The Osage Arrives

It was a warm day yesterday. Not unusual for these parts in August. So after work I took off and ran down to the river along the rail trail and took the Monongahela Monitor out. We chuged up below the dam, scouting for litter to pick up during this weekend's clean-up.

I was also scouting for a good place to swim. That's not hard, but since the City of Morgantown decided to hack down the trees along the east bank, the privacy along that side is not what it used to be. Don't get me started.

As I was coming down river toward Morgantown, I saw a large boat with foam in her teeth coming round the bend in the distance below the Westover Bridge. It was the the Coast Guard Cutter Osage, homeport of Sewickley, Pa.,

The Osage, a 65-foot inland river tender that pushes a 100-foot barge, has an area of responsibility that covers the Allegheny, Monongahela, Ohio, Kanawha and Big Sandy rivers in and throughout the Pittsburgh area.

According to the USCG web site, the crew maintains about 800 aids to navigation in and along the rivers' banks, while also brush-cutting areas around shore aids during the summer months.

I waved to the crew and said welcome to Morgantown. They went on up through the lock, and I had my swim, finding a good spot below Old Lock 10. As I headed back to my dock, a rather large cruiser came into the marina. A bunch of guys from Ten Mile Creek.

There is almost always something interesting to see and do down at the river. People to meet. Especially in the summer.