Finally, on September 6th, we decided to make the short run to Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, hugging the coastline because small craft advisories were in effect. By the time we reached the St. Joseph River Inlet it was getting uncomfortable, so we were glad to get off the lake again and tuck into West Basin Marina to await a favorable weather window before going any further. Here we took on almost 200 gallons of diesel fuel before tying up at our slip.
Unfortunately, our routine engine room inspection the next morning revealed cloudy fuel in the filter housings on both engines. Apparently, we had gotten fuel from the bottom of their tank right before a new supply was received. Luckily, after the fuel distributor examined our diesel, plus that from one other boat which had fueled up right after us, they agreed to pay to have our tanks pumped out and refilled with good fuel.
In the meantime, while all of this was being arranged, we had the opportunity to ride our bicycles in to the town of St. Joseph on the other side of the river for a little sightseeing, plus a great lunch at Cafee Tosi.
Once again, each day we also walked down to the inlet to check out conditions on the lake in preparation for moving on.
By now, we had spent so many days sitting in various harbors awaiting favorable cruising conditions that all we could think of was getting off Lake Michigan! The days we had planned to spend in Chicago had already passed, and we were getting nervous about getting stuck here too late in the season when conditions were likely to deteriorate further, so we made the decision to bypass Chicago altogether and head for the inland rivers.
On September 10th, with clean new fuel in our tanks and a positive weather forecast, we headed for Michigan City, Indiana, about 37 miles away on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. This trip was relatively uneventful (boring is good), with the exception of a feathered hitch-hiker we picked up along the way, which seemed taken with our smashed fender, a casualty of the rough time we spent being bounced around during our stay at South Haven, MI.
The next day, it was on to Hammond, IN, just a few miles southeast of Calumet Harbor where, after almost four weeks, our Lake Michigan Odyssey would finally come to an end. On September 12th, we left Hammond Marina, following fellow Looper boats, “Ookpik” and “Nauti Nell,” destination: the Calumet-Sag Channel (10 miles south of Chicago), which would, after 30 miles, lead us to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and then on to the Illinois River.
This was certainly different from the open waters of Lake Michigan. Here we had numerous bridges to contend with; some were high enough to pass right under, while others opened upon request.
Once again, we had to negotiate locks, either grabbing a line attached to the lock wall or tying up to a floating bollard.
Added to that was commercial barge traffic, which really kept us on our toes. For one stretch, called the “12 miles of Hell,” the channel was narrow and we had to pass barges parked along one wall, hoping none were coming at us in the other direction. To make it even more interesting, the concrete walls reflect waves back upon themselves, which makes for a rather bumpy ride.
Although we were glad to be off Lake Michigan, at times we felt rather like we had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire! So, on that first day of this new phase of our journey, after six and a half hours of cruising, we were quite happy to tie up to the free town wall at Joliet, Illinois, and be able to relax. We were cautioned by locals not to go out walking alone at night and to tie up carefully with lines coming back to the boat so no one could untie them, but we were too tired to go out anyway, and we had no problems there. And, we thank the town of Joliet for the free electric hook-up!
The next day was another long one, covering 45 miles of the Illinois River and negotiating three more locks. We had picked up another cruising companion at Joliet, a catamaran named “Awe-Spray,” so we were now a group of four boats, pleasure craft (or “PC’s” as the lock masters and towboats referred to us), locking through together.
At two of these locks we had to wait about an hour each time for barge traffic to go through first. It was fascinating to watch the tugs maneuver multiple barges tied together, even splitting them up to go through the locks.
When we encountered these tows (like this one pushing twelve barges) along the river and wanted to pass them, we called them on our VHF radio, using a special language to communicate. “Up bound tow passing Sugar Island, this is up bound pleasure craft Docker’s Inn coming up on your stern, wanting to overtake you with a one whistle pass. Is that OK with you, Captain?” Reply: “Garble, garble, PC, meet y’allonaone; y’allhavasaf journey, Cap.”
Our boating companions were planning to tie up at the free town dock in Ottawa, IL, that evening, but since there was barely enough room for the three of them, we decided to pull into Heritage Harbor Marina just before that instead. This turned out to be a very Looper friendly marina where we reconnected with several other Looper boats we had met before along the way. All of us got together for happy hour and dinner at the on site Boathouse Restaurant and had a great time catching up and comparing notes.
Two days later, on September 15th, we moved on down the Illinois River on a sunny, but very cool day, what we refer to as 3-layer weather.
At the Starved Rock Lock, once again we had to wait for barge traffic. This time there were nine of us “PC’s” waiting at least two hours with nowhere to tie up while we waited.
We were lucky, however, because while we waited, other tows with barges arrived, and they waited for us to lock through first. Locking through with us was a “light tow” (one not pushing barges). His barges were waiting at the bottom of the lock, and we had to squeeze by them as we all exited the lock. Then he came out to pick them up and headed down river behind us.
That afternoon we stopped at a very low key marina, The Landings at Henry Harbor, where we tied up to the wall of an old abandoned lock.
Even though this was rustic, to say the least, there were no complaints from us as we enjoyed a pitcher of beer, plus wings and fries at their bar/grill restaurant.
The next day we crossed Peoria Lake. Although it was cloudy and very cool, we considered ourselves lucky because there was virtually no wind, leaving the lake surface smooth.
Along the way, we were surprised by huge flocks of seagulls this far away from the sea, and we were also inundated with Mayflies, which locals told us were unusual this time of year. That day we stopped at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club (referred to as the IVY Club), where we enjoyed lunch at the bar while our clothes were washing and drying in their onsite laundry. We were fortunate to get their last available slip, and enjoyed cocktails that evening onboard “Sonata” with Charlie and Bonnie who are doing the Loop for the second time.
The next morning we passed by the city of Peoria on our way to the Peoria Lock.
Just as we passed by, a classic riverboat, “The Spirit of Peoria,” left the city dock and followed us. We ended up locking through with them.
We had also seen several beached riverboats, so it was good to see that at least some of them are still in service today.
The further we moved along the Illinois River, the fewer options we had for overnight mooring. In fact, the only choice we had that night was to stop at Logston Tug Service in Beardstown, IL, and tie up to a barge. This we did, along with “Sonata.”
Here we climbed up to the pilothouse of the tugboat and paid $45 cash to the tugboat captain for the privilege of securing our boat to one of his barges for the night, hoping that he would not want to move it before morning.
I don’t want to disparage Beardstown, but suffice it to say that our Verizon internet air card switched into global roaming mode when I attempted to go online. According to the Verizon technical assistance guy, the device didn’t recognize Beardstown as being part of the U.S.
With 88 miles still to go on the Illinois River before it would join the Mississippi, we found one more possible stopover the next day at the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant. Here we paid $25 at the restaurant to tie up to their dock overnight, with the extra added bonus that we could purchase a good meal as well.
We woke up the next morning to find the boat covered with dead Mayflies, which we attempted to clean up a bit before