Mississippi Adventure 9/27 to 9/30/12

Thursday 9/27 and Friday 9/28 were spent in St. Charles, MO, making repairs and catching up on normal maintenance. We were busy.

·         One September had new props Fed Ex’d in from Virginia Beach. They arrived on Friday morning, were installed, and water tested. They work just fine. Then the mechanic tackled the air conditioning problem. Water test showed it was not yet fixed so they took another run at it. Repair held!

·         Jim hurt his back hauling his batteries out so the mechanic could get at a waste tank that needed to be replaced. The part came in on Friday and was installed and works. Jim’s back still hurts.

·         We had a specialist come look at our generator and explain again how it works. We ran it on and off both days fully loaded and it seems to work. YEAH!! We are not sure what we are doing wrong when we try to use it without adult supervision. We will slog on anyway. Then a different mechanic checked out our air conditioning because Kermti thinks it doesn’t cool well enough. The mechanic found it was overcharging which is a sign that there is too much Freon and the condenser is working too hard. Kermit cleaned the screens and took out a ton of hair. It was quiet as a mouse last night.

The others in the group joked that we need to buy drinks next time because our bill for repairs was so much lower - $178.00 for peace of mind. No problem – it is worth it.

We met the harbor hosts Mike and Joanne last night. They dock in the St. Charles Harbor. They completed the western end of the Loop three times and have lots of great advice for the next three days as we move down the Mississippi, up the Ohio and into Kentucky and Tennessee. They took us on a tour of their boat, a 4788 Bayliner Motor Yacht. What a lovely boat with a great setup for daily living. We loved it. Three cabins, two heads, and a modern, updated, comfortable salon/galley. Plus it has a real lower station just like a trawler spread out over the entire 15’ beam.

 

We joined them for dinner at the Duck Club next door. These are covered “docominiums” that people buy. It looks just like the St. Charles Harbor to me. Very nice covered docks.

We had a very unusual experience on Friday night. At dusk, the sun set in the west but it was really in the East. Go chew on that for a while!! Everyone knows that Illinois is East of Missouri, separated by the Mississippi. But the Mississippi curves in such a way that for a very short distance the Mississippi curves around back on itself and Illinois is west of Missouri. Our entire sense of direction was completely off. We could see the river where we came in and where we would leave and we knew that we came in from the North but the sun was setting in what should be the East. So cool!!

The Vessel Why Knot with Darryl and Lisa was docked for the next month in the slip next to us and they came to the boat on Friday evening! It was great to see them again. They are visiting family and their home in St. Louis and taking care of business.

 

On Friday we divided and conquered to take advantage of having the marina loaner car. Jim and Mike stayed with their boats to complete more repairs. Kermit and Joy dropped Judy and I off at the hairdresser to get needed repairs of a personal nature. New color and cut for me and color for Judy. It is always scary to turn yourself over to a hairdresser you don’t know but sometimes the need overrides the fear. I last visited my hairdresser in June so I was starting to look like a skunk and the cut rode out of town a long time ago. It was time. This was an Aveda salon so we could be pretty confident they had the skill to handle our needs. Sure enough, after some wrangling and debate, they figured out the right combination of color to touchup my hair and the cut is great. These little things really make a difference.

 

Afterwards Judy and I wandered around historic St. Charles enjoying the little shops. We ate lunch at a cool little old restaurant called Mother-in-Law’s, named because the current owner liked his mother-in-law’s cooking! Isn’t that sweet? We ate outside with a great view of the Missouri River. This is one of the oldest towns in Missouri. And to think if we stayed at Grafton Marina we would have missed it. That, my friends, is today’s silver lining.  

 

Kermit and Joy, meanwhile, took Rusty on a tour of St. Louis area. Rusty got a manicure at Petsmart and a walk through Bass Pro Shops, and West Marine. I bet he got cookies everywhere he went!! Even with the use of a gps they got lost. Hard to believe. Finally we met them in St. Charles, left Joy with Judy and Kermit and I went to Alton IL to pick up our mail at the post office. This was 40 minutes each way; a nice little drive.

Alton is another old river town, apparently more affluent than some of the other towns we have been to since it appears to have more than two or three streets and enough cars to warrant a few parking lots. They have a casino right next to the marina right by the pretty bridge between Missouri and Illinois. We had to go to Alton ourselves to pick up our mail. Here is the back story. Dick and Deanna on Sareanna had to go to the Alton Marina for repairs on their electronics. As long as they were there we asked to them pick up our package at the post office. Unfortunately this is the only post office in the USA that actually requires the identification that the sign says is required. Kermit had to show picture ID when he went in!!

A final stop at the liquor store (Walgreens) to restock the coffers before heading to dry country in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama before heading home. We have so much beer and wine now that we can’t store it all below decks. I guess we have to drink it!!

Saturday, September 29, 2012 Leaving St. Charles MO on the way to Hoppies Marine Services in Kimmswick MO.

We were a little uncoordinated this morning. Everything started off the way it normally does with Kermit’s coffee and rest breaks for Kermit and Rusty. One September and Jim’s Joy left, coordinating to meet Sareanna at Alton. We were to follow. This was a really tight dock, remember the discussion of Kermit giving folks the docking lesson. We were really focused on departing the dock. Kermit put the engines in gear and moved forward. I was on the bow of the boat pulling lines. Suddenly the boat pulled strongly to the port and the entire railing system and bike laid flat!! A big mess. We stopped immediately and pulled back to survey the damage.

Tom Houser: Damage alert

We have a big problem. The welds holding the railing on the port side broke. What to do… Kermit consulted with Mike the Harbor Host and the marina. St. Charles Harbor is the absolute best marina service we ever experienced. Ever. Hands down. Hear that Venentian? What would  Venetan pay for this kind of press. So we wanted to consult with them about repairs. It was only about 7:15 so we waited until almost 8am till the service people showed up and could give us some advice. The best person to do the repair is Little John, a mechanic who specializes in welding marine stainless steel. Evidently he is also an experienced boat racer. Unfortunately he is currently in Arkansas at a boat race so he is unavailable to make the repairs.

What to do… Kermit and Mike brought a big roll of white of shrink wrap twine. We pushed to railing up into a semi-upright position then tied the railing to the forward cleat. Our bow looks like a spider web. We joked that we need to buy or make a really big spider so we can pretend we decorated for Halloween!! Another silver lining!!

With the railing tied into place we proceed to catch up with the other three boats. Kermit arranged to have the railing repaired at Green Turtle Bay in Grand River KY. We should be there in about 3 or 4 days.

Report on Mississippi River currents: We think we are picking up about 3 miles per hour from the down river current. This means we are probably using about 6 gallons per hour instead of our normal 10 gallons per hour on the Illinois River going about 9 mph.

 

Here is the big deal and why this is important. Hoppies Marina is the only place to get fuel for the next 107 miles and the only marina for the next 228 miles. Dockage is at three 100 foot barges tied into a high stone cliff with bables. The town of Kimmswick is within walking distance. It is about 20 miles south of St. Louis. We need to get gas here for the 228 mile run. Our tanks hold 300 gallons. We purchased 6 – 5 gallon cans to fill with gas just in case something does not go our way.

Hoppies Marina is a really big deal. Hoppie is the uncle of the guy who owns the St. Charles Harbor, that fine marina with great service we just left. Fern and Hoppie are really important politically too. Fern represents Loopers and other pleasure boaters locked in a battle with the Corp of Engineers about wingdams and shoaling on the Mississippi that are putting Hoppies Marina in danger and therefore putting Loopers in danger of having no access to fuel on this stretch. Without fuel at Hoppies Marina the Great Loop is in danger for is not possible without diesel tanks much larger than most gas or diesel boats have.

We arrived at Hoppies Marina about 2:30pm, using 92 gallons of fuel for this journey from St. Charles MO to Kisswick MO. The banks of the Mississippi are at least 50 to 100 feet down the banks. Hoppie and Fern live on the banks with some family  members. The “marina” is a series of 4 barges tied end to end. They provide gas and water on the barges when you tie up. We used 92 gallons and put 97 gallons in the tanks then filled the six 5 gallon tanks on the back deck for just in case. So now we are carrying 330 gallons for the 275 trip. Our fellow loopers filled their dinghy tanks just in case we need it.

We picked up another looper boat that previously traveled with One September. Our little party wandered into town, not expecting much but it is another real cute town. Now, I do not understand for the life of me why some river towns are pretty and some are dead. It makes no sense to me. Kisswick has about three streets filled with really old houses. I mean log cabins and houses in great shape that date from the 1850s, all done up nicely as stores and little cafes. Cars packed the parking lots and people filled the shops. How odd! I would never have quessed that this town, as opposed to any other town, was so well taken care of.

