I thought that we might be leaving the group here. Looking at the weather and the 120 mile distance to the next available marina, I decided that I wanted to be in a marina on Thursday night because the winds were forecast to increase to 20 mph with gusts to 30. I did not want to be anchored anywhere with winds that strong. The others ideally wanted to do the same but did not have the same options as we did. I can travel 2-3 times faster than the trawlers and the one cat that was with us. So we headed off and with the increased current in the river and without a delay at the only lock, we were making good time. By 3 PM we had travelled 61 miles and so decided to anchor at a favorable location just upstream from a rail bridge, Mile 61.1 Illinois River System.
Linda and I had anchored a few times before but mostly by rafting to boats that were already anchored. Only once have Linda and I anchored on our own and that was in 2005 somewhere on the Trent-Severn. We picked our spot, dropped our anchor and set it….and then we watched the shore and watched and watched. We were not moving even though the current was quite strong, probably 1-2 knots. Garbage and debris was floating by constantly probably bolstered by the previous night’s rain storms and of course the tow barges kept coming. Anyway, we declined an invitation for a happy hour, did some cleaning of the boat and prepared our saltwater wash down pump for the next day’s activities.
A new record passed by us: a tow barge that was 3x5 +1. That is the largest that we have seen thus far. Another good BBQ and we actually set up the sat dish in order to watch some TV.
When it was time for bed, I set up my portable GPS unit with an anchor alarm. Since I had let out about 100’ of anchor rode, I figured that 60’ would be a reasonable distance to inform me that we had moved. I was sure that the current would not allow us to swing in the other direction. Everything seemed fine; we went to bed and then heard all of these strange noises. First it sounded like something was walking on our foredeck. I could not see anything. Then it was branches and garbage rubbing along the hull of the boat. Then it was Linda snoring. At least she was comfortable enough to get some sleep. I fell asleep, but not much later I was awakened by the GPS anchor alarm….”Anchor dragging”. I looked on the shore and everything was the same. Fortunately, it was a clear night and there was a full moon. I wrote down the Lat and Long and then went back to sleep only to be awakened about an hour later. Everything still appeared good including the Lat and Long. I upped the perimeter to 80’. That seemed to work until 6 AM but by then I had had a pretty good sleep. All in all we spent a fairly restful night at our first anchorage.
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| Largest Tow thus Far, 3x5+1 |
Fellow Loopers Serendipity and The Old Grouch anchored for the night.
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