Fast Water to Havana - Oct 4th

We slept in a bit but still left the dock at 7:45 on this cool 48 degree, sunny morning. We learned that this part of the river is 6-10’ above normal. We passed Peoria where we saw 4 Looper boats tied to the wall; we’ll see them later.
We went over our first wicket dam south of Peoria. Locks are not used when the river is flooded so we just rode over the wicket dam. Strange experience when we think back to the 12 to 40’ locks we have done previously. We calculated that we had a 2mph push from the current today.
We heard on the morning Coast Guard “Notice to Mariners” that there was a dredging operation at milepost 148 so we slowed and asked for clearance. Bob is using AIS and calls the pushers and requests which side we should transit. They respond, “1 whistle” (move to starboard) or “2 whistle” (move to port).
We have not seen evidence of the infamous Asian carp that reportedly hurtle into the air and propel themselves onto boats. We did see a deer swim across the fast current river and I initially thought that it was a buoy knocked off station. We made a reservation at the Tall Timbers Marina in Havana and pulled in about 1pm. This gave us enough time for a walk around town, When we returned, we noticed a number of fellow Loopers had also chosen this destination and we convened at 5 pm to about our adventures for the day.

Ottawa to IVY (Peoria) - Oct 3rd

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.

Heritage Harbor to Ottawa Oct 2nd

Heritage Harbor has plans to be a marine resort community with a mix of 700 condos, row houses, luxury cottages, as well as a hotel, conference center, spa and marina. It is in the beginning stages now and we really appreciated the single slips which made docking so easy as well as the clean and very adequate temporary facilities. The staff was so welcoming and helpful.
We decided to stay in Ottawa today as other Loopers moved on. We washed the boat as well as raising the mast and boom then it was time for sightseeing and fun. We got the courtesy car from Heritage Harbor and went into Ottawa with Rose and Gary from Rose’s Pick. We toured Ottawa and viewed the downtown murals, the downtown decorated “top hats”, the Riddick Mansion, the Sunset Farmer’s Market, and did food shopping at IGA.
It was wonderful to sit out on the dock at Heritage Harbor and savor the day, cook dinner together and enjoy the evening.

Joliet to Ottawa

We were up at 6am to leave the dock by 7 just in case we could lock through the Brandon Road Lock before the barges but they kept a comin’. We did get the ok for 8:30 to go downbound between the barges so 5 Looper boats, Joy @Sea, Cynthia Faye, Rose’s Pick, Old Fart and a Lady, and Baby Grand, locked through like pros by 9am. We have 45 miles to go and 2 more locks.
We proceeded down the river past industrial areas with petrochemical smells interspersed with forested areas showing slight foliage change and duck blinds on the river banks. We did the Dresden Lock at milepost 271.5 pretty easily and the lockmaster had the smaller boats on rope lines and the larger ones on the bollards. At Sugar Island, milepost 261.3, we saw evidence of the recent floods with a camper in the water and a pontoon boat tossed on its side 20 yards on shore.
We steered up top today as it was sunny but cool. We lowered the bimini and it felt like we were toolin’ around in a woody convertible.
The real excitement for the day started at the Marseilles Lock. We were told at 1:45 that there would be a 2 hour wait but when we checked later, the lockmaster told us to “come on down” and anchor to the side of the lock. We proceeded down a long, narrow channel that you would not want to encounter a barge. We were aware that there was a barge in the lock in front of us and another, coming up behind us. Bob and I did a test anchor and with now 6 “pleasure vessels/crafts” in a small area, this lockmaster plan was not going to work. Instead, we did a slow waltz in place for 1 hour wasting a lot of diesel fuel but managing to avoid being bumper boats. Then, the barge minus the “pusher” was expelled from the lock via a cable which left a slot of about 50 feet behind that Looper boats could use to enter the lock downbound.
Mission accomplished and we all proceeded to Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa about 2 miles south. We were greeted by the marina manager, Mike, who expertly handled all 5 boats docking simultaneously. Captain Moe, a former Looper, joined us on the dock and opened up the excursion boat for all of us to have a very comfortable “Captain’s Meeting”.

