September 29, 2013 Hardin, IL Riverdock Restaurant

After 2 days on the Lugsdon tow barges we were up and moving down river around 8 am this morning.  The reputed big storm which moved through during the night fizzled a bit and all we had was a few wind quests and infrequent bursts of rain.   But we did have some heavy morning ground fog and of course our venerable Furuno radar was acting up but luckily the fog lifted soon after we left so no worries.

We hit the LaGrange Lock about an hour later and they were ready for us so we had no delays.  The drop was only 11 feet so it was quick and easy.  This is the last lock on the Illinois River.  

Passing a tow

Heading on down stream presented a vista of rather rural / country scenery with little or no development except for the occasional town.  We passed some very attractive anchorages behind small islands forming the river bank.  And there were a few barges we had to over take or pass.  We did begin to notice little sand beaches along certain stretches of the river reminiscent  of the upper Mississippi.

Beaches!!

The plan was to make it to the Riverdock Restaurant in Hardin, IL which was a good 70+ mile run.  Then the next day would be a short 20 mile run to Grafton or if we decide to go further, a 35 mile run to Alton. 

Free docks at Hardin

We did make it here around 5 pm.  The dock was, well something to tie up too at best.  It was comprised of a one section of rather low steel grating which joined to another section of  a floating steel tank like thing with welded cleats.   We approached into the current and headed for the higher of the dock sections where Mary snagged a cleat and then I was able to spring off that line to bring the bow and stern sections of the boat in towards the dock.  It was an incident free docking adventure.  

  

We helped Field Trip tie up and had cocktails aboard their boat before heading up to the River Dock restaurant along the path of gravel and rusted steel ramps.  

Docks and "path"

The path from the dock to the restaurant is not for the tipsy.  

In a display of boater solidarity or simply a shared lack of culinary diversity we all ordered the "famous" beef brisket.  And it was pretty good.  The portions though  ... sheez.  We could eat for days with what was provided.  They also had cherry pie but Bob and I decided to save it for breakfast the next morning and asked them to set it aside for us which, amid much chuckling, they did.  

The Path

We made it back down the rickety path to the boats and shortly there after off to bed.

Riverdock Restaurant coming from the dock 

September 28, 2013 Beardstown, IL Logsdon Towing company barges

Having looked at the weather and reading what we could about anchorages nearby we settled on the idea of just staying here at Logsdon Tow barge another night while the stormy weather approaches and leaves by the next morning.  Field Trip concurred.  The weather brings with it high winds and a wind shift to the northwest which would present a problem in a tight anchorage with restrictive swing room. 

Douglass spoke here

Courthouse where Lincoln practiced law.  Looks very much the same as it did during Lincoln's time  

Beardstown seems to have a little bit of Lincoln history to it as we found out wandering around town yesterday.

So today was little boat project day.  I did some gel coat repairs, re-positioned the dryer vent, topped off the windlass oil, and worked on the stern depth sounder.  All this before heading into town to the grocery store to buy a few items and get cash since paying an ATM fee is something I refuse to accept.

The winds are picking up and blowing pretty hard this afternoon already so I think we made the correct decision.  Nice line of rain heading our way too.

We’ll leave Sunday morning for a free dock offered by a restaurant in Hardin, IL and then try for Alton the next day.  It's about 90 miles split between 2 days and weather looks pleasant so we are looking forward to some slow and easy cruising.

   

September 27, 2013 Beardstown at the Logsdon Tow Company barges

We all pulled up anchor at Henry Island and we headed down stream to Peoria where Erin E left us and headed for a marina across Peoria Lake.  We went on to check out the city docks a few miles further down river but decided it was too small for us.  The anchorage across the way was doable but we elected to continue on since it was relatively early.

Helpful lock master at Peoria Lock 

Had to go through the Peoria Lock shortly beyond the city but there was no delay and only an 11 foot drop.  There was an anchorage area adjacent to the lock but the Lock Master suggested we would be better off elsewhere so we took his word and moved on.

