Days 9 and 10: Keokuk to Quincy, IL after a day off

We enjoyed a day on the wall at the Keokuk Yacht Club.  They are a friendly bunch and their clubhouse was open for drinks and dinner, 100 feet from the boat. They have a burgee collection including one from the St. Croix Yacht Club.  

Last week it took all the focus I had to “launch” our Great Loop adventure and push off the dock at Afton.   So on this day off I had a chance circle back to my business partners and employees to share more about the trip plans, and set some business priorities in place.  Nancy had a chance to try re-provisioning the boat using Doordash (buying groceries) and she walked two miles to an Ace Hardware to find a part to fix a galley faucet.

An experienced captain for hire was bringing a beautiful (really shiny) 52 SeaRay down to Grafton where some new looper friends of ours would then take over.   It just so happened his destination for the day was Keokuk.  Captains Matt and Jon were first class, they love boating, and were full of tips and recommendations on both boat handling and where to stay.     They also needed diesel, so the local friendly diesel truck driver came down, backed into the dock area, and refueled both our boats with a few hundred gallons priced below pump price.

The next morning we departed for the Quincy Boat Club dock.  Lock and dam 20 was only a mile downstream, so we called first and they had a tow just arriving.  So we enjoyed a little more time on the dock, gave me time to do a short run.   This lock was first using a bollard to hold you on the wall, and the water level dropped 38 feet, by far the largest of the trip so far.

We tied up in 35 mph gusts on the Quincy Boat Harbor dock , Nancy did a perfect job securing the stern line and it was a smooth operation.   We walked the boat up to the front of the dock before tying off, in case another vessel might be coming.  Sure enough after dinner we came back and there was a 52 Cruisers tied behind us, on their way to LaCrosse.

I spotted a Hy-Vee grocery store on google maps in town, a 2 mile walk, so we hoofed it there, for just a couple things, up a steep river incline, only to discover as we finally got there that it was only a liquor store!

We had dinner and a martini at “Chicks” restaurant by the water which was recommended by Matt the boat captain. It was great. Then the Quincy Boat Clubhouse was open, so we joined the locals for a night cap and met more looper wanna-bees. The setting along the riverfront was another beautiful one, I took a few pictures so you can see for yourself.