Anyone taking a yacht up to the Great Lakes this season; plans? route?

The captain I used last summer to bring a boat out of Tennessee to Chicago used a place called Kidd's Gas and Convenience to fuel up between Paducah and Alton

We get most of our fuel by truck but no city docks between Paducah and Alton. I'm not familiar with the store mentioned above in another post. There was another facility between Paducah and Alton, off the main path, primarily commercial, but it's no longer operating either.

Where did he dock? Do they have diesel?

Captain stopped here and loaded diesel . This is the copy of the top of the receipt. Not sure how he came about this but log said he docked "there".

I could ask him for details if that helps.

It would be nice to have details such as whose dock or where the dock is and was the fuel brought to the boat by small cans or were there hoses? I see some drydocks in that area used for commercial boats and assume they're using one of them.

I docked here when we went up the river. Very commercial and exposed to the river. We spent the night, and I had to wake up twice to clear really large trees from under our hull.

I've got a text out asking for details. Can confirm Ken's comment as to it looking really commercial and being directly the river based on a picture texted to me during the run last summer. From the log, they only fueled there , and didn't stay over night. Will verify if/when I get more detail.

Forgive my memory, as this was about 17 years ago... But I recall it was just north of where you enter the Mississippi River, and on the west side of the river. I believe it's a commercial fuel dock for tugs, and if I'm not mistaken we actually rafted to a barge for the night.

Just did a Google Maps search for Kidd Oil Co and it pops right up. From there, go to the east, and you'll see the pier just south of HWY 146.

This was last summer. So likely still in operation, but best to check. My memory of the conversation was that it was indeed a tug fuel port. Here's a pic hopefully it meets the rules for size.

Mine shows Kidd Fuel Dock north of HWY 146. It actually shows a fuel dock now, although has barges in the way.

Here's the reply from the captain I used.

"Kidd’s is a very small dock that Charlie uses to fuel tugs and other commercial diesel traffic. It is not a marina and does not have slips or any amenities. When the River is flooding he may pull the dock. He usually sets a minimum before he will schedule a delivery."

Sounds best to call first

573 335 8160

Think my Pic is wrong. That said it's listed on ActiveCaptain

Hey Captain J, yeah, been waiting for the boat to get finished up at the shipyard, and also the weather up here in the GLakes has been horrible this spring. I'm actively making recommendations on the rivers route to the owner and broker, and have done the East Route 13 times and haven't done this route before, so I'm being pretty cautious in how I plan as an alternative. The boat is really fast and holds a good amount of fuel, but also not crazy about going super fast in the rivers and risk dinging up a prop or damaging the hull.

Certainly the stretch between the fuel docks had me concerned, but with the Kidd Fuel Dock / truck that makes it a little easier to plan for.

Here's to hoping the Erie Canal opens by mid-June and I can just go that route, but am planning on leaving FTL around June 1 to make this trip and get there before the Locks in Illinois close. The Rivers route adds a few hundred miles to the trip with having to head West through Florida and then over to Mobile, but the big one is going up and around Michigan to get back to Detroit. It's just diesel getting burned!!!!!

I ran a 52 Tiara up from FL to Lake Michigan 5 or 6 years ago and we prearranged with the operator at Kidd to take on fuel late in the day and spend the night tied to his dock. It was basically a steel floating barge with stairs that go up to the wall that protects the town.

Was running up the Tenn Tom years ago to Barkley lake in Kentucky in very high water. Coffeyville Locks had less than 1 ft of freeboard and shut down an hour after going through headed north. Big regional rains. Check your river stages. Tons of drift. Ran with binoculars sitting on the back of the seat to see over the windshield Of 46 ft express cruiser for 2 days. Never hit any drift, but there was whole trees in the river.

Currently running our 60 Hatteras MY up the river system. To much in flux with the east coast. The fallout plan is to stay at Green Turtle if things go sideways and we can’t make it to Racine WI before the lock closure. Had to go down and around the Keys because of the low water for us in the Chobe. Stopped short of Fairhope AL in Orange Beach last night because of the potential storms. Great weather to that point and just a little snotty on the Bay this am. I’ll try to update as we go. Gassed a Gasparilla and payed $1.36 (thank you Toby!!) and $1.45 in Carrabelle. Planned a stop for fuel and the night at Fairhope for $1.85 but gassed in Orange Beach to save time for today’s long run and payed $2.85 still better then what we originally planned before the China virus.

Capt J: The last I heard the Welland is still closed to non-commercial traffic. And, I don't know how the COE decision is going to sit with the gravel and coal barges that use the Illinois waterway.
I've run the system both ways and prefer to avoid the Erie completely. Also had steel hull boat going the distance. Hit one tree off Alton and that was enough to convince me to keep her.