Back to Hoppies for the daily 4:30pm briefing with Fern about river conditions and anchorages downriver. The Mississippi changes constantly. I guess we know that from our geography books but in this case it is critical to have up to date information since we won’t have access to a marina for 3 or 4 days. Everyone brings their charts and paper to take notes. All day today we referred to our notes, especially when finding our hidy-hole anchorage for this evening.

Dinner was docktails on the barge. Such a friendly group. We are very lucky.

Sunday September 30, 2012 Down the River
We left at the civilized hour – 8am instead of our usual 7am. I woke up startled because it was light inside the boat. Oh, no! They left without us!! But no, we were up on time and ready. Rusty appreciated the freedom o walk on the barge and decided he could poop anywhere now, so he proceeded to poop on the barge!!! Great!! Thank you, Rusty!

We started at Mile 158 with the goal of achieving anchorage at Mile 102.4. The trip was quite uneventful, although we were tense the entire time. Rather, Kermit was tense. I read, made lunch, opened mail, enjoyed the new Rolling Stone magazine that came with the mail package. Thank you Danny!

This is a picture of a truck dumping a little boat in the Mississippi while tied to another truck whose job is to pull the other truck out of the Mississippi when he rolls it!! I tell you these river people come up with the most creative ways to spend time!!

Kermit’s impressions: This was more industrial than he expected. He expected more rural. More tows. Lots of tows. Some with as many as 4 across and 4 down (16 altogether). Lots of current. We picked up 3.5 miles per hour.

Critter alert: There is a bald eagle at the tipy top of this dead tree.

We were the last boat, as usual, dragging about half a mile behind the rest of the group. Not sure why. It just worked out that way. The first boats got to Mile 102.4 and couldn’t believe this was the right spot. We all checked our notes and decided it must be. The entrance was downriver of a wingdam. Wingdams are controversials because they direct water downriver and silt up in the space upriver of the dam. Hoppies is upriver from a new wingdam, putting the marina in peril of silting up – hence the controversy. At Mile 102.4 we are taking advantage of deep water that can be found downriver and sort of protected cover by the wingdam.

Not sure if you can see this but this is a picture of our gps showing 0.0 mph while we are moving forward because the current is so strong while we are moving upriver!

 

Once we agreed on the spot, SeaQuell drew the short straw and moved in slowly over a 5 foot deep hump, nervously checking depth. We all had to go past the entrance and turn around to run against current back to the entrance of the hole. SeaQuell anchored and called the other boats in one at a time, everyone a little nervous about the depth but once over the hump we are in 18 feet of water. Naturally we are last in and probably first out tomorrow morning. We rafted off together. Our first job was to take our little dinghy and lay out a stern anchor to hold everyone in place against upriver tows that cause a lot of disturbance.

 

Rusty need to get out so everyone got on the backs of their boats and took a zillion pictures of us laying the anchor then taking Rusty over to the land to run a bit. Boy was he happy! He rolled in sand to a point where sand just oozes out him!!

Tomorrow we must leave at dawn because our next proposed anchorage is Mile 0, just before the entrance to the Ohio River. Here is the plan:

• Sunday: to Mile 102.4
• Monday: to Mile 1.5, Angelos Towhead by the entrance to the Ohio River
• Tuesday: Cumberland Towhead by the entrance to the Cumberland River
• Wednesday: to Green Turtle Bay Resort and Marina in Grand Rivers, KY. We will have the railings prepared and relax for a few days. 

By the way, I have tons and tons of pictures. We plan to load them on Flikr when we can figure out how to do that and have enough power available.

At the End of the Illinois River! Grafton IL Mile 0

Wed pm 9/26/12 about 6pm we arrived at Grafton, Mile 0 on the Illinois River. We traveled 332 miles from Chicago to Grafton in 7 days. Actually 6 days since we stayed two days in Ottawa IL. We are as far west as we will be traveling.

Tech corner: We traveled 928 miles so far, burned 1075 gallons of gas, spent $4884 on fuel, dockage has been $3158 - Chicago was REALLY expensive.

Sorry for the delay in writing. We are having a difficult combination of no Internet service despite the hot spot and lack of consistent electricity for charging tools that means it is complicated to write and upload my blog.

Overall observations of the river:

·         Not much life in the towns along the river, at least some of the towns appear to be dying or dead. People in the towns appear to be a little embarrassed about the lack of substance left in their towns. I wonder what these towns must have looked like as bustling centers of commerce 100 years ago.

