The Lower Half of the Illinois River/Mississippi

Yesterday was a long day. No fog so we were able to get started at 6:30 am. Unfortunately, we were held up at the first lock and had only gone  five miles by 8:30 am. But we made up some mileage later and got in 130 miles by the time we dropped anchor.

The Illinois River below Peoria becomes much less developed. We passed a few barges and very few pleasure boats.  The river is pretty narrow and not very deep. I am amazed at how the barges are able to navigate the way they do.

Below is an Illinois River landscape. Can you tell what it is? It is a collection of red and green buoys!

Lots of cool birds along the way

Our last lock for the day

La Grange Lock and Dam - last lock on the Illinois

It warmed up as the day went on. Below is a photo of an Illinois River "beach". I think these folks have the right idea!

Below you can see a lift bridge. At normal height we would not fit under it so you radio the bridge operator to lift the middle section for you.

We saw the derelict below just south of Kempsville. Looks like it was a nice party boat at one time. Another fixer upper for Alan. He mentioned at one time he wanted a houseboat!

This was our anchorage for the night at mile marker 30. It was beautiful and so calm. We didn't feel a ripple!

An exhausted Alan below with a full moon in the background.

THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

Today, we went for 90 miles. We left at 6:30 am and in 30 miles we in the Mississippi! As you can see, it is quite a bit wider than the Illinois.

The barges are a lot bigger too!

At one point, you veer off the main river into the Chain of Rocks Canal. This canal was built by the Army Corp of Engineers to bypass treacherous rocks in the main river.

It gets a little tight if you meet a big barge

Me driving

One of the best parts of the day was going by St. Louis and seeing the Arch.

The Mississippi has thousands of wing dams of all shapes and sizes. They are man made barriers that extend only partway into the river. The intent is to force water into a fast-moving center channel to decrease the rate of sedimentation (yeah, I looked that up). They can be very dangerous for boaters if you are not careful and wander outside of the buoys.

Sometimes, you can't even see them - only a ripple in the water

We stopped for the night at Hoppie's Marina and I met "Famous Fern". Fern is an expert on boating and the Mississippi River and has guided many a transient boater through the Mississippi.

Fern and Donna

It paid off to get to the marina early. Alan made a wonderful dinner. You gotta love it - a terrific captain and an amazing cook!

 Another clear night with a full moon - perfect....

Off to a Foggy Start

Well, we were up at the crack of dawn ready to begin our trip but Mother Nature had other ideas. Alan changed the air filters while we sat it out. We are hearing that the Ohio River is on the rise. Hopefully, by the time we get there it will be back to normal. For you non-boaters, high water means a stronger current to pass through (higher speed and more fuel needed to go the same distance) and often there is debris in the water that can take out your propellers if you hit them. I don't know if you can make out the gold burgee (flag) on the front of the boat below. That indicates that this boater has completed the loop. I guess they are on their second go-around!

We finally were able to leave the dock at 10 am. We met a couple of loopers in the marina. Unfortunately, one of them hit some shallow water and messed up their prop. Hated to hear that on the radio. We went through two locks today. The first one was great - no wait and a floating pin. The second one- Starving Rock Lock was a bit different. We had to wait about an hour to get in the lock so we had some lunch while we were waiting. Also, this one did not have floating pins. The lock guys threw us a couple of lines and we let them out slowly as we descended around 20 feet. Alan says we were "paying out" the lines so I guess I paid out today. Below is a picture of Starving Rock - looks pretty healthy to me.

Ok, so I promised a photo of some Asian Carp. Here are a few guys we came upon just north of Peoria, IL. I hope you can view the video below - it is crazy! And yes, those are bows and arrows.

We were able to get 100 miles in and stopped for the night in Peoria right before sunset. We stayed at the City Dock. Jeff Conniff told us about it. I am going to kill him the next time I see him. Alan pulled a Captain Ron and I almost had a heart attack. 

The nice spots were taken so we had to come through a narrow channel with short fingers

Here we are - snugged in

Seriously, it was a really nice spot. Peoria has a great riverfront. We ate at a place called American Tap - sat outside and had a wondeful view. There was a full moon and paddlewheeler went by. Wonderful photo opportunity - if I only had thought to bring my camera!

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!