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.