Quiver Island anchorage

We decided to continue on to Quiver Island near the Tall Timbers marina where Field Trip elected to stay the night.  We opted for the anchorage at Quiver Island near some coal barges in a quiet little back water off the channel.  It was pretty shallow in and out of there but we anchored in 7 feet and the boat never moved all night.  Another quiet and peaceful anchorage.

Barges at Quiver Island

We met Field Trip out in the channel the next morning but not before we ran aground trying to get into the main channel.  Guess we were too near the river bank.  We backed off and headed a little more towards the main channel and found deeper water right away so no harm done.

Logsdon barges where we tied up

Our planned destination was Beardstown or an anchorage near there.  Alas, the free docks at Beardstown were no longer available.  We did want to get off the boat and take a walk or even do some laundry so the best option was tying up at the Logsdon Tow Company barges for $1 foot.  It’s simply a few barges with no real services like showers, laundry etc.  With both of us tied to the barge there was no room for another boat.   We did get to tie into their shore power (30 amp) and the owner offered the use of the company truck if we needed it.   It’s a busy working tow boat yard offering plenty of things to see and interesting folks to talk too although not everyone cares about such “interesting” topics.

We took a walk into town.  Not much there.  A number of ethnic restaurants and a nice town square filled with numerous people setting up tents to sell all manner of things.  The Fall Fun Festival is this weekend with the flea market, carnival rides and parades. There’s a prevailing festive atmosphere which we won’t be able to experience since we do plan on leaving Saturday morning for an anchorage down river.

September 25, 2013 to Henry Island

Sienna.  Nice!

I was up at 6 am this morning and had to get my bike off the boat and loaded into the car for the 2 mile drive to the Enterprise office at the Chevy dealership in Ottawa, IL.  Not ideal but it works and the people at the office were very good so no hard feelings about the place..

The day before (Monday) we rented a a car which was upgraded to a Toyota Sienna.  Like we need all that  room but it was sure comfy.




And it had gadgets.  We struggled with deciphering the instructions for operating the A/C.  Finally got that figured out.  And the radio was set to some rap stuff which presented an obstacle we couldn't overcome.  So we tried to turn it off but somehow entered a Blue Tooth activation sequence with a lovely female voice reminding us it could find a suitable Blue tooth device.  Evidently this is bad.  Bad enough to render the damn thing  impervious to any attempt at turning it OFF.   I wrote code in assembler years ago and now I can't figure out a damn automobile radio?  Jack!  Where are you when we need you!

We made a stop at Jen and Dave's so we could get some mail and the alternator  I had rebuilt as a spare.  Then on to Green Bay where we decided to continue on to Fish Creek to retrieve Mary's jewelry which she left at the Bayside tavern several months ago.  And they had it!

Then back to Green Bay although I had to stop for the third time to fill the tire which was reported as low on pressure and which, when eyeballed, was almost flat!.  We found a suitable hotel and I parked the car so the low tire would be accessible in the morning knowing full well I'd had to change the darn thing.

But ...

A Compass/. I'll never purchase one

I called Enterprise at 8 am the next morning to report the flat tire.  And surprisingly they set up a nifty plan for us.  A guy showed up and changed the tire.  Then we proceeded to the nearest Enterprise office where they swapped cars with us.  We gave up the Sienna for a really crappy car, a Compass.  At least it had four serviceable tires.  Kudos for Enterprise!






We did a little grocery shopping at the famous Woodmans before I went into the dentist's office for my permanent crown.  Julie and Brenda, thank you!  You're the best.  And Connie .. Not sure what I'll do now that your're gone.  Best of luck to you but damn, I'll miss you.

Next Mary went to the Doctor and came back with a prescription for Bronchitis.  Who knew.  We ended up bashing our way through the horrendous (kidding) Green Bay rush hour and finally stopped at Kroger in Ottawa, Illinois several hours later for some perishable food shopping.  We had everything unloaded and stored on the boat by 9:15.

