Recon the Osage River Lock and Dam Part 1
The first leg in my "EPIC" trip would be to navigate down the Osage River. I would first need to recon this river to see if it would be possible to get a 42' houseboat down it into the Missouri River.
The Osage River has 3 dams built on it. The upper most is the Truman dam. It hold back the Truman lake. It was built as a flood control measure for the Lake of the Ozarks, just down stream. The next dam is Bagnell dam. It holds back the Lake of the Ozarks. Neither one of these two dams have a lock to navigate through. The bottom dam is Osage Lock and Dam #1. Big surprise, it has a lock. However the lock and dam have been abandoned since the 1951. The lock is open all the time, so the river flows through at its will.
I started with some internet research. I found the history and more recent controversy about removing it or letting it be. I also found a few news articles of boats capsizing and getting stuck in its boil. A few people have died from getting trapped in the undertow.
On the reconnaissance trip I was joined by my cousin Shannon. We took our Seadoo water craft as they are nimble and draw very little water. They have 15 gallons of fuel, but we each packed an extra 10 gallons with us for good measure. There are no gas stations on this river below Bagnell Dam. We launched just below Bagnell Dam which is at the 80 mile marker on the Osage River. The lock is at the 8 mile marker and the Missouri River is the 0 mile marker. We started early afternoon and were very surprised at the water temp. 58 deg. The surface temp just on the other side of the Bagnell Dam was 87 deg.
We're off and racing down the river. Well not really racing we averaged about 30-40 mph most of the day. At top speed fuel economy is less than stellar. This river has no navigational markers or buoys, its not dredged or maintained for commercial traffic since the lock was abandoned.
The Rock Bar.
About 3 miles into our journey we abruptly encountered a rock bar. It was below the surface and there was very little current to disturb the water and give warning. I was in the lead and saw it and vered to the left while letting off the throttle. The seadoo is a jet pump design so the engine turns an impeller that draws water from under the watercraft and directs it out the nozzle that provides forward thrust and steering. I let off the throttle to limit what was drawn into the pump as debris can clog and damage impeller and pump. However this action of letting off the throttle also removes your ability to steer. This is one of the leading causes of collisions on PWC (personal water craft). I heard the bottom of my hull scrape some pebbles. I tried to warn Shannon of the hazard. He ended up going right over top of the rock bar still on the throttle and sucked some rocking into his impeller. It makes a less than sexy sound river rocks on a stainless steel impeller and plastic housing. Yuk!! He tried to clear the rocks by gingerly applying light throttle and starting and stopping the engine. No luck. It still sounded horrible and his thrust was impaired. He had no choice, he jumped in the chilly waters to try and clear and obstructions from the intake grate. He managed to remove some leafy debris but no rocks. He restarted the Seadoo heard the rock for another few seconds and then nothing it shot out the nozzle with the water. Only 69 miles to go, then the trip back upstream.
With that drama out of the way we carefully picked our way through the next few miles. A lot of rock bars above and below the surface, downed trees, and large areas with vegetation growing just below the surface that would surely clog our pumps. We encountered camp grounds and a handful of dock along the shoreline. Also some beautiful homes seemingly out in the middle of nowhere. About the 45 mile marker we encountered train cars on the bank and also in the river. They appeared to be old freight cars. The construction was different than what you would see on the railroads today.
Stay tuned for the rest of the adventure and see if I still have the same number of cousins!