Boat marina on miss. near downtown BR.

quote:

---

The major problem with cruising the Lower Mississippi River is NOT the current, nor the tugs, the bugs,
or the barges. . . As those without actual experience have heard, believe, and will tell you it is.


While there are lots of bugs and tugs, the real problem is lack of fuel and the absence of Marinas. Therefore, you have
troublesome and worrisome long distances between fuel stops, and a serious lack of convenient and safe places to
dock at night. Furthermore, all the safe gunkholes to anchor out in over-night are in the boon-docks, which leaves you
with no restaurants, or nearby convenient stores to get provisions.

The Lower Mississippi River is very nautical, but it is nautical in a commercial boating type of way. Lots
& lots of commercial boats, but, they are simply is not recreational boating friendly.

So, why are there so many boats, but no fuel?

Tugboats & Towboats generally have 18,000 gallons (or more) fuel capacity. Many can run up the Mississippi to their
destination and back without refueling. In addition, the fuel stops for a commercial Tugboat requires a special
interlocking fuel receptacle and will pump hundreds of gallons a minute. They can in fact fuel a Tugboat with 18,000
gallons of fuel about as fast as I can put 400 gallons in my recreational vessel.
A Tugboat can burn 85 gallons of fuel per hour, but still, with a 18,000 gallon (or more) fuel capacity, that's 211 hours
(three weeks of daylight hours) running on the river.

So, the situation on the Lower Mississippi River is this: You are seriously confined to your vessel. There is simply not
many places you can stop at, and get to anything you might want to see and do conveniently.

---