Saturday 9/22/12 dawned clear and cold. It was about 45 when
we got up about 8am, which is sleeping late for this group. We needed to do
laundry (it has been about 2 weeks since we did it last after our arrival in
Chicago) and Kermit wanted to do a lot of work around the boat. So we divided
and conquered. Heritage Harbor Marina offered a courtesy van that we could use
all day. We had to split it between our little group of 4 boats and a fifth
boat that prefers to stay on its own.
I left about 9am for Ottawa with 3 other people. Kermit stayed at the marina to
work on the boat. So that means… wait for it… I DID LAUNDRY!! Marissa asked if
Kermit knew, smart aleck. For those who don’t know, I do not do laundry. Kermit
prefers to do it. He does a better job, it is true. But we had no choice.
Kermit divided everything up and gave me very specific instructions. No pink
underwear!!! A success!!!
After I started 5 loads at the laundramat, we went to a very
fine farmers market. I found tomatoes, donuts, apple cider, caramel apples,
cookies, apples, carrots… all the essentials. Rusty promptly ate a half loaf of
raisin bread, the brat.
The farmers market was at the square commemorating the Lincoln Douglas Debates when Lincoln first ran for US Senate in 1858.
While I was out with the group, Kermit had a mechanic visit
to check the stuffing boxes and transmission. He heard some funny whining and
wanted it checked out. The mechanic said what Kermit heard was a cutlass
bearing that does not need attention yet. Kermit was proud the mechanic noted
how clean and nicely set up the Cruiser is down below!!
After a quick lunch (really great burgers) at Tracy’s Boat
House, the restaurant and bar in the marina, Kermit began to change the oil and
fuel filters because we have traveled 100 hours! We used 6 quarts of Pure
Purple, 15W40, utilizing Kermit’s new oil changer kit. It only took an hour to
complete the entire process. He packaged up the used oil so the mechanic from
Quest Marine can recycle for us on Monday. While Kermit changed oil, I took the
opportunity to clean bathrooms and kitchen. You have to stay on top of these
things.
Later in the afternoon after everyone else finished with the
car, we found the local Walmart and did our grocery shopping. Rusty was
completely out of food. No pet stores in town and we forgot to order food so we
found a bag of cheap crap at Walmart that will have to do until we can find a
real pet store with Science Diet. Or place an order for mail order delivery,
whichever comes first.
We reviewed the plan for continuing the journey over drinks
on the vessel One September. Dinner was great at Tracy’s Boathouse (meatloaf
for Kermit and salad for me) then we joined the local yacht club for a Scotch
and cigar party by the pool. Keep in mind it is cold. All day it only got up to
about 60 and as night fell, it went down to the 40’s again. I continue to
regret that lost suitcase or maybe I regret not packing better. I thought we
were supposed to be following the warm? I think we are lost because it is not
warm. It is fall! Crisp, clear, and cold. The 3 Cs of fall! Kermit is wearing
the blue winter coat and I have 3 layers on!
The H2O Yacht Club at Heritage Harbor is newly formed. The
marina itself is only a few years old. The plan calls for residential and
commercial built around the marina but the timing coincided with the real estate
crash so everything is slower. There are a few residential units at either end
of the complex spread over about a half mile distance. Nice floating docks with
cement square inserts that evidently get frosty in the cold. We were told to
watch for icy conditions but no mishaps. The marina is pretty full with about
50 slips on B and C docks and fewer on A and D dock. It is very pretty and
nicely kept. It reminds me a little of a cross between Bay Harbor Michigan,
which has this same concept fully built out and the Quarry back on Johnson’s
Island in Sandusky Bay. I bet this little marina was built out of an old quarry
because the sides slant up at a pretty big angle, not like the Quarry but
pretty steep.
