Beardstown IL

(Tuesday Sept 4 - Dist: 79.8 mi; Avg Speed: 9.7 mph;
        Locks: 1; LWT: 0 mins; TTT: 8:25 hrs)

There is Headquarters and Q's End tied up to the barges for the night.  With the lower water levels we have had to pass by some nice stops because there is insufficient water in those harbors.  This had made for some longer travel days but we are now in the more interesting sections of the Illinois River.  We have seen several bald eagles, many herons and egrets, and of course the white pelicans. 

Well we did have to get past Peoria and all of the industry in that area.  I am not sure which plant this is but I do know the Caterpillar has it's headquarters here as well as a huge plant or two.

Logsdon Tug Service is a fully working tug service which allows boaters to tie off for a dollar a foot without any electrical or water.  I am not even sure if they have restrooms. 

They did however go fetch the loaded barge that we were tied to accommodate all the boats which came in.  We did manage to go out for some quite good Mexican food and we did check out there newest bar.  Linda was even comfortable on the barges as we waited for some other Loopers to join us for supper.

Along the way we did encounter another dredge.  This one was just throwing the silt and sand onto shore.  It was a narrow section of the river so he had to move to allow us to pass.

 

 

The next morning was not pretty.  All of the other boats left early but we were flabbergasted.  There was a severe weather warning for our immediate area and it looked it.  The thunder, lightening and strong winds did come but fortunately we were quite secure on the barge.  It all ended about 8 AM and we were able to travel with only a brief rain shower later in the morning.  We stopped at one point to watch this young buck swim across the river.  Interesting. 

It was another long day but we reached Grafton Harbor in good spirits and immediately headed for the pool with our well used cooler bag. 

Good Times at the IVY Club

(Wednesday Aug 29 to Tuesday Sept 4)

The Illinois Valley Yacht Club, what a great club.  The members have welcomed us and encouraged us to participate in all of their Holiday Weekend activities.  One of the highlights has been the Pig Roast.

  

I arranged this specifically for my bride of 40 years.  I had to do the carving but she was impressed. In fact, everyone had so much fun that Bob and Pam offered to do it again for us next year. ..... Well I am just kidding but only about the arrangements.  Every year a group of members roast a pig.  It takes 24 hours and I must say that they look after it with tender loving care ...or at least they stay with it all night hanging around the camp fire re-filling coolers as necessary.  The pulled pork was superb.  I would love to mention everyone but I am afraid that I might miss someone.  Tim, I know that you would feel bad if you were not mentioned, so thank you for including us.

This year was even more challenging than most.  Isaac hit during the preparations and continued until just before it was time to take it off the fire.  It rained throughout Saturday and off and mostly on throughout the night.  At one point on Saturday, the tornado warning sirens sounded as we were under a tornado watch.  I heard that one did touch down about 30 miles north of us.  Anyway, the effort was certainly worth it.  Great fun and oh so tasty. 

On Labour Day was another event: the cardboard boat race.  The entries were unbelievable and the place was packed.  Different groups and even other boat clubs put a lot of time and thought into their entries.  Click on the pictures to enlarge them.  

The Start

The Finish

The Slow Poke but well ahead of the Titanic which sunk shortly after the start.

Linda and I really want to thank all of the members of the Illinois Valley Yacht Club for making it such a wonderful weekend for us; For including us in their activities, for lending us a car, for being so darn friendly and for showing up to see us off. 

Under Attack Again - Peoria IL

(Wednesday Aug 29 - Dist: 74.3 mi; Avg Speed: 9.7 mph;
        Locks: 1; LWT: 40 mins; TTT: 7:50 hrs)

This is our worst encounter with the Asian Carp.  As you can see we just passed two up bound tows and I guess the fish objected.  We were hit at least 7 times.  The slime and sometimes blood is left behind.  Periodically, throughout the trip we could hear and feel the fish hit the boat.  Here at the Illinois Valley Yacht (IVY) Club they are plentiful in the harbor and often jump onto the dock scaring the bejeezes out of us, well Linda anyway.

The Club is quite nice with an excellent pool and bar.  We will be staying here until after Labour Day.  We are taking another vacation... and waiting until Isaac passes and the rivers clear of debris and small pleasure crafters.  That is not my term but what the tow captains call all non commercial boaters: Pleasure Crafters.

We were very fortunate on this travel day.  When we arrived at the sole lock (Starved Rock) for the day, there was a tow directly in front of us.  We were told we would have to wait until "Sugarland" cleared the lock and then they would see.  That was not good because I knew that there was another down bound tow only a few miles behind.  That was when luck struck.  Sugarland's head office told him to stay put and not move until further notice.  He was just about to enter the lock but backed off to the holding area and that is when we were invited into the lock.  Many hours were saved by an executive in New Orleans were Sugarland was headed.  We later heard that he was to take his load to somewhere else further north so he had to turn around.

The River is changing, becoming a lot more scenic and with more birds.  Above are thousands of American White Pelicans.  They are prettier than their brown cousins that we see in Florida.  This next photo may be starved rock after which the lock and dam are named but I am only guessing.  It is a much better view than the industry of a few days ago.

With the low water levels dredging is a common sight.  This dredge was working on the narrow channel just before the lock.  The US Army Corps of Engineers manages these waters and this is one of their units.

There will, I am sure, be more photos and info from the IVY Club but I just wanted to get out a quick note so that people would know where we are spending the Holiday Weekend.  Please enjoy yours.

Well I did say that the River is becoming more scenic.  This bone yard is near Upper Peoria Lake at Hamms Marina.  Oh well.



Heritage Harbor, Ottawa IL

(Saturday Aug 25 - Dist: 45.3 mi; Avg Speed: 8.0 mph;
      Locks: 3; LWT: 40 mins; TTT: 7:25 hrs)

We are taking a mini vacation here because it is so nice and the people here have been great.  Of course Linda loves the pool and we are getting in at least once a day.  Tracey's Restaurant and Bar which is on-site is not bad as well.  I can honestly say that I tried all of their draft beers (about 7) and only found one that I did not care for.

The highlight of the stay however was a visit to the Bade's estate, where we were privileged to have a meal of his "competition" style ribs.  It takes most of the day to prepare and they were superb; better than many that I have tried at different Rib Festivals.  We liked them a lot. 

We got lucky on the river once again.  The Brandon lock was ready for us when we called from Joliet and the trip was good although the river was very busy being that it was Saturday and the weather was perfect.  The tows cooperated but we are starting to see larger configurations now that we have left the narrow canals.  At one point we were following a tow pushing three 379 x 54 foot barges in a very narrow area.  I called the captain and asked him to let us know when it would be safe to pass and I added that there was no hurry.  Well he told me to come on up closer "he ain't throw'n much sweat".  I creeped up assuming he was not going to bash me with his prop wash.  At that point he had all of the channel covered.  Sure enough though he called and said as soon as I clear the corner of the stationary barge on the side you can swing on by.  I had about 30-40 feet so I dipped around him and immediately ran into a tug coming out of a side channel so I backed off and followed him and eventually passed the tow.  That was the closest yet that I have needed to be when passing on of these monsters.

We came across a ??? trailer park of houseboats.  I guess that is the closest thing to a gated community that Phred and Candy can belong to.  lol

Then another first at the Marseilles (pronounced Mar-sells) lock.  There were three tows waiting to go down, one waiting to come up and one already in the lock.  After talking to the captain of the third tow in line and almost resigning myself to the fact that the afternoon would be spent anchored near some dam, he convinced me to get closer and call the lock master.  I did and lo and behold the lock master said 30 minutes.  Wow.  When we got to the actual lock, there was a tow with three barges in the holding area to the the left and six barges, 3 across, being winched out of the lock.  Sorry Lisa, Linda was too stressed to take any photos.  When they were clear we were given the go ahead to enter the lock.  We could not see any opening.  We worked our way between the barges, a long narrow chute of rusty steel, to the end wall of concrete where we could finally see that the barges were pulled about 25 feet past the wall of the lock.  Linda kept saying that we can't fit, we won't fit, oh s!@#.  After two 90 degree turns we squeezed between the last barge and the wall and then into the lock.  No worries.  It saved us a whole day.  Thank you Marr-selllsss.

Mmm, Mmm good!!!!

Chicago's Cess Pool

(Friday Aug 24 - Dist: 49.3 mi; Avg Speed: 7.7 mph;
        Locks: 2; LWT: 45 mins; TTT: 7:10 hrs)

I have introduced a couple of different statistics for the rivers: the number of locks traversed and the Lock Wait Time (LWT).  Both influence the travel day dramatically.  But so far so good.

There are two ways to enter the river systems; through downtown Chicago which is impressive but limited by vertical clearance and the Calumet River.  We have to take the latter and it is not pretty what-so-ever. 

  

The entrance here looks not bad, industrial, but not bad.   

Then you see many scrap metal places and lots of coal transfer points.  This goes on for miles. 

The water is dirty and has lots of garbage floating in it.  With the current drought the algae is flourishing.  Here are some disgusting views.  I bet Headquarters does not stop for a swim again for a very long time.

 

One must also take a deep breathe to get under all of the bridges.  We spoke to the first bridge attendant and we were borderline on vertical clearance.  The guaranteed clearance was 18' 4" and I figure that Q needs 18' 6".  The attendant said the water was down so we should be OK.  Hmmm!  Linda said no way.  We approached slowly with people looking on from the bridge towers and Linda watching from the front deck.  Nothing hit; whew.  That was the lowest bridge so we were good to go the rest of the way without requesting that each bridge be opened.  Judge for yourself, this is what Linda saw.

The other concern in this stretch is the number of barges and tows being shuffled around.  On this day we were fortunate; whenever we encountered one there was plenty of room to either pass or wait for him to turn.

This is where the Chicago's Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Calumet River meets up with the Illinois Waterway. 

The last issue in this section is the electrical fish barrier designed to stop the Asian Carp from getting into the Great Lakes.  Really a non event to cross this section of the canal.

After a long day we stopped along the free wall in Joliet, had a nice BBQ steak and met the Harbor Hosts from the area.  We are glad that the worst is behind us and that it only gets better from here on down... as long as there is enough water.