We departed the dock at 7:15 on a partly cloudy, 50 degree morning with light fog on the water. It makes me think of Bayfield Apple Festival which is going on this weekend in our home port in the Apostle Islands. Hi everybody—hope you are on the warm side of the front and are having lots of fun. We calculated today that we have logged 1,000 miles since we left there in early September.
We did our 6th downbound lock today at Starved Rock which is a drop of 40’. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a pusher and dredge barge to lock through. This area also has a state park and the river opens up. There is more evidence of autumnal color change especially since their temps are 10 degrees cooler—maybe because we Minnesotans are here? Many Loopers are interested in getting to warmer climates and making up for lost time during the floods.
We have a new tradition on board now for cold mornings. It would be easy to heat the cabin with the generator or inverter for the small electric heater but baking a small batch of muffins is more aromatic and appetizing.
We passed many flooded areas with the tree crowns showing minus their trunks.
The river opened up again to form some lakes and we saw a number of sailboats for the first time on the IL River. Who has the right-of-way when they cross the barge traffic? We pulled into the IVY marina and were assigned a tight slip for a beamy trawler with a single engine and no bow thruster. Luckily, help was available and we tucked in securely. We noticed that IVY has a new gas/diesel theft device—a fuel island surrounded by a moat—not really, just the ongoing evidence of the recent flooding. We did 75 miles today and opted for dinner at IVY club. It was a relaxing way to end an interesting day.
We did our 6th downbound lock today at Starved Rock which is a drop of 40’. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a pusher and dredge barge to lock through. This area also has a state park and the river opens up. There is more evidence of autumnal color change especially since their temps are 10 degrees cooler—maybe because we Minnesotans are here? Many Loopers are interested in getting to warmer climates and making up for lost time during the floods.
We have a new tradition on board now for cold mornings. It would be easy to heat the cabin with the generator or inverter for the small electric heater but baking a small batch of muffins is more aromatic and appetizing.
We passed many flooded areas with the tree crowns showing minus their trunks.
The river opened up again to form some lakes and we saw a number of sailboats for the first time on the IL River. Who has the right-of-way when they cross the barge traffic? We pulled into the IVY marina and were assigned a tight slip for a beamy trawler with a single engine and no bow thruster. Luckily, help was available and we tucked in securely. We noticed that IVY has a new gas/diesel theft device—a fuel island surrounded by a moat—not really, just the ongoing evidence of the recent flooding. We did 75 miles today and opted for dinner at IVY club. It was a relaxing way to end an interesting day.