·         As a Chicagoan, I think I understand a little better why there is such a huge political and philosophical difference between Chicagoans and downstaters. The perspective is completely different.

·         Huge contrast between Chicago end of the river (so industrial) and the Grafton end (so rural). Along the river at the west end beyond the levees was farm country. You could see the tops of grain elevators and the GPS showed markings of farmland and roads that skirted large squares of land that I assume are farms. Along the river in Chicago was a mass of industry – steel, coal, waste disposal, manufacturing, shipping, trains

·         People talk with a southern-ish accent at the west end of the river. Like good ole’ boys.

·         It is not comfortable to dock overnight on a barge. Rusty hates it. It reminds you that you are in in your own element. You are visitors in another world.

·         People come up with interesting ways to amuse themselves outside of the industrial areas. We loved the pontoon boat filled with bow hunters shooting Asian carp. How clever! I bet they were having a ball.

·         The cheapskate in me is watching yet another expensive chart book put aside. We are done with the Richardsons for Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan, Waterway Guides for Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and now the Illinois River Chart. Definitely worth buying used charts.

·         We are eating out a lot. No ability to grill since we left Michigan the week following Labor Day. We cooked on the boat only a few times. The rest of the time we ate out. I don’t see that changing much. Not a good time to be without our microwave/oven. New one won’t arrive until Green Turtle Bay in Cumberland KY.

Let’s pick up the story where we left it in Peoria on Sunday night. Reminder. Peoria IL we docked at the public docks, no fee, it was the end of the Oktoberfest, dog wouldn’t get off boat without a lot of coaxing, wandered around waterfront, finally decided on Joe’s Steakhouse for wonderful dinner, back to boat.

Monday September 24, 2012  Havana IL Mile 120.3

We left Peoria on Monday morning 9/24/12 bound for Havana. This was going to be a long day, and it was. It was very dark when Rusty and I went for our walk around the Caterpillar offices in downtown Peoria Monday morning. He was happy to be off the boat.

We left as soon as we got back. Kermit did the pre-departure chucking, I got the lines and we were off. Nice day, weather wise but cold. We were bundled up like winter. It is not fun to drive outside in the cold. We thought we would blow past Havana so we moved our mail drop to Alton, scheduled for Wednesday. Turns out, just after we called the post office to move the mail to Alton, the group decided to stop in Havana anyway because we had a lon delay at the lock. 

This is the lock outside Peoria where we had the long delay.

 This is One September waiting at the lock.

This is Sareanna waiting at the lock. There is not much to do while you are waiting. You just wait while they do something inside the lock and sometimes allow commercial or Coast Guard vessels in ahead of you while you just wait.

By the way, not much to see. It is a river. There is water, sometimes a stick or two, sometimes a critter in the woods, sometimes a barge. The scenery doesn’t change much.

We pulled into Tall Timbers Marina in Havana at Mile 120 about 3 or 4pm. This was a seriously disguised marina. Very hard to see and quite shallow with silting.

We were nominated to go first since our 36 Cruiser is the smallest boat in our little group (50 Carver Express, 44 Carver MY like Don Donataccio’s, and a 48 Trawler). All the other boats draw between 4 and 5 feet while we draw about 3.5 although we call it 4 feet. (Remember “draw” is the depth of the boat under the water). We pulled past the entrance, mostly because it is so difficult to see and also because the marker is beyond the entrance, turned back and slowly entered the mouth of the marina. You can hardly see it. And the entrance turns a bit so you can’t see the tiny little marina well from the river. We called out the depth over the radio as we entered the marina. 5.6, 6.2, 5.8, 5.1, 4.9, 4.2, 3.7, 2.9, 3.6, 4.5. We made it without problems. The other boats followed us in without problem. We got 107 gallons of gas at $4.99 per gallon but no pump out.

This picture is a view from the gasdock to the entrance of the marina. See that tiny opening? It is only about 20 feet across. Notice how small the other boats are?

Notice how big our boats are?

This is the cutest little marina ever! Our boats looked like giants in the circus compared to the 20’ boats around us. They keep the inside end of the marina open for visitors. It is a great money maker for them because we only need electric, fuel, and not much else and they make $1.30 per foot per night! The transients support the marina maintenance and the regulars get the benefit. Seems fair.

