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| Leaving Henry IL |
We left Henry IL M196.1 on Friday Oct 19, 2018. Our goal on this
journey was to get to Alton IL so I could travel back to Cleveland for work.
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| Options from Henry IL to Akton IL |
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| Entering IVY Club in Peoria IL |
Planning is important when traveling like this. We had
many options. Options cause us to argue so we created a matrix of options
depending on our daily progress with an eye towards good marinas or anchorages.
Locks can mess us up easily so we had to account for locks. This plan, with 4
options, would get us from Henry to Alton in either 4 or 5 days.
Friday, our first day out we took
our time. The Dockmaster at Heritage Harbor told us that Illinois Valley (IVY) Club,
near Peoria might be too shallow.
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| Katherine bundled up after the storm with Good Karma in the background in front of the IVY Club |
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| Lighthouse at IVY Club |
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| Kermit pumping out |
This is a pretty small marina
compared to our Lake Erie marinas or Heritage Harbor in Ottawa but the club
house is beautiful. We had to duck under a roof to fit into the space at the
gas dock. We tied up tight to ride out the storm.
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| Lots of tows and commercial boating on the rivers |
We tied up on the wall in front of the club house. The wall was so high that we couldn't use our ladders to get on and off. I had a bit of trouble climbing on!
Dinner at the IVY club house
was delicious! We stayed at IVY Saturday (10/20) night while the wind roared! Sunday morning
we got up early, gave ourselves a pump out (never pass up a pump out,
remember?) and headed on down the river.
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| Katherine on the IVY Levee |
Fun fact. The Illinois River
regularly floods over the IVY levees almost all the way up to the first floor
of the club house. In the winter the water leaves the marina with very little
water at all. They are building up their levee to reduce flooding in the future. Fascinating!
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| Peoria IL |
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| Locks, locks, locks - this one has the wickets up |
Our early departure on Sunday (10/21) and the
clear air after the storm passed gave us a nice push down the river. We passed Peoria, home of Caterpiller and several of the places we identified as anchorage options.
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| A wicket - see the wall thingy behind that fence? That is a wicket dam that is in the UP position. We went through the lock in this one. |
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| An eagle! |
We passed Quiver
Island at M121, then Grand Island at M106.9, which looked beautiful, then decided
to anchor at Bar Island at M85.4 just passed Beardstown. We had traveled about
80 miles!
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| Eagle finds dinner! |
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| A strange duck blind like of thing floating down the river |
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| The Beardstown "dock" that is actually a series of tow boats you can tie up to |
We did that last time. That was the ti
me we had to coax
Rusty to pee on the barge by having Kermit demonstrate that it was ok! We
decided to bypass that lovely barge experience this time. We don’t have a dog
this time and we have a different boat that does not lend itself to tying off
of a barge. Also, last time we were not comfortable anchoring yet so with the
dog and our inexperience with anchoring, the barge looked like a decent
alternative. Not so today.
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| Another duck blind! |
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| Anchorage at Bar Island |
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| Setting the anchor |
Bar Island is two little islands with a nice channel behind each island. As we slowed down we saw a sailboat with a Looper flag anchored behind the second island, Coal Creek Island.
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| Kermit checking the anchor |
We thought we would not bother
them so we headed around the corner behind the first island. We goofed around
with the anchor but decided the 6 foot depth was not deep enough and the anchor
swinging could put the boat into even shallower water. We gave up this
anchorage and decided to head over near the other Looper boat. As we retraced
our steps into the river and down river into the other end of the channel, we
realized that this was a huge anchorage with plenty of room for our boat and
the smaller sailboat already anchored.
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| Dinner - Yum! |
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| Sunset - quiet, calm, lovely |
We set anchor and enjoyed a glass of wine while we ate
dinner. I prepared a sheet pan dinner of chicken with roasted potatoes,
tomatoes and asparagus while we were traveling. It was delicious!
We never saw anyone stirring on that other boat, either when
we anchored, while we ate dinner or the next morning when we pulled up anchor
at dawn. Oh well. We are still seeking loopers to travel with just for the companionship.
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| Wicket down at LaGrange Lock so we went right over it! |
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| Lots of commerce at the lower end of the river too |
We headed into the LaGrange Lock at M80.2 first thing Monday morning (10/22). This 8th and final lock on the Illinois River is a wicket
dam. A wicket is a big wall that goes up and down instead of gates that open
and close. When the water is high like it is now, sometimes they just keep the
wicket (wall) laying on the floor of the river so boats can travel right over
it. The water is VERY high right now, at least 7 to 10 feet over the normal
level so the wickets were down and we just traveled through! Pretty cool! |
| These folks are used to flooding Look how high the water is right now |
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| A "dock" without a walkway is not very useful |
The geography was changing too. The water was very high,
right up to and past the tree line. We passed deep forests and lovely
anchorages behind islands. Occasionally we could see farmlands beyond the tree
line. Many were flooded or had large pools of water covering the fields.
Our target today was Hardin at M21. There is a restaurant in
this tiny town along the water that everyone says is wonderful. They have a
wall you can tie up to then walk to the restaurant. We spent the day imagining
the wonderful pies we heard about. Our mouths were watering.
In my mind, I was imagining the Casino at Kelley’s Island.
You pull into the marina and tie up on a wall, sort of. No, that is not at all
what we encountered. As we came up to the bridge ahead of Hardin Riverdock
Restaurant, we called into the restaurant. “Can we tie off on the dock and come
in to the restaurant?” “Sure, you can tie up.”
Still confused, we pulled out the binoculars but couldn’t
really see much of anything. We slowed down as we came up. Sure enough there
was a “dock”. It was a narrow metal floating dock hanging out at least 20 feet
from shore. We could see that there might be some walkways but nothing
connected to land. So yes, we could tie up but no we couldn’t really get to the
restaurant! What a crock!
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| See the eagle? |
Now what? We pulled out the book. It was too late to head to
Grafton at the mouth of the Illinois / Mississippi River, even though that was
only 21 miles away. We needed to find an anchorage.
We decided to head to Mortland Island at M18.0. It was
beautiful, perhaps one of the prettiest anchorages we’ve found in ages. It
reminded us of the anchorage we found right on the Texas / Louisiana border we
found in 2017. Lots of trees around a deep pool safely off the Illinois River.
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| See why we enjoy anchoring? |
We set anchor and headed up to the top deck with our docktails. In the
stillness we noticed an eagle sitting in the tree just 30 feet away from us! He
stayed there for about 15 minutes before flying off to find his dinner!!!
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| Kermit talking to one of his friends |
That morning, Tuesday (10/23), we pulled up anchor at dawn and
continued on our journey. Fun fact: this is the southern end of the Illinois
River. According to our guidebook, Skipper Bob, “The Illinois River begins a
large sweeping bend here as it approaches the Mississippi River. When you reach
the Mississippi River you will actually be heading east as you enter the river.
This can make directions very confusing as you near the end of this river.”
Translation: Just keep going. Don’t think in terms of east
or west. Don’t get confused by the rising sun in your eyes as you think you are
heading west! Just keep following the markers. Stay between the reds and greens and you will be fine.  |
| Grafton - see why we went on? Flooded |
Shortly we came upon the Mississippi River at Grafton! The
water is about 9’ above normal pool level with a current about 9 miles per
hour. We shot into the Mississippi like greased lightning!
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| Grafton |
We decided not to stay at Grafton. As the Dockmaster at
Heritage Harbor said, Grafton is the first to flood and the last to drain.
Last
time we were here we went up the Mississippi to the town of St. Charles, an out
of the way historical city. This time we wanted to keep heading south. Plus we
want to try new things. Plus we needed to find a safe place to leave the boat
for a week while I went back to Ohio. So we headed up the river to Alton IL.
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| The bridge - Alton Marina is on the far left end of the bridge |
Alton Marina is pretty big. It has a pool (in the summer)
and is well cared for. The docks are covered like most of the marinas we will
encounter along the rivers. That means that there is a big shed covering over
all the docks. We are so tall that they put us on the t-head at the docks
closest to the entrance. Easy in / easy out. This will suit us just fine.
We had a funny experience with the pump out. Actually I
should never use the words “funny” and “pump out’ in the same sentence. We
pulled in for fuel and a pump out when we arrived. The forward waste tank
pumped out just fine. Woosh and it was clean. The rear waste tank would not
create a vacuum to pump out. Not at all. We even switched out position to try
the second machine but no luck.
There would be no pump out of the rear waste tank
for us.
That leaves us in a precarious position. We know that the front
bathroom has an empty waste tank. That is an 80 gallon tank. But the rear
bathrooms are connected to a waste tank that has not been pumped out since IVY
Club in Peoria and without this pump out in Alton, won't be pumped out until we reach Green Turtle on the Cumberland River some 5 days after Alton. That could be a problem. So we made a special note to not use
the rear bathrooms and use the Alton Marina bathrooms whenever possible. I will leave it to
your imagination to consider how Kermit is dealing with this situation!
Our friend, Cindy Bowser and her husband vacationed in Alton
this summer. I know, random. We set out checking off the restaurants she
recommended. We walked up to the town for lunch then walked to the local
grocery store for a few items. This grocery takes boaters back to the marina!
The town is very hilly. Think about it. The river floods
regularly so the town has built very high into the surrounding hills to stay
dry. Locals thought we were crazy to walk to the grocery store up those hills
but it was nothing to us except great exercise!
Wednesday night (10/24) I was scheduled to fly out of St. Louis to
Cleveland. We did chores and walked to town for lunch. We were chatting about
the cost difference between renting a car and taking a plane. Just for fun I
pulled out my phone and checked Enterprise. I couldn’t believe it but the cost
of renting a car for a week was HALF the price of taking the plane, especially
when you consider the Ubers/cabs I would have to take to get to and from both
airports. I quickly made a car reservation and cancelled the plane
reservations! That afternoon we picked up a car!
Katherine’s Adventure
I left on Thursday morning (10/25) at 5:15am central time and
arrived in Canton at about 3pm eastern time. It was a lovely ride. I got the
Sirius radio package so I entertained myself all the way home. After running
some errands I arrived at home at about 9pm. I couldn’t find my keys to get
into the house! So I had to drive over to our son Dan’s apartment in Cuyahoga
Falls to pick up the spare key. Where were my keys? On the table in the
entryway where they were very safe!
Now, imagine if I had flown to Cleveland. I would have taken
an Uber from Cleveland Hopkins Airport to the house in Fairlawn, said good-bye
to the Uber THEN discovered I did not have a key. I would have had to walk to a
hotel about a mile away or call another Uber to take me to and from Danny’s
apartment in Cuyahoga Falls. Can you imagine the added cost? That rental car is
looking smarter and smarter!
Next problem. On the weekend I pulled together the materials
I needed for the first workshop on Monday morning. The craft paper I use was in
the trunk of my car which was parked in the garage. I clicked the trunk opener
and NOTHING. The car, actually the battery, was DEAD. Now imagine if I had
taken the plane. After the adventure with the keys, now to discover the dead
car battery, I would have been in deep trouble. The rental car is really
looking smart.
I went to choir practice then sang on Sunday with my
friends. I had dinner with another friend and generally got a lot of work done.
I gave two workshops. A third workshop was postponed. I had a bunch of clients.
I collected all the items on the supply list and slept in my own bed for a week!
Wednesday morning, a week after arriving in Cleveland, I packed up the car and headed out. After
a bunch of meetings and some final grocery shopping for produce, I headed to Columbus to get a head start on the journey
back to the boat.
