Home to Pittsburgh

Thanks to everyone who has followed along on the journey. This will be the final post of my trip to Pittsburgh. For sure it is one for the record books!

So we finished our trip yesterday (Fri, June 5th). We ran the final day from Moundsville, WV to Pittsburgh, PA, another 103 miles. The weather was near perfect with mostly sunny skies and temps in the upper 60's to start at 6:30 when we pushed off the dock. By the time we arrived in Pittsburgh at 1:30pm, the temperature was in the low 80's. Finally, some heat!

We traveled through 5 more locks today on our way up to Pittsburgh. That brought our final lock total to 38. We did 38 locks from Alexandria Bay in NY to Pittsburgh. We traveled through 8 locks on the Welland Canal, 8 locks on the Illinois River, 2 locks on the Mississippi and 20 locks on the Ohio. With the exception of the Racine Lock on Thursday, our locking experience for the most part was very good. The locks on the Ohio really tried to help us get through the locks as quickly as possible. It was very different from the locks on the Mississippi and the Illinois who felt that pleasure boats were nothing but a nuisance.

The trip took 14 days and we finished with 2,730 miles under the keel. We put 135 hours on the engines which required 3,891 gallons of diesel fuel. Beyond the statistics, it was the trip of a lifetime for David, Todd and me. Thanks again to all who followed the trip.


Prima Marina in Moundsville, WV; our home for Thursday night.




Pike Island Lock.


The power plants from the water are much more majestic than from land for some reason.




This is a picture of my dad waving from the shore. Side Note: My folks live in East Liverpool, OH, and the Ohio River runs right though it. They came down to the river to see me go by. Great to see you Mom & Dad.


A picture of my mom. She somehow talked the lockmaster into letting her out on the New Cumberland Lock to see her son go by.




Hwy 7 in Ohio goes right under/through the power plant.




Casino and racetrack in Newell, WV








The East Liverpool Yacht Club


The first nuclear power plant on the Ohio. All the other power plants use coal.






The only Coast Guard station I saw on the Ohio River


Finally, Pittsburgh on the horizon.






A welcome home sign. Much appreciated after a long trip!!


Since technically we were still about 1 mile from mile marker "0" zero on the Ohio River, we went all the way to the point, so that we can positively say we traveled the entire Ohio River. In addition, we ran about 1,000 yards up both the Allegany and the Monongahela so I can say I have boated on those rivers too.






Submarine




Heinz Field; Home of the Pittsburgh Steelers














The Three Amigos; home at last.

Locks and Fuel Trucks

Well, we made it another 148 miles today to Moundsville, WV even after a 5 and a half hour delay at our first lock in Racine. We were hoping today would be a piece of cake and we could meet the fuel truck early, but no such luck. However, our timing was good for fueling tonight. We made arrangements to meet the truck later. This time, as luck would have it, as we pulled into the public boat ramp, so did the fuel truck. We filled up at 8:00pm tonight and took on 343 gallons of diesel. By 8:30 we were done and on our way to dinner. It was another long day, but it all turn out okay.

We are now in the home stretch with Pittsburgh in sight. We only have 4 locks and 102 miles remaining to complete our 2,700 mile journey to bring Obsession home. David, Todd and I are all tired, but we have really enjoyed the trip and each other's company.


Obsession in Pomeroy, OH this morning before we shoved off.


A beautiful start to our day.


Pomeroy as we pulled out this morning.


Endless barges and beautiful water as we traversed the Ohio River


Marietta, OH waterfront


Marietta, OH


Lots and lots of power plants on the Ohio River


David is already thinking about upgrading to this beauty.


The further up the Ohio we traveled, the more rural it became.


Just beautiful... it is boating in the mountains.


Car ferry across the Ohio River in Sistersville.


Some very sheer cliffs as we continued up the river.

Pomeroy, OH

Today was another great day on the Ohio River.  We covered 249 miles and 3 locks today in 12.5 hours.  We are staying on the wall in the City of Pomeroy, OH.  We just got back from a great meal at the Wild Horse Café.  Tomorrow will be a short day of about 150 miles.  We stopped for the last known diesel fuel today back at mile marker 336 at Holiday Point Marina in Franklin Furnace, OH.  Based on all of my research and phone calls to every marina between here and Pittsburgh, there is no place that sells diesel fuel on the river.  We are going to stretch out our last full tank all the way to mile marker 102 where we will need to meet a fuel truck for our last fuel to make it to Pittsburgh.  It should make for a fun and interesting day.






One of the many coal barges.








Downtown Louisville, KY






















Lighthouse Point Marina where we stayed on Tuesday night.


Fuel dock at Lighthouse Point Marina






Downtown Cincinnati, OH










Just another long day making miles.


Almost every town has a welcome sign on the water... kind of nice.






For the first time in 5 days we saw the sun and a little bit of blue sky... It didn't last long.