First Leg of Trip Back Home

On Thursday evening we drove up to Chicago. I had a wisdom tooth pulled that day and held off on the pain meds until the drive up so slept a good part of the way. We arrived in Chicago around 10 pm central just in time for the Chicago Bears game traffic. Because Burnham Harbor is right behind Soldier Field, every entrance to the marina was blocked. Eventually, we found a way in but it took some time.

On Friday morning, we took our boat 12 miles south on the lake to Hammond, Indiana to buy fuel and pump out. This is one of the cheapest places to buy fuel ($3.89/gall) in the area and maybe the cheapest fuel we will find the entire trip. It was a great chance for us to practice with the chart plotter however I am embarrassed to say that a photograph in an advertisement was the best resource for actually finding Hammond Marina.

On Friday afternoon, we drove the car 1 1/2 hours to Springbrook Marina in Seneca, IL where we left it so we could pick it up on Monday after the first leg of the trip. Our friend, Phil  from New Zealand, was kind enough to come and get us and drive us back to Chicago. Since he has an interest in buying a Carver 466, we took the boat out for a spin on the lake so he could get a feel for driving it.



Phil

On Saturday, we (mostly Alan) cleaned the boat and in the afternoon our friends Jeff and Cheri Conniff stopped by. They are currently on the Loop and had recently crossed over Lake Michigan from Michigan City.  We checked out their new hardtop which they recently added on their Bayliner- it looked great! They are very experienced boaters and technically have completed the Loop with all the segments they have done at various times. We took Phil to Lawry's for a prime rib lunch to thank him for the ride. Apparently, prime rib is hard to find in New Zealand unless you know the cut to ask for and cook it yourself.

That evening, the four of us attended a gathering of Loopers held at a high rise. It was hosted by Woody and Ellen Sutton who were very gracious hosts!  There were 40 in attendance. They served, what else? Chicago deep dish pizza and Italian beef! The gathering was held on the penthouse floor which had a great view. It was a nice chance to talk to people about doing the Loop but I was a bit envious that they were at a point in their lives where they could do it full time.

View from Penthouse. Field Museum on left, Solder Field on right, Lake in background

Cheri, Phil, Donna, Alan, Jeff



 So Sunday was the BIG day - the start of our journey home. Captain Scott arrived bright and early at 6 am and we left Chicago behind via the Calument River. They predicted the lake would be choppy due to high winds but it was very calm. Later in the day, the waves were up to 8 feet. We were happy we did not have to deal with that. The day started with a bit of a drizzle but later in the day, the weather changed and it turned into a beautiful day - one of the best we've seen.

Alan and Scott

The Calument River enters Lake Michigan at mile 333.5 of the Illinois Waterway system. It is pretty industrialized - especially the first seven miles. There are a dozen or so bridges in these seven miles. Some needed to be "lifted" and some we just squeezed under (or at least it felt like that)! The first lock we went through was the O'Brien Lock. Captain Scott educated me on my first mate duties during locking. "So Scott, sure you don't want to go with us the WHOLE trip?" Seriously, it is a little nerve wracking for me but after four locks that day, I think I can manage it.

Our first lock - O'Brien Lock

This looks pretty low to me!


 Alan always said he wanted a small marina one day. Think I found a deal for him! Just a little fixer upper - heck he is used to that!

We continued on the Calumet and found it to be very peaceful and pretty.



The Calumet joins the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and after this junction there is a large spread-out staging area for barges. It is affectionately called "the twelve miles of hell" because there are so many parked barges and it can be really tight if you come upon a moving one head one as there are limited places to get out of the way. Add some wind and it can become really tricky. Well, luck continued with us - little wind and we only met one barge and had a place to slip into out of the way.

The start of "Hell"

Below is photo of  great Fish Barrier intended to keep the Asian Carp from entering Lake Michigan. We didn't see any Asian Carp but will I keep my eyes peeled for them and post a photo.if we do.

As I noted, we went through four locks that day and a couple of the drops were over 20 feet.

We had to pay a little more attention to buoys than we have in the past. Going downstream, you pass green bouys on your right side and red bouys on the left to stay in the channel. Once we hit the Ohio River, we will be going upstream and the colors will switch.

The buoys help to keep you out of shallow water like this which is filled with limestone (and duck blinds)

As we got nearer to Seneca (on the Illinois River) , the pleasure boats were out in droves and it really slowed us down. Also, we had to wait about an hour for the last lock and it took another hour to lock through. Fortunately, the lockmasters all knew Scott from his many runs through and he was able to get us on a "pin" vs. having to hold a line the entire time. It had gotten really windy so that would have not been an easy task. Around 5 pm, we made it into Springbrook Marina. We had a lovely view of the Illinois River.

So I am writing this on the long drive home (in our car) from Seneca on Labor Day. The boat will be pulled this week and the bottom will be pressure washed, checked out and painted. It will be in the water and ready to go come Saturday when we start the remaining 952 miles home. No captain for that stretch so we will definitely need the continued good luck that we have had to date! I'm sure we will have "our moments" but hopefully ones we can laugh about ...someday. Will keep you posted on our adventures!