Today’s anchorage destination kind of had me freaked out and excited me all at the same time. I was freaked because the location is immediately north of the Interstate 57 bridge that crosses from Illinois to Missouri. While we are not directly underneath the bridge, we are right there. Fern had told us to anchor 150 feet from LDB (left descending bank) and about 200-300 feet north of the bridge pilings. As it happened when we approached the bridge, a pusher was northbound so we had to continue south until he passed and then we turned northbound again and proceeded into the anchorage area. Before the tugboat captain left the area, I called him on the radio to ask him if we had the correct location for anchorage and he confirmed that this was a very good spot for us to spend the night. When anchoring, one places the anchor and bow of the boat into the current for stability. This was the first time that we had anchored out in the main part of the Mississippi (but outside the channel markings) but not in a chute or tucked behind an island. I must admit that it was more than a little scary to see the strength of the current as the water passed our boat. The anchor was holding just fine so we relaxed to enjoy a few remaining hours of sunlight. 
Now I am in the perfect location to not only wave at the barges as they go by but I am also being honked at and waved to from the truckers crossing the bridge. I am sure that more than a couple of bridge-crossers did a double take to make sure that they were seeing a little red and white tug boat bobbing in the water below them.
As night fell our second concern was about being seen by the tugboats/barges as they traveled up and down the river after dark. Our location is just north about six miles from Cairo, Illinois where the Mississippi meets the Ohio so we anticipated a lot of barge traffic during the night. We knew that we were far enough out of the channel to not be hit if another vessel saw us. We turned on the anchor light, made sure that we were secure at anchor and hoped for the best. The tugs and pushers run 24/7and have massive search lights on the front and sides of the tugs. It is like those sky search lights that businesses use to celebrate grand openings but these lights constantly search the river, shores and channels as the barges make their way. Our concerns were legitimate but we were very much reassured each time we saw the huge flood lights from the pushers as they scanned us and verified our location. I am sure that they first saw us on their radar and most tug captains know that this area is a “Fern recommended” anchorage so we went to sleep feeling rather comfortable.
However about 4a, I was very rudely awoken by the most horrible smell ever. It seemed that several pushers with multiple barges followed rather close after one another and they churned up all that “stuff” that Chicago has sent downriver for the last one hundred years via the Ship and Sanitary Canal. While I was feeling a little bit like Billy Goat Gruff before, now I truly know what it was like to live under a bridge so maybe I am really a troll…
Hours on the water: 4.5
Nautical miles traveled: 38.5
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Tomorrow's Destination: Cumberland River Towhead Island Anchorage
What we're listening to: Finished Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
What we watched: 0
Lesson for the day: Don’t throw anything off a bridge as you never know who may be below
Obligatory knitting report: Mittens for Wunder Kids
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