We met some really nice people. I didn’t get all the names
and non-loopers don’t have boat cards so I have no point of reference. One
couple in particular was very nice and helpful. The fellow is a welding
engineer from a small almost dead mining town in southeast Ohio, of course! (We
always run into folks from Ohio). He works for Chicago Bridge and Iron in
Chicago and lives in Plainfield in the southwest Chicago suburbs. He travels to
Ottawa each weekend for boating. He was wearing an Ohio State t-shirt so he
noticed my OSU t-shirt!! 
He and his wife told some really funny stories about Asian Carp. We saw our first Asian Carp jumping when we pulled into the marina and put the engines into reverse to dock. As you know they respond to the engine noise. Well, this couple were watching a wedding reception on a double decker party boat nearby when someone on the boat started a blender to make drinks. An Asian Carp jumped straight out of the water on flopped on the dock where they stood!! They picked it up, fileted it, and cooked it up, just like Maeo!! They said it was just delicious with firm white meat with v-bones they removed very carefully. Just delicious. Evidently the Asian Carp is not a bottom feeder like other carp. They eat microorganisms on the top so the meat is really fresh and clean tasting. How funny!!
We exchanged burgees with H2O Yacht Club so we need a new
All Ports burgee for ourselves. We will have a word with the new Rear Commodore
about that. Kermit says we will buy 2 because we are keeping this one. It is
very pretty!!
It got down to 35 degrees last night. We even turned on the heat.
Good sleeping weather. We discovered a great way to wake up is to set the
coffee maker – such a lovely smell! So much better than a noisy alarm. These
folks we are traveling with like to leave early and today we left earlier than
ever, just before 7am (and naturally we were last to leave) because we have a
really long trip today – 70 miles to Peoria. At 10 miles per hour plus a lock
at Starved Rock, we expect to travel about 8 or 9 hours today.
CO detector went off this am – probably smelled the paint on
the new oil filters. More later as we travel.
We started out in the fog. Really foggy. Seriously. Couldn't see the boat in front of us when we got in the river. It was kind of eerie.
The water was flat with a touch of wind, starting out at
about 40 degrees and ending up at about 60 degrees in the sunny afternoon. We
shed layers of clothing all day. Finally at the end of the day we could open
the glass. Actually we could finally bend the glass and roll it up!
Random observations about the day (Sunday 9/23)
- White Tail Tuna: Group of about 8 guys with bow and arrow shooting Asian Carp off a pontoon boat floating down the Illinois River. Sorry the picture is kind of bad. They were moving in the other direction pretty quickly before I figured out what they were doing. Kermit might have a better picture on his camera - will download later.
·
White pelicans that don’t dive into the water.
They sit on the water and stick their long beaks into their mouth.
·
Really, really low water. It makes the houses
and decks look funny being so far up the river.
·
Families on 4 wheelers along the river.
Starved Rock - Really impressive.
We arrived at Peoria at about 4pm, having traveled straight without stopping since 7am. That is a long day. Actually, we did stop at about 3pm at IVY yacht club just east of Peoria for gas. It was about 3-4 feet deep so we entered the marina very very slowly. Gas was $5.00 per gallon and we took on 50 gallons on each side. We traveled 75 miles today going about 1 mile per gallon, same as we have all along. We didn't completely fill up because we were a little nervous about adding too much weight since the water was so very low. This is a problem all of you have noted for us since the rivers are so low. Many of the marinas we might normally have stayed at, like IVY, are not accessible to boats with 4+ foot drafts. Instead of a marina, the four boats we are traveling with elected to go to the city wall near the municipal park in Peoria. Dockage is free including electric but there is no security and it is hard to dock here. We are right immediately under a major highway so we expect some noise tonight.A good night to sleep with the windows closed.
Plan forward: This group is really pushing hard. We will have another long day tomorrow with about 75 miles to Beardstown IL. We have mail waiting for us in Havana but don't think we can stop there to pick it up. We will make some calls tomorrow to see what are the alternatives to having the mail forwarded to anothe place.
The group made reservations at Hoppy's for Thursday which means more hard days ahead. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. But it takes a lot of concentration to drive for 9 hours straight!
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