So after I returned the car the next morning and rode back to the marina we were ready to go except the lock,  about an hour away, was very busy.  After consulting with Field Trip we elected to stay awhile and leave the marina around 10:30.  We were joined by Erin E.   So around 10:30 off we went (bye Sandie and Dennis from C dock!).

Locks at Starved Rock

We got to the Lock and ended up circling around the area for about an hour until some barges locked through.   After we locked down it was about 6 hours running through a really scenic river until we came to the Henry Island anchorages.   This is an anchorage between the main river channel and some islands forming the river channel's RDB (right descending bank)

Leaving Starved Rock Lock around the barges

Erin E and Field Trip at the Henry Island anchorage 

We went in first and promptly ran aground but were able to back off.  There is a long reef extending from the island point so we had to run about 1/2 mile down stream before turning back into the water between the island.  It was well over ten feet all the way to where we dropped the anchor.   What a superb place!

Beautiful night, good rum and compatriots contributing to a plan of action tomorrow!

September 20, 2013 Ottawa, Illinois at Heritage Harbor marina

We woke up when a few of the boats at the dock began to leave around 8am.  SInce we were'nt concerend about leaving at a certain time we didn't rush out of bed.  Besides our coffee maker seems to have entered a cryptic state of  electronic noncompliance.  It doesn't work any longer.  This leaves certain individuals in a less than optimal state for early morning departures.  So needing to stretch my legs anyway I hopped off the boat and ran into town on a quest for coffee.  Didn't find any.  On my way back I noticed the 2 remaining boats,  Acapella and 5 O'clock, had started up their engines with the intent of leaving around 8:30.  They wanted  to be at the next bridge and lock in time for their opening.  We hadn't quite planned all this out yet but  having learned never to ignore opportunity I hurriedly switched over the electrical system, started up the engines and brought in the lines.  So on a coffeeless morning we followed them out into the river heading for Ottawa.



The first bridge was quick and easy since they knew we were on our way.  The lock a mile or so downstream from the bridge was open for us but we were instructed to raft up to 5 O'clock (tie our boat to the side of their boat).  This was a new locking procedure for us but it was rather easy since we just tied off to their boat and sat around relaxing while they hauled on lines to keep the boat from thrashing about.

Acapella and 5 O' Clock in the distance

Once we cleared the lock we found ourselves at the tail end of the group.  They were cruising around 9mph which is something we can't do very easily.  I did, though, bump it up beyond 8mph so we didn't fall too far behind.

 Meanwhile I found a way to brew some coffee for Mary.  Necessity is the mother of invention no matter how cockamamie the solution.

On the way we actually overtook a 3 barge tow, the Duey-R.  It was a 2 whistle pass meaning we passed him on his left side.  Basically our starboard side to his port side as we passed him.   Whistle passes are commonly used on the river to negotiate passing situations.  Really had to put the peddle to the metal to get around him.  Luckily we had the help of current pushing us otherwise it would have taken us a good thirty minutes.

We made it to the Marseilles lock but learned it was going to be at least an hour and half wait because they were locking through a split tow and were just emptying the lock to get it down to the level where the barges could enter.

 A tow was at the bottom of the lock with too many barges to fit in the lock all together.  So they split the tow apart and lock up the first 6 barges and then haul them out with cabling.  Then the lock is emptied again and the rest of  the tow is brought in.  Once they are raised up the barges get rejoined and off they go.  But its a very time consuming process.

We arrived just in time to see the barges about to be pulled from the lock.  And to make it really exciting the Duey-R had sped up and was coming into the lock area.  A traffic jam of cosmic proportions!   The area around the lock was not all that large and the tows are not dainty.

5 O'Clock tied off.  Duey-R in the distance on left

Going by the lock master's instructions we hung off to the LDB (left descending bank).  Acapella and our boat just floated there occasionally hitting the engines to keep from going aground or hitting one another.  5 O'clock though tied off to one of the large circular pylons barges used to pivot or tie off too while waiting for a lock to clear.

Barges pulled out of lock and Acapella floating behind us

.



