YACHT ENCHANTRESS ON MORE THAN `3-HOUR TOUR'

Jim and Sandy Plagens say they can't describe what yachting down the Mississippi River is like.

They talk about pleasant things, including the fall colors, the friendly towboat captains, the sunshine beating down on the upper deck.

But the water isn't always a friend.

"Any mistake on this river can kill you," Jim Plagens said. "The big tows can crush this boat like a paper cup, and you can't swim in this current."

The couple, who live in Charlevoix, Mich., joined friends Gary and Marcia Merritt in boating through Lake Michigan, down the Calumet and Illinois rivers, and to the mighty Mississippi.

They stopped in Cape Girardeau Thursday because Sandy Plagens grew up here and her parents, Jim and June Owen, still live here.

It is the Plagens' and Merritts' first trip down the Mississippi, an adventure that took months of preparation.

They studied charts, gathered supplies and worked endlessly on the Plagens' 53-foot yacht, the Enchantress.

Repair facilities are limited on the Mississippi, so a good engine was vital.

They set off on Monday, Oct. 8, and immediately faced 9-foot seas and sleet on Lake Michigan.

After a two-day delay, the weather improved and they headed south.

The sun has shone every day except one since they left the lake.

"After 11 days, we're still friends and still laughing," said Marcia Merritt of the group's close quarters, which include three staterooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room and an outside deck.

The crew scheduled most stops around fuel availability, because last year's flood destroyed many marinas.

They start moving at sunrise and work until sunset, allowing little time for laziness.

Stops included Peoria, Ill., St. Louis and Ste. Genevieve.

Sandy Plagens gushed about the group's experiences on the river.

One night, they docked on the other side of a lock, watching towboats pass by and listening to water fall over the spillway.

Other times were more harrowing.

"We've had mismarked bridges on the charts and had to get under them," she said. "We've asked bridge tenders to raise bridges, and on the Calumet River, we cleared one by two inches."

Her husband added that traveling through the locks, which control the water level on the Mississippi, was no picnic, either.

The Enchantress often shares the small locks with powerful towboats and must stay out of the way while watching for even smaller boats.

After spending Thursday night in Cape Girardeau, the men in the group will take Jim Owen on the boat to Green Turtle Bay, Ky.

Their wives, who will stay a night in Cape Girardeau with June Owen, will meet them there.

The trip ends in Destin, Fla., where the retired Plagens' plan to winter.

The return trip is in May with another Cape Girardeau stop scheduled.

While traveling against the current will lengthen the trip, experience will aid the couple in maneuvering up the river, they said.

The Plagens' intend to go down the Mississippi again. Jim Owen isn't sure he wants his daughter and son-in-law to do it.

"I was listening to the radio Thursday morning, and they announced there was an accident with a pleasure cruiser on the Mississippi north of here," he said. "Then they didn't say anything else."

But his daughter is accessible through marine radio and a cellular phone, and she was just fine.