To those of us who have had the opportunity to stop at Hoppies (Marina) on the Mississippi River, I’m sure you have your own memories of your stop there. To those that yet may, I hope you get the chance....and as others have mentioned, it can be a critical stop for some loopers. A few years ago, we were joining the Mississippi from the Illinois, just after the record rainfall in St Louis after the remnants of a hurricane moved through the area. Big Muddy was sure an interesting sight for the few days we were on it...flotsam and jetsam everywhere. It was not so much the floating logs to worry about...it was the deadhead sinkers swirling below the surface that you worried about...things that go bump in the night! TWINS was really just starting the loop experience and we joined first with a Defever called Our Turn and then another Defever called Eagles Nest at Grafton Marina at the end of the Illinois. Those two boats were just completing the last miles of their loop....experienced loopers now with their gold burgees. The three of us left Grafton after a few days of rain. As we moved downstream, things progressively worsened....turbulence and debris. I remember the confluence of the Missouri and the waters that foamed and frothed. As the day moved on, I offered to lead the way since the nerves of the lead captain were fraying with the constant threat of logs and debris. So, that is how we became the lead boat at the docks (er, barges) at Hoppies. The other two boats pulled in behind us and then we were joined by a 4th cruiser from Europe in a 40 year old Grand Banks. We spent hours watching the debris go by from our enclave at Hoppies....buoys from the Miss and Missouri River systems, refrigerators, trees, timbers, trash and debris...,.really, anything that can be found near the banks of a river. We had our River meeting with Fran and Hoppie.....talked about the river and conditions we could expect in the next few days based on their years of experience. I circled the group taking photo’s. I remember the abandoned phone booth, the overhead fan, the detritus of an old marina in one of the most unusual locations along this big river. As I understand Hoppies, it’s a third generation marina. Not sure what else to call it. They had places to tie up and they had fuel. The docks as I recall were a series of old barges cabled together. I remember Hoppie with his old pickup truck, synching up the barges closer to the shore as we anticipated a significant rise in the river...15 feet or more overnight. Hoppies pointed to a line on his building up on the hill....a previous high water mark!! This was just another rise in the river to him, a common occurrence. The debris continued to pile up on the inboard side of barges and looked like a log jam. Later I noticed that the same thing was happening to my boat so after a while, we pushed the boats out and let the logs and branches move on down the river. Little did I know at that point that I had probably snagged a branch in my prop! Hoppie looked like he had had a stroke, favoring his one side but I later found out that he had fallen off a ladder servicing a light pole and had been paralyzed for a time. He was actually doing quite well compared to his previous injuries. I talked to him about the marina and understood that it was starting to be too much for him and Fran. Not sure how old they are (70’s?)but they can certainly be described as elderly. Hoppie told me that his son was interested in taking over the business but that it would probably be difficult financially. The next morning we were all nervous about the swollen river and the debris that continued to come down the river. One captain had already expressed concerns about whirlpools on the river and the risk of being caught in one concerned him a lot. And we surely saw some significant swirls caused by all the wing dams and the rushing river. Another local boat fired up their diesel engines and I went down to ask him about the river and flooding. He said he was headed upriver and that basically it should be much easier going downriver in these flooding conditions. So, with that advice we got underway. I turned over the big 3208 cat diesel’s and one immediately stalled when I “bumped” the transmissions to “clear the props”. I had a branch in our props about 3-4 inch in diameter and it had snapped in two, the pieces coming out behind the boat. Things seemed to work okay so we pushed off into the foggy morning among a sea of debris. I found out soon as I revved up the rpms that I had damaged a prop causing a significant vibration. I ran the next few days with one engine at almost idle, 1000 rpms and the other engine to power me through the turbulence when needed. It was interesting moving down the river and passing all the debris that we’d seen go by the night before! So, it was one of the more memorable stops we’ve had on the Loop.... some real Americana like you’ve rarely seen. ....rolling on the river....That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. It would be a shame to have it disappear, particularly if the actions of the Corps of Engineers might be partially responsible. Jim & Vaughn TWINS