Kermit’s Adventure
Kermit had to be up at 5:30am on 3 out of 6 days to receive
the mechanic when he arrived. No sleeping in for him while I was gone! Here is
what Kermit did while I was gone:
Engines and transmissions:
Diagnosed transmission problems on port transmission – discovered the 30W oil made a big difference so the 40W made a big difference, a sensor was acting up and it was low on oil – with the fresh oil both transmissions work beautifully with the indicator firmly on 100 where it belongs
Received 17 gallons of 40W oil, 6 oil filters and
6 Racor fuel filters to be prepared for next oil change somewhere down the
road. We don’t want to assume that we can pick up this stuff just anywhere.
Put radar arch up. It took 2 guys. Kermit said it was very exciting
when the radar arch reached the top of the arc and started on the way down. They had to be very careful so it didn't slam down. There were no wires to reattach or anything. It was just a matter of pulling the arch up and reattaching it with 2 bolts. Easy peasy.
Upper deck:
Cleaned entire upper helm
Kermit rearranged everything on the upper deck and set
up the Weber grill. It feels like a dance floor up there
Radio and chart plotters
Installed new radio then set it up to push AIS to
chart plotter from the radio. The AIS is that registration system in which the radio recognizes the registered vessel name of vessels in the area and broadcasts it over the chart plotter screen. When you hover your cursor over the vessel symbol the name of the vessel comes up along with speed and direction. You can call that vessel by its name on the radio. You can say, "This is the pleasure craft Good Karma calling the tow Bobby Joe" and they are supposed to answer to tell us how to pass them.
Working on the new radio caused the steering wheel to leak fluids when leaned entire
dashboard console back. The lower helm steering wheel and mechanisms had to be removed and rebuilt. The shipping and handling charges cost more than the repair kit but this is now repaired.
Got weather working on chart plotter so we can see what is coming
Got MMSI programmed into radio - that ties our boat to our new radio
Loaded AquaMaps with Waterway Guide and Active Captain on new iPad
Loaded AquaMaps with Waterway Guide and Active Captain on new iPad
Cleaning:
Vacuumed entire boat, did laundry
Washed entire boat and sprayed for spiders
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| New cord cover - www.allamericanpowercordcover.com a little plug!! |
Washed the windows inside and out
Put new cord covers on our own boat!! Looks great!
Cleaned and wax the black marks caused by that dirty power cord
Cleaned and wax the black marks caused by that dirty power cord
Repair and Rebuild
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Lined up windlass rebuild kit for when we arrive
in FL
Bled the steering system and added fluid
Varnished the wood trim on new radio
Miscellaneous:
Coast guard inspection
Moved the ring buoy to a spot we can more easily
access
Got a haircut
All in all, a very productive week for both of us!
A few words about Alton Marina and the Mississippi. The
marina is tucked under the New Clark Highway Bridge right next door to the
Argosy Casino. The water was really high when we arrived but the Corps of
Engineers is bringing the water down by the way they move water through the
locks.
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There is a lock above the junction of the Illinois River and
the Mississippi. There is a lot of water pent up in the Upper Mississippi that
the lock is trying to regulate. But there has been flooding on the water below
that lock. So they are letting the water below that lock go down before releasing
the pent up water north of the lock. Got it?
That means that the water in the marina is going way down.
When I returned from Cleveland there was only about 3 feet of water under the
boat as far as we could tell. It was getting lower every day in very visible
ways. We needed to leave soon or we would be in the dirt! Literally.
Another good reason to get going? They shut off the water
and pump out at the gas dock on October 31, the day before I returned. There is
a bathroom at the office but the main bathrooms are closed. All boats remaining
in the marina (and many stay all winter) have to be winterized or have marina
issued bubblers. It is time to leave!
NEXT: We are leaving Alton on Friday morning November 2,
2018 with a buddy boat, Eagle One, headed for Hoppies. More on the Mississippi
River in the next installment!
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