After many minutes the first 6 barges had cleared the lock and we were instructed to enter through a very narrow opening since the barges were still in the lock entrance blocking the normal entrance.

Narrow entrance into the lock

Another exciting episode requiring an additional application of medicinal rum later on

Entering the lock to tie up on the right

We tied off on one wall opposite and struggled with keeping the boat relatively straight as the wind had picked up and was swirling around in the chamber.    Luckily they had floating bollards (post which float up and down to which you can tie your boat).

Tied up at the end of C dock

We left the lock and were still undecided whether to follow Acapella and 5 O'Clock to an anchorage a few miles down stream or stick with our original plan and stay in a marina hoping to get a rental car on Saturday.

We opted for the marina.  Heritage Harbor near Ottawa Illinois.   Nice, developing marina and resort and very cheap.  Only drawback was the depth which hovered a little more than 5 feet.  Very soft mud bottom though so no real worries.

C dock to the left and us sticking out

Noticed some other looper's here at the marina.   And another looper I was corresponding with back in Chicago is traveling here too so we may have a little flotilla by the time we leave.  But our departure time is still up in the air right now while we wait to hear about a rental car and dentist back in Green Bay having my crown. Meanwhile there are fun people here and they have a nice little bar.  Alas, the temp aren't tropical.  Actually the tree's are looking less green every day.  Hope I can find some warm clothes somewhere on board.

September 19, 2013 Joliet, Illinois

As I mentioned earlier we didn't manage much sleep last night.  We basically just got up and left with the intent of reaching Joliet about 50 miles away.  Unfortunately the pounding beat of the all night music was still reverting in my head.  I seemed to be initiating bodily actions in time with the beat.  Rhythm at my age?

Calumet river entrance

We entered the Calumet river inlet around 9 after a quick 7 mile run from the 31st Marina.  Light rain and a grey beginning to the day.  The Calumet river area is all industrial with many tugs and barges lining the waterway.  And endless bridges, some of which required a call on the radio to request an opening.  We actually didn't experience any unduly long waits until later when we were further down river.

Our first bridge opening

Thomas O'Brian Lock

Our first lock of the day only dropped us about 2 feet.  It was 1,000 feet long though so we just puttered in the middle without tying to the wall which is the the normal convention.  We were the only boat in the lock too.

Little park and Canal and Chicago river juncture 

After a few hours of winding through industrial areas of the Calumet river we entered the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.  It's basically a long straight ditch with an abundance of tug and barge traffic.  There is a nice park like setting at the junction of the Chicago river and the canal though.

"Ugh" the 19' bridge

Near the end of the Canal we had to confront "Ugh",  a 19 foot fixed railroad bridge.  Our air height is about 18' 6" but that's cutting it pretty close.  Mary's apprehension created the moniker, "Ugh" for it.  There's nothing special about the bridge aside from its restrictive height.  We approached it and I, having confidence in the measurements Dave and I took, went right on through without flinching.  Well OK, I did slow down to a crawl but the important thing is we made it through without a problem.

Sign on entering the fish barrier

That called for a libation in celebration of conquering a major obstacle in this journey.  And I was hoping it  would help quash the lingering Latin music still ringing in my head from our energetic slip neighbors last night.  But we did have one other minor obstacle to face and that was the Fish Barrier , an electrical grid in the water for about 1/2 mile right in the canal.  The grids intended purpose is to dissuade Asian Carp from entering the canal and making their way to Lake Michigan.  Jury is still out on that but going through the grid didn't pose a problem or any real awareness we were passing through a high voltage area.

Lock before Joliet

Joliet was a few miles down river from the fish barrier but we first had to wait for a lock to open for about 45 minutes.  We couldn't  tie up anywhere so just ran up the canal and back a few times.  5 o'clock joined us as we entered the lock.