The marina is very cute. They have porta-potty’s but they created little gazebos around them for men and women using lattice with plumbed sinks and little mirrors and chairs so it looks like a regular bathroom even though it is not. Very clever of them. Flowers are everywhere and there are the nicest little sitting areas. We had docktails with One September, Sareanna, and Jim’s Joy. Wreckless joined us before docktail hour! These are the Canadians that like to go fast (25 to 30 mph!) – the exchange rate must be good! We met them in Joliet on the public wall.

The Asian carp were jumping as the big diesels came in to dock. They are fast little buggers but you can see splashed around the big Carver - that is AsianCarp. You don't know how many pictures I had to take to get one that included splashes!!

Rusty and I went for a pretty long walk. Most stores were closed. Not just because it was sort of late but because most stores in Havana are closed. Lots of “gift stores” that look like beat up old buildings on their absolute last breathe selling junk they call antiques. The park at the waterfront was nicely done with swings and two playgrounds. Rusty and I took a few minutes on the hanging swing to appreciate the lovely view. I forgot my camera but trust me - nothing to see.

Let me take a moment to contrast the Illinois River towns and facilities with Michigan. Michigan spends a ton to make their marinas beautiful and welcome. There is a municipal marina about every 20 miles with nice floating docks and all the amenities (laundry most times, bike borrowing most times, a park, great bathrooms with showers, most times fuel). The towns along the Illinois River do not. We are staying at private marinas or dockage. The public space is not attractive most times and not designed with passing boaters or visitors in mind. With that said, every town below Peoria participates in a marketing campaign about the river that consists of brochures that do not reflect the reality, some signs on their buildings with a bit of history, and occasionally a park along the river. But the towns we are passing are sad and dying if not dead.

Havana was such a town. The people we are meeting are marvelous and friendly but the towns are dying or dead. The lady who handled the phones at Tall Timbers was so nice. She even called two marina people away from their town jobs to greet us and help jostle the big boats into position. But she said there wasn’t much in town and she was right. We went to bed early without dinner.

Tuesday September 25, 2012 Beardstown IL  Mile 88.4

Tuesday dawned rainy and it rained most of the day. Put on that raingear!

Good thing because it was cold and the extra layers helped. We left about a little before 7am again. The big diesels of our fellow travelers really excited the Asian carp and they jumped like crazy as we left. We got a picture of one poor fellow flopping around on the floating dock.

They jump so high that this guy jumped out of the water and on to the floating dock!!! We didn’t put him back in the water. Seemed like a bad idea to rescue him when the locals are trying so hard to control the population.

The master plan was to push hard on Tuesday and Wednesday to be on the Mississippi on Wednesday night and to Hoppies downriver on Thursday. This required an 80 mile trip on Tuesday but we got delayed for 2.5 hours getting through the lock so that sort of blew our plans. We adjusted to go to Beardstown for the evening – only 48 miles to Mile 88.4. 

We tied to a barge for the night! Our first barge tie up!! This is quite an adventure.

The tug service makes $1 per foot letting people tie up to the work barges and tugs overnight while providing no services. It is a great arrangement for the boaters when there are so few marinas or anchoring spaces and the tug service gets income for no effort. This is a working operation so the barges have lots of equipment lying around – metal lines, winches, heavy equipment, welding equipment, lumber, etc. But it was quite clean and orderly. A barge is a large hollow metal thing. Really large and quite solid. They are well built so they can be attached smoothly together so they are about the same height without much discernible space between barges, making it easy to walk across. We docked next to Jim’s Joy with our noses upriver (evidently this is the way to do it). The other two boats were down another barge and around a corner. That night another pleasure boat pulled in next to the other two boats but was gone when we got up in the morning.

To exit the barges, you climbed these crazy metal scary stairs at a big angle straight up the side of the cliff.

Rusty was having none of it and we did not want him to try. We walked with him around the barges over and over trying to convince him that this hunk of metal was just the spot to do his business but he kept looking over his shoulder at us like we were crazy. He could see the tiny strip of land just 7 feet away across the water. THAT is where he is supposed to go. Kermit even demonstrated how this was supposed to work but no good. Rusty refused to poop or pee for 24 hours – finally peed at 6am on Wed morning because he was desperate!! Not a happy camper. He went back to the boat and sulked.

Beardstown is another sort of deserted town. Very sad looking but better than Havana. The same beautiful brochures and signs but not much there.