Joliet Sept 30th

We decided not to travel today and took a lay day exploring Joliet. The city supplies shore power and the dock wall for free which is incredibly generous. We did long walks around the city and even took a bus out to the Mall to get a few supplies.
Part of the excitement is watching the many huge downbound and upbound barges and “pushers” moving perilously close to our boats. I was apparently a very sound sleeper last night as a double wide load of four barges or a “2x4” was sandwiched between 2 bridges next to us for about 10 minutes.
We met more Loopers tonight as the wall again filled up with more boaters. There is instant camaraderie in discussing the plans for the next day and we will probably leave as a Looper flotilla so that we can all be accommodated in tomorrow’s 3 locks.

Chicago to Joliet Sept. 29th

This is an exciting day as we are leaving Chicago for the IL River and will be passing under 31 bridges and doing 1 lock in the city. As we passed through Chicago, it looked like a skyscraper canyon with the river running though it. Since it was Monday morning, there was the bustle of trains, pedestrians, commercial boats and commuter boats all jostling to get people to work.
Just south of Chicago on the Sanitary Canal is a work zone of various plants with barges stored along the walls and planes from O’Hare saluting above. After 3 weeks on the wavy Great Lakes, it was a pleasure to have flat calm and to get a boost in speed from the river current.
We did not get a lot of barge traffic until 11am and AIS targeted where they were positioned and even supplied the name of the tug (“pusher”) so that we can contact them directly. We identify ourselves as a “pleasure vessel” which could have a lot of interpretations. We did have to wait as expected in the carp netted area. We proceeded to the Lockport lock which is a drop of 40 feet.
After boating and locking for 7 ½ hours, we pulled over to the Joliet wall where we tied up. What a treat to meet 4 other couples all doing the Loop. We talked for hours about our adventures so far and our plans for the future. This was a wonderful birthday for me as I was able to talk by cell to family and friends and begin some new friendships.

Chicago Sept. 28th

Today is definitely Fall compared to our recent summer weather. Before sightseeing, we had to lower the boom and mast so that we fit under all the Chicago bridges. We rigged a cradle and lowered everything with an intricate pulley system.
We were invited to the venerable Columbia Yacht Club with Bob and Carolynn from Bequia. What an incredible restoration the CYC members have done to get the ship in Bristol condition with a restaurant, lounge, library, salons, authentic bridge and a huge tented area for special occasions. We spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Art Institute and Millennium Park. We definitely have to come back to see more of Chicago “….my kind of town…”

Waukegan to Chicago - Sept 27th

We left the dock at 7am with a temp of 60 damp degrees but with the rising sun burning it off. Lake offered NE wind and calm seas which makes it a perfect powerboat day. We do have XM radio and can even pick up NPR “Weekend Edition” on our Walkman headsets. 3 hour ride to Chicago and we were greeted with sailboats racing, a large schooner under full sails and sightseeing boats.
We are staying in the DuSable Marina at an outrageous price for poor facilities but the view and proximity to everything is fantastic. We played tourist and visited the Navy Pier, took a 2 hour bus tour of the city, grazed and watched harbor fireworks in the harbor at 9pm. Great day!!!

Racine to Waukegan Sept. 26th

We slept in until 6:30 as we are not sure if we are moving today as it will depend on the forecasted weekend weather and whether the River Rat Loopers are moving on the IL River. We took our time walking around the lakeshore as well as the paths along the Root River. Racine has a number of tourist offerings: the Heritage Museum has an interesting exhibit on how boats were used to ferry slaves north to this area as part of the Underground Railroad; the Art Museum features a contemporary craft exhibit housed in a modern glass building which complements the more traditional surrounding buildings.

We decided to leave port at 10:30 for Waukegan IL about 25 miles south. Weekend weather promises strong NE winds which will build a fetch the entire length of the lake. Today we had light SE winds and 1 foot waves which allowed us to put up the flybridge bimini top for the first time this trip. We arrived at 2pm and were assigned a tight dock.
Waukegan is definitely a city marina with plenty of road construction in progress. The northern part of the harbor is mostly abandoned as the fixed docks are 3 feet above the water. We stayed on the south side had all new floating wood and concrete docks. Sue, the harbormaster, was very helpful and pointed us in the direction of the ice cream shop which featured freshly made waffle cones. The marina was abuzz with weekend boaters and all were very welcoming.

We finally met up with our first Looper, Ted on South Shore III, and we traded information about all the variables we will face going down the rivers. The flooding seems to be subsiding but there are some delays due to a fish netted area to catch Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan.