I pulled out from Diamond Island just before 7 a.m. realizing that I was getting a late start to meet the gang in Mt. Vernon. My problem was that it was still dark until then. I didn't realize how late the sun came up here, so I had to hustle right along to meet Sarah, Carol and Ralph at Mt. Vernon at 8:30 as planned.

I arrived exactly on time and within a minute Ralph's car turned the corner. Sarah came to the dock with two sausage biscuits. But I was eager for coffee, so I jumped in the car and we found a Hardees. I had assigned Sarah to find me some underwear, so I was glad to pick up that package.

As we came back to the boat, Carol and Ralph noticed a man standing under a tree painting his car with a roller brush!

The floating bitts in the locks have wheels that roll as the water forces the bitts up and down in their channels. Sometimes they make an awful racket. They sound like whales, except really, really loud. Other locks don't sound so bad. I guess those lock masters are more diligent about greasing them.

Ralph and I ran aground near Slim Island. We thought we were in plenty of water, but suddenly I felt the rudder dragging. That mean we were in two foot of water. (I kept the swing keel up most of the way so that it would not produce drag on the boat.) We turned toward deeper water and gunned the motor and made it free again.

As we approached Cave-in-the-Rock, we saw several places with gigantic rocks on the side. Some were the size of large houses! In fact, Cave-in-the-Rock is hollowed out of such a big rock.

Cave-in-the-Rock has a very colorful history. It has frequently been the hide-out for a variety of bandits over the years. In the late 1700s, the notorious Harpe brothers joined for a while with other river pirates there. They simply waited for flatboats to float down the Ohio on their way to New Orleans where they hoped to sell their goods. Then the Harpes and others would way-lay the boat, kill the owners, and send some of their own men down river with the boat to sell the goods. Sometimes they just took the goods and sank the boat. At times they had women of ill repute stationed at Diamond Island hitching rides. They floated down with the boats until they got to Cave-in-the-Rock where their boyfriend bandits would attack the unsuspecting boaters.

One of the Harpe brothers worst incidents occurred at Cave-in-the-Rock. The Harpe brothers had cut a swath across Tennessee and Kentucky killing at random all the way. After they joined up with the river pirates at Cave-in-the-Rock, they helped them with looting the flatboats. On one occasion, the Harpe brothers captured a boater and tied him naked on a horse at the top of the gigantic rock. They blindfolded the horse and then scared the horse and rider over the cliff - all for the fun of it! After that the bandits thought the Harpe brothers were too wild even for them, and asked them to leave.

Darrell Maynard put me on to the story about the Harpe Brothers. You can find more about them at

The Harpe Brothers

River Pirates of Cave-in-the-Rock

I just took a picture of the Merv Griffin Riverboat Landing near Cave-in-the-Rock. It is obviously retired, but it was still a strange sight. It was just a barge with fake storefronts along the back. It looked like the front of the barge was used as a stage for performers. I wondered where it was stationed when the performances were taking place.

From Sarah

The next morning we had to meet Mickey in Mt. Vernon, so we drove across to Evansville and over to Mt. Vernon to take Ralph to the boat. We bought Mickey some breakfast at Hardees. Then Mickey and Ralph were off, and Carol and I had to drive back to Henderson where we had spent the night to pick up the truck and trailer. When we got up that morning, someone had blocked in the truck and trailer with their cars so we couldn't move it even if we had wanted to.

When we came back from Mt. Vernon, the truck was no longer blocked. We tried to shop around Henderson some, but things were not open because it was early. We decided to go on. But it was Sunday and there was nothing open.

We finally went down a windy, curvy road to Cave-in-Rock where there was supposed to be a boat ramp. But there was no boat ramp, only a ferry. There was nothing there except a small parking area for five or six cars. Well, I took up the whole area with the truck and trailer and got in the car with Carol. We drove back two miles to a visitor's center where we asked for directions to a boat ramp. She said we would have to go to Elizabethtown which would be another hour down the river for the guys. So we called the guys on the cell phone and told them what we were doing. We went on across the ferry and on to Elizabethtown. When we got there, we did find a boat dock and a restaurant on the river. There was an old motel and a bed and breakfast. We went to the bed and breakfast first, but they didn't have any rooms. We were so hot and tired that we asked if she didn't have a little closet under the steps where we could stay. She said, No, but that she would try to help us find a place. She suggested that we go to the next town, but that was too far for the guys to go before dark. She said, "Well, since you are really desperate, there is a motel right across the street that might have something. I hate to send you there, but you are desperate." So we went across the street to the Rose Motel. When we went in, it was smoky smelling. There were two sofas in front of a fireplace and there was a huge dog on each sofa sound asleep. But we were desperate, so we asked, but they had no rooms. She suggested a place 8 miles down the road. It was a Catholic retreat center. She called and they did have two rooms available. One room had a sitting area, refrigerator, microwave, whirlpool bath, and deck! We reserved those rooms, drove six miles down the road and two miles toward the river. They turned out to be really nice cabins. It was a retreat center so there were statues and prayer paths everywhere. The cabins were right on the river overlooking a 200 foot bluff with an incredibly beautiful view. They were very clean and comfortable so we felt very lucky to have them. The office had a dining room, but it was only open from 8 to 5. They had gift shop with lots of Catholic jewelry and icons.

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