Good lunch at Yesterday Café in Beardstown. Kermit had ham and bean soup with fried potatoes and corn bread. Really thick and really hot. I had a cheeseburger. Fries were free!! Café had lots of old newspaper articles and pictures about the town. Looked like original tin ceiling and some original fixtures. It even had locals lounging on chairs around a large barrel in the front. It fulfilled all my stereotypes about small towns.

We walked east to the Sav-a-lot just for the heck of it. Then we walked further east to the Dairy Queen. Why not? Then walked back to the center of town to visit the courthouse.

Here is where reading other people’s blogs is interesting (it is interesting anyway but that is another story). Another group we are following visited Beardstown a few days earlier but they ate at a different restaurant and had almost a different journey. They missed the courthouse completely and had a completely different view of the town. But they took a tour of the tug and we did not. So the point is the journey is what you make of it. We all benefit by keeping our eyes open to opportunities and we all learn by sharing what we see!

The courthouse museum was guarded by a really nice lady who has worked on the museum for years, making something nice with very little resources. It was chocked full of interesting info about Beardstown. Abraham Lincoln tried several cases in this courthouse including his famous “Almanac” case. The son of his mentor got into trouble so they called Abe to represent him. The case was delayed for a few months so he had a chance to do a bit of research. Teenagers attending a revival slipped down the road to a moonshine party where they got into a fight. One fellow was killed in the fight and the son of Abe’s friend was charged. The eye witness swore he saw the whole thing because a full moon lit up the night. Abe cross examined, bringing in an almanac which showed there was no moon that night. After a passionate closing argument and 1 hour of deliberation, the jury found him innocent! We learn these stories in school but this was the courtroom where it happened! This courtroom is the longest used courthouse in Illinois. They still have court once a month just to keep us their streak. The jail is still there where that fellow was imprisoned before Lincoln got him off. We couldn't resist a few pictures. 

I thought it was kind of funny that even though it is famous for its relationship with Abe Lincoln there was nothing, not even the furnishings in the courthouse, left from that era. But there were rooms full of interesting stuff about Beardstown’s place in history since being settled in the early 1800s.  

As we wandered through the courthouse and museum with this nice lady, we stumbled on a room devoted to the Beardstown Ladies and we scratched our heads. Why is that so familiar? We realized we all had read the investment strategy the Beardstown Ladies “invented” about investment clubs! And we all had been in investment clubs in the late 1990s patterned on the Beardstown Ladies. They were from this Beardstown!! So the town really is famous for lots of important things. NOTE: The folks with the other blog skipped this completely so they had a different visit altogether!

Demographic note: Lots of Mexicans. This little almost dead town has about 4 restaurants, 2 of which are Mexican. It also has a Mexican bakery with real Mexican-Americans visible. I bought some cookies. Signs on the Sav-a-Lot bulletin board were in Spanish. We are not sure why this is. The nice lady at the museum said they work at a large factory near town.  

Generator didn’t work again – blew out the surge protector – score Jenny 2, Kermit 0. All the kings’ loopers and all the kings’ men couldn’t put the generator back together again. So we went to bed at 7:30pm when it got dark, without dinner again, and slept with the windows open. Not such a bad alternative except Kermit was up and down all night listening for traffic on the river. Not much traffic so we were ok. Add this repair to the list of repairs the group needed and we probably need to push Hoppies back another few days.

Only went 48 miles on Tuesday so we had a long trip ahead of us. We either push like crazy to make Alton or we stop at a restaurant dock downriver and make Alton on Thursday. Let’s see how it goes.  

By the way, Illinois River current is very low, non-existent. The idea of getting speed from the current is a joke so far.

Animal siting: A river otter!!

Wednesday September 26, 2012

Left Beardstown early. Up at 6am as dawn was breaking; left at 6:45am just as sun was coming up. Kind of weepy sky, grey, cloudy, and a little rainy on and off all day. Another lock with only about a 1 hour delay, leaving the lock about 9am. The plan was to stop at a place along the way about 40 miles away. It was supposed to have a great restaurant that allowed boats to dock. We passed that restaurant at about mid-day and decided to push on.

Here is how we pass the time when we drive long hours like we did today: we take showers; we clean the boat; we make lunch and eat snacks a lot; we read; I listen to my iPod, maybe write on the computer for a few hours till the battery dies; we take naps; we talk on the radio. It is a very comfortable way to spend the day.

Animal siting: Bald eagle!

In the mid-afternoon after showers and between naps, One September was goofing around on the radio (they are the lead boat so they tell us what is coming up: “stick on the port side”) when suddenly we heard, “what the heck was that” “there it is again”. Uh oh. They hit something that bounced back and hit them again. They drove for hours with that terrible vibration many of us know so well. So, the repair list grows longer. We need someone to look at the generator. Sareanna needs an electronics guy to look at his gps. Jim’s Joy needs something done with a waste tank and something else I can’t remember. Now One September needs the boat pulled along with a look at the air conditioning. So they get on the phone and get repairs scheduled at Grafton Mile 0. The only place to pull the boat is a marina in Port Charles MO a little upriver on the Mississippi.

So we trudged on to the end of the Illinois River at our now standard 9mph, burning about 4 gallons per hour per side or so. That means we are burning 1 gallon of fuel per mile, making calculations very simple.

We arrived at Grafton IL Mile 0 at about 5pm, making this a 10 hour travel day. It seemed very civilized and the time went very quickly. I expected a big drum roll when we saw the Mississippi but it looks like anything else we have seen. I guess the bluffs are taller but really it looks like a river.

This marina is beautiful. The guy on the radio kept asking how tall our boats are. We understood why when we saw that the entire marina is covered! Each dock (there are 6) is covered with metal roofing and a metal superstructure connected to the floating docks. Everything echoes a bit. According to the locals they do this because of the weather. The weather? How bad can it be? They like their boats to be covered. I did not notice a lot of birds, which would make it messy to have a roof. The docks are 18” cement squares on a metal frame. Evidently the larger boats can stay in the water all winter with hold heaters and bubblers. It doesn’t freeze like Lake Erie or the northern lakes. Go figure.

Charlie on Bama Belle greeted us as we rolled into the marina!!! So nice to see Charlie. He is waiting for his new crew to arrive on Sunday. This is a staging area for the trip down the Mississippi so there are lots of loopers. We ran into Les and Tommy from Mobile and Wreckless from Canada again. He made the trip from Tall Timbers in Havana directly to Grafton without a day between like we had. Mostly because he traveled at 33mph all day!!

We had dinner at the marina restaurant – good thin crust pizza. Everything here is a winery. That is their way to attract tourists and it works. Drinks after dinner with Charlie, Les, and Tommy. Tommy is an electrician so he helped work through the generator issues over a few beers. Then off to bed to prepare for the repairs the next day.

By the way, Rusty likes this marina experience a lot better than the barge at Beardstown. He pooped about 1 foot out of the gate after leaving the boat. Like a small pony. That’s our boy!!

Thursday September 27, 2012 Grafton Mile 0

The morning dawned foggy so I took Rusty for a long walk, about an hour. He has been a good sport and needed to stretch his legs a bit. Grafton is another one of those dying towns although they figured out how to attract tourists with wine tastings and eagles. Not much to see beyond the main street that stretches for 3 blocks along the riverfront. It is a little warmer so we could wear shorts with long sleeve t-shirts, a nice change.

The mechanics we lined up for our four boats requested that three of us come to their main marina in Port St. Charles MO. Sareanna was scheduled to go to Alton to get electronics repairs. So we split up. We left at about 8am in a little fog, moving very slowly upriver on the Mississippi through a narrow channel cut through an island around a corner to St. Charles. Another nice marina with covers over many slips. They have a little dredger working all the time and a special pushing thingy on the front of an open bow 20’ runabout. So clever! This marina is run by Fern and Hoppies nephew’s family (the folks who run the famous marina at the start of our 250 mile journey later in the week). The customer service is fabulous and the mechanics are top notch.

We fueled up (53.7 gallons exactly on each side – not on purpose, completely a coincidence!) for $4.19, the cheapest gas we have seen on this trip! We moved the boat to a 40’ slip that required Kermit to give a picture perfect docking lesson to anyone who watched. The dock girl scoffed that anyone could do it with bow thrusters like that. She was shocked and more than a little impressed that those were not bow thrusters but just excellent captaining on Kermit’s part! His skills get better every day.

Turns out One September needs a new prop. He didn’t pack his spares so his son is overnighting them to arrive tomorrow. We will take this opportunity to go shopping. My phone died so I bought a new phone at Verizon, we stocked up on pet food, and found a nice grocery store in a shopping area about 20 miles away that looks like it could be in Canton OH or anywhere USA. For dinner Judy and Mike joined us in historic St. Charles at the Lewis and Clark Restaurant – this is where they started their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase in 1804 so there is Lewis and Clark stuff everywhere. We will go back to see historic St. Charles on Friday in the daytime because it looks charming. We even found an Aveda hair salon and got reservations for a cut and color on Friday morning. I haven’t been to the hairdresser since mid-July so my hair is a disaster. I can’t wait!