Once through the lock we had to wait another 40 minutes for 4 bridges in downtown Joliet which would not open during rush hour.  Guess we haven't lost our great timing skills.  We again ran up and down the river a few times before the bridges opened.  The town free dock was right after the last bridge and there were 3 other boats already there.  They  ( actually Jeff  from Active Captain) helped us get secured and we plugged into the free electric after talking with some of the other loopers there.  We elected to stay aboard and eat before heading off to bed in anticipation of an early(?) start the next day.
 

September 18 to Chicago

Chicago skyline

An auspicious start to our journey to Chicago on Wednesday which began at 6am.  We escaped the rain in Milwaukee but endured 3-5 swells all the way to Chicago where it started to RAIN.  Hard.  But it let up for short time as we wound around Chicago harbor in search of the entrance to the 31st Street Marina which we did find during the lull.

41st Street Marina entrance

Lot of vacant slips

 Swayed by the break in the weather I thought we'd have an easy time just pulling alongside a dock and tying up.  Easy.  As soon as we were in the marina the blue sky disappeared and we were greeted by a thunderstorm with the usual darkness, torrential downpours and strong winds.  We attempted to dock on the T-head of the J dock but only succeeded in soaking Mary after an hour.  Luckily the marina was pretty deserted.  I could never get the boat close enough to the dock for Mary to jump off.  Needless to say it was not our finest hour.  We ended up just pulling into a slip where the wind pushed us against the dock.  Mary suggested a slip on a different dock but we were close to the one we'd been trying to tie up to for the last hour so I made yet another fateful decision went into a slip there.

 The whole marina was pretty vacant.  And I mean several hundred slips of which about 95% were empty.  Desolate. A nice peaceful night ahead right?






And so at 9:30 a 55 foot sea ray blaring Latin music comes into the marina and ... like you can't tell where this is headed ... pulls up, and after several attempts, finally backs into the slip adjacent to us.  Yup.  Nice big boat 4 feet away awash with dancing young people in bikini's, loud
music and lots of alcohol.  Boy, I cant wait to stay here again.

Our boat and our lively neighbor 

Did I really say "young people"?  I must really be getting old!  I should mention it went on all night albeit at a slightly reduced volume after midnight.  I'd have fired up our engines at 6am but figured vengeance was less desirable than at least some semblance of sleep.  So we left at 8am instead of 6am.

September 18 in Milwaukee

On our way to Chicago.  At 6am no less!  Calm conditions but rain in the forecast.  Oh well.

We had intended on leaving Tuesday, September 17th but the lake was still pretty rough so employing the age-old adage, comfort trumps schedule, we just stayed in Milwaukee another day and let the lake settle down a bit.  Actually leaving Wednesday will give us a good chance to attain the 31st street marina in Chicago in one day (90 miles).  Leaving Tuesday would have hindered our progress enough to likely meant a stop in Waukegan.  That would then have required us to stay at the 31st street marina anyway before heading into the rivers.

I've been asked a number of times about "this loop thing" and trying to explain it occasionally adds confusion than clarity.  And we all know my explanations aren't at fault ... ;-)  Anyway I was cleaning up some computer stuff and stumbled across this rather nifty Great Loop site which I think provides a pretty good explanation of the whole loop and its various segments.  For those who are interested go to this web site and see what you think: Captain John's Loop 

Saturday we had a phalanx of visitors.  We were actually able to fit everyone on the sundeck couch... sort of.

Saturday was also the day of Al's run.  We didn't know otherwise I might have tried to relive past glories and run the thing again.  Knees?  What knees.

Slackers that we are, we instead sat on the curb and watched several thousand runners and walkers trot on by.  They even had some high school cheer leading squad out there doing encouragement cheers.

After everyone left we took a ride out to Ixonia to see grandkids!  Did I mention we rented a car Friday? Another red Toyota.  But Enterprise does have great deals!

Seany examining train wheels

Sunday Mary had stayed over night in Ixonia while I was on the boat playing with a new computer.  I drove back out to fetch her so we could visit Dave and Dana, some old friends from Oconomowoc,   We then headed over to our sons house for more grandkid time and went out to dinner at the Depot.  And we saw a train go by too!




