Caruthersville, MO and the Casino Security Guards

While we made it to New Madrid more quickly than we thought, it took a little longer to get to Caruthersville than expected. The delay made me somewhat uneasy as darkness approached and we were without a suitable anchorage. Anchoring out for the night on the largest river in the US with tows pushing the largest rafts of barges in the world with trees and other debris making its way to the Gulf of Mexico with no respect for my Detour or our lives was a thought I really didn't want to have. I knew there was an Isle of Capri casino at Caruthersville and that it would make a safe place to tie up for the night... if we could make it before dark. We cleared the final bend and I picked up the outline of the casino boat with all its lights aglow. I'm not a gambler but I sure did like seeing that big ol' floating bunch of one armed bandits. We pulled up behind the boat and looked for a suitable place to tie. There was a "fantail" of sorts and a large cleat that would do nicely. Several pic-nic tables and chairs were arranged on the large covered cockpit deck. We had just completed our docking, which wasn't as easy as it sounds as the swift current of the river was boiling up from under its long trip under the big gambling boat and buffeting Detour in all sorts of manner. But, we were security tied and more protected than we would have been on the river and quickly turned our thoughts to our barbecue grill and dinner after a long and tiring day on the river. Now, I've been around guns as a hunter all my life and understand just what they were made for and when the casino security team charged onto the cockpit with their holsters unbuttoned and bullhorn ordering us to untie and move our boat immediately we wasted no time in uniting and backing off. As the current quickly began to move us into uncertain waters we yelled to the guards and asked if we could anchor behind the casino because it would be dangerous to try to find a safe anchorage in the dark. The response was to anchor no less than one hundred yards from the casino. We floated back the required distance and dropped our hook. Dinner, although delayed was just as good as it would have been otherwise. Other than about one billion mosquitoes and no air conditioner because the generator wasn't running well; the night was very enjoyable and we woke early the next morning to make our way to downtown Memphis, Tennessee.