Missouri River Boating

[dirtyoldman]

Can anyone give me any pointers for a river trip? I have only boated in lakes and am considering taking my 18' mark Twain from Leavenworth upstream to somewhere like St. Joseph or Nebraska City. I am worried about fuel, as I can only carry 20 gallons in my tank. The trip would be next year and mainly to get experience (I want to do the great loop someday). The kids want to take a vacation that involves boating, and going upstream seems safer than downstream in the event of a mechanical failure.

I am concerned about barges and sand bars. I have searched the forums for advice and would just like to hear some - including the obvious stuff.

We would camp when we get there.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Missouri River Boating

You may need to take either gas cans or a larger tank. It depends on how far your going. Are there any fuel stations along the river?
As for the sand bars. there are charts of the river and im sure there are chartploters that have an accurate depth reading. Stay in the chanels and you should be fine. If you have a doubt go really slow. You can go on google maps or bing maps and take the trip from the air. also you can drive up river to see if there are places to stay and such.

Take a good anchor...or 2..

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Missouri River Boating

Can anyone give me any pointers for a river trip? I have only boated in lakes and am considering taking my 18' mark Twain from Leavenworth upstream to somewhere like St. Joseph or Nebraska City. I am worried about fuel, as I can only carry 20 gallons in my tank. The trip would be next year and mainly to get experience (I want to do the great loop someday). The kids want to take a vacation that involves boating, and going upstream seems safer than downstream in the event of a mechanical failure.

I am concerned about barges and sand bars. I have searched the forums for advice and would just like to hear some - including the obvious stuff.

We would camp when we get there.

Great idea. I learned to boat on the Missouri. I would recommend the following.

Trailer the boat to Omaha or or better yet up to the dam in SD.( pick up your car and trailer later.

Take advantage of the current going south. It may range between 4 and 9 knots. So if you ran at a fast idle you would burn less gas have a great range.your speed would be about 10 knots average and you could really see and enjoy everything with out worrying every inch of the way. Your 5 gallon jerry jug would give you a 30 mile fudge factor on gas. Hundreds of cabins along the way including my brothers just south of Nebraska city. He would love company. The route is well marked. Just get a chart. If you going downstream slow and you bump a sandbar you just shut it off paddle back into the deep water and start up. If you try to plane upstream you will be turning 3000 plus RPM. If you hit a sandbar you might plug it up and or get stuck on it. I would use a soft prop and bring an extra. Not a SST. The triple engine barges can suck your boat under if you get near the stern. stay away from them. If you see one just get out of the Chanel and wait. After a few you will understand the markers and you can just pass them as normal stay about 100 feet wide. Their are hundreds of rock dams just under the water. If you hit one on a plane at 3000 rpm your done. If your going at 600 rpm or so you will mess up your prop a bit and keep going. Google will show you a lot of the dams. The charts will also. I would make no attempt to run after dark. Carry an extra spot light and remember to never shine it into a wheelhouse. Try to figure 200 miles into the current vice 200 miles with it.

 

[riversrme]

Re: Missouri River Boating

Last summer I went up the Missouri from the mouth on the Mississippi to Booneville, then back. Next summer I will put in at Booneville and see how far upriver I can go. If going back to the starting point the advantage of going upriver first is that once you use half your fuel, you know you can get back with the help of the current. If you go downriver first then turn around, you will use approximately 1/3 more fuel getting back to your tow vehicle. There was only one fuel stop on this trip so I carried extra and some cans to carry fuel. The Missouri can be a mean river and is actually better to travel when the river stage is down so that you can see all those wing dams above the surface. There was very little recreation or commercial traffic on the river. One thing to remember is that the current can be swift and that you have a lot more steering control while going upriver. River charts show where the wing dams are so it is important to know exactly where you are at all times. Don't go without them. Good luck on your trip. You can get river charts on CD here:
http://www.indianawaterways.com/rivercharts.htm