Monday we spent involved in last minute errands and preparation for a morning departure Tuesday.  But while I was waiting at the car rental place I checked the marine forecasts again and saw they had altered their earlier forecast with the addition of small craft warnings Tuesday.  The boat can certainly handle most any weather, its the weaklings riding along that get too beat up and pooped.  So as I mentioned earlier we elected to stay another day and delve into researching the Illinois river system and what we'll be seeing down that way.

The Illinois river runs about 330 miles to the Mississippi.  Another few hundred miles down the Mississippi to the Ohio and 50 miles up that river is the beginning of the Tennessee. All told, from where we are in Milwaukee to the mouth of Mobile bay, it;s another 999 miles.  Fall is a great time to travel down that way.  Water is reportedly rather warm and swim able too.  We'll see.

September 12-17, 2013 Milwaukee,WI

I was out walking this afternoon and had stopped to talk to a boater who was contemplating embarking on the Loop when I noticed the Michigan Street bridge going up.  That suddenly registered with me since it was 4:30 and the next opening was at 5:30 which was when we wanted to leave.  Ran back to the boat and bumped into Mary heading off to the showers. She evidently hadn't forgotten the bridge schedule.

We managed to get showered, dump the garbage, untie the lines and pull out of the slip on a rather windy day all within 50 minutes.  Impressive feat of agility for us old people.   The bridge openings are on the half hour, every hour.  And had we not made the 5:30 opening we'd have been stuck until 6:30 when the Michigan Street bridge was due to open next.

We went through the bridge and tied up near the boat launch for about an hour waiting for Kathy to join us for the trip.  The Mobile Bay, a Coast Guard buoy tender was tied right behind us.  Kathy arrived soon after and we wolfed down a sub and headed out on a pleasant calm evening for the 19 hour cruise south to Milwaukee.

Beautiful evening and clam waters heading out to the lake

Thunderstorms to the right and another boat to the left

Once on the lake the swells were deep and slow from the south so we were lightly bouncing along.  The rain showers ended up being more than showers and through the night we had a series of torrential downpours along with thunder and lightening.  Luckily the seas remain relatively calm and the winds remained steady and light.

Milwaukee skyline (look closely at the horizon).

Approaching Milwaukee the coastline didn't seem familiar at all even though we've seen it many times before.  I identified a few landmarks but without the charts I wondered if I'd have been able to find the marina entrance.

We started through the north entrance into the McKinley marina when it began raining.  Fitting since we more often than not are either docking, locking or anchoring in a downpour.

It took a minute figuring out how to approach the fuel dock but we finally did and got tied up where we took on 168 gallons of diesel.  Last time we filled up was in Detour, MI.  We're still getting around 2-2.5 miles per gallon.










We received a slip assignment and I started to walk towards E dock where we were going to be tied  when I unexpectedly ran into Bob and Jan toting chocolate cupcakes.  They had come down to surprise us when we pulled in!   Bob and Jan came aboard and we left the fuel dock for the quarter mile ride to the slip.  Who ever said boat rides had to be lengthy!



After we tied up Kathy took a kayak down and when off searching for our burgee which blew off as we swung in to the harbor.  The flagstaff snapped at the base and it, along with the AGLCA burgee went spiraling into the lake and headed off towards the breakwater.  Kathy didn't spot it so it seems to be lost forever.  But internet shopping we can do!

Kathy Colin and Dave heading home

While Kathy was out in the Kayak the remaining crew had a cocktail (captain Morgan of course).  And ironically, we noticed that Larry and Judy's old boat was 3 slips down from where we're tied up.  Bob and Jan left shortly after.

 Dave and Colin arrived shortly after Kathy returned from kayaking and we trotted over to Altera to bring back a few sandwiches to consume before they left for home.  Thanks Kathy for coming along and taking the 4am watch!




We then just did a few cleanup tasks and collapsed into bed.  Long day that was.

We'll probably only be staying in Milwaukee until Monday before heading down to Chicago.  Weather permitting of course.