbors or marinas on that particular stretch. This leg of the journey took extra long because of a cruise ship that was slowly making its way up the river, delaying everyone else along the way. Apparently this particular cruise ship is a former casino that someone slapped engines on. It doesn't really maneuver, just throws itself in the general direction of locks and then get helped through with much delay and circus. It also didn't help that the Winona lock and dam has no concept of time, and kept telling other boaters they'd have to wait "15 minutes". It turned out that 15 minutes to that lock meant anything up to 3 hours.

By the time we got to Alma it was well after dark. Fortunately the spotlight on the houseboat is one of the few working devices, so we could find the channel buoys to guide us along!

Видео Moving A 42ft Houseboat up the River - Part 2: La Crosse, WI to Alma, WI канала saveitforparts