Joliet to Ottawa, IL

The evening on the wall at Joliet was pleasant enough.  Two loopers who had been running with our friends from Ohio, Ocean Breeze, topped off our Happy Hour get together with "Little Beers".  Very, very good shooters; a liquor called "43" topped with whipping cream.  Smooth.

Ocean Breeze, the friends we met at last October's rendezvous from Ohio, finally caught up with us in Chicago but fell behind again when we left the windy city after an 8 day stay.  I understand that they are only a day or two behind us now.  As for us, we are travelling with a group that has been more or less together since Georgian Bay.  They are fun, knowledgeable and experienced so we have been tagging along with them since Leland, MI.  It is interesting that there is an ebb and flow to the group.  Some move ahead then we catch up; some fall behind then they catch up, so the group fluctuates from 3 to 7-8 boats at any one time.  I suspect the groups will get larger as we approach the Fall Rendezvous which is scheduled for Oct. 24-27 at Joe Wheeler Park in Alabama.  Most are planning on attending the rendezvous.

Now that the river is wider and there is less congestion, the barges are getting wider and longer. It also takes them that much longer to clear a lock. In fact, many now have to use multiple lifts to get the all of the barges through. I think that the locks are designed to accommodate a 3x2, that is 3 barges wide (105’) and two long (? ‘). The tug pushes them into the lock and disconnects the set and backs off. The barges alone lock through and then are pulled out by the lock staff with the aid of a mule. This is not the ornery kind but rather a system on land that can drag the barges out of the lock. The lock keeps cycling in this manner until all of the barges and the tug are together and lashed together again.


Today was the first time that we saw the famed Asian carp jumping out of the water behind boats. It was not that big a deal because they were somewhat infrequent and not that plentiful. (Since I am writing this section 4 days later, this statement no longer applies. Asian carp jump frequently, they are numerous and they can be a fair size.)

The flotilla decided to stay at another free dock in the town of Ottawa, IL. As we got closer we discovered that 2 of our group who had gone ahead were already there. The main dock has room for three boats and there were already 3 boats tied up. Since there were 4 boats coming in for the night we had to raft off the boats that were on the dock. Thank god boaters are such nice people. Linda and I have been going slow on the rivers so the days are very long and with Linda still not 100% I do not know what we would have done if we could not have rafted off another boat. Anyway it worked out well in the end and Linda was well enough to go out and have a bit to eat.

Rafted to Lazy Dolphin a 37 Great Harbor Boat