I have a ton more pictu

What it is really like to travel like this?

Yesterday’s post was kind of boring. We went here. We did this. We saw that. Yada yada yada. I would like to expand on a few ideas so you know that it is not really boring at all.

We really needed to nap. That gave us no time at all in an 8 hour run to clean the inside of the boat. Put that back on the list of things to do today.

The dog is not happy. It took us at least 30 minutes to coax him off the boat when we tied up at Peoria. We are not sure why. He was shaking all over. He actually put his feet out like a little kid trying to avoid getting put into the car. He blocked the exit and just refused! We tried treats. We pulled on the leash. We pushed from the back. Nothing. I mean nothing. I tried a distraction tactic and fed him his dinner on the back deck. Finally I think he was so full of waste he just gave up and tumbled down the back stairs to the back deck where he scampered off the ramp to the dock. Then he was pleased with himself!! Wow, look at me!! I am on land!!! We ran up the ramp to the Peoria Gateway Center and wandered around the Oktoberfest party that was starting to tear down. He was happy as long as he could vacuum up the dropped food. But we got the same performance when I turned back to the boat. No way Jose. No going. You can’t make me. So we wandered around for a while more until Kermit came up to look for us. Then Rusty agreed to go back to the boat.

This morning it was much easier. He just climbed down and we went for a long walk in the early dawn. Rusty loves this weather – about 37 degrees this morning, a little foggy but clear sky. Rusty is like a puppy, prancing with this dancing dog walk. We walked around the Caterpiller headquarters in the semi-dark of dawn watching people arrive for work. One by one cubicles lit up and cars filled the parking lots. And it wasn't even light yet! I remember those days without fondness.

Last evening while walking we met the harbor host, Steve, on Sophie Jo (I think), and his white cockateal Jazzy. He just returned from working at the Oktoberfest so he was pretty happy and friendly. He told us how much he loves living on his boat (some kind of trawler, we forget) full time. I wondered but did not ask (I should have – I am curious) what he does during the winter because if this is fall, I bet I can guess what winter is like! Shades of Ohio!!

There are four boats in our little flotilla. We gathered and wandered about the river walk area for a while searching for exactly the right restaurant. Not many were open. There was the urine soaked, below street level bar, the sports bar with only sandwiches but not enough variety for the entire team, and the fancy steakhouse across from the court house. The first one was out for obvious reasons. I think the final decider on that one was the really drunk lady exiting as we approached who said it was a great place to eat. We turned around. One couple had enough and went back to their boat. They were expecting guests anyway and we had frittered away a bunch of time wandering around. So six of us headed to Jim’s Steakhouse for what Kermit says was the best steak all trip. Prime aged filet mignon for under $30 including salad and sides. Such a deal!!

I can’t believe how exhausting it is to drive all day everyday. It shouldn’t be. We are not expending energy. But we are very tired at the end of the day. We just drop into bed after dinner. It takes all my energy to write and publish the blog before sleep hits. We read very little before collapsing.  Maybe it is the fresh air. Or maybe it is the need to pay attention to charts, water levels, gauges, radio transmissions, and personal needs all at the same time. And we don’t get anything else done. The cabin doesn’t get cleaned and we are not exercising. I am fooling myself about working very much.  But we feel fit and we are tired. So I don’t know. Something is going on!

Kermit says yesterday was the most exhausting day of the trip. These guys are really pushing. We either go with them or go alone and we don’t really want to be alone. In addition to camaraderie, the other boats see things we might miss. The lead boat talks to locks and tows which takes time and energy. Bad things happen if you miss something or make a mistake. So we continue with the group.

Today is supposed to be longer than yesterday. We anticipate 74 miles today. We left at 6:45am today and we have been sitting for almost an hour waiting for the lock downriver from Peoria. Assuming we get through the lock smoothly with this tow we are looking at arriving around 5 or 6pm at our today’s destination: Beardstown IL. Tying up to a barge tonight! Yipee!!

Ottawa and moving on to Peoria 9/22 and 9/23/12

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.

 

·         Taking a nap in the sun while your partner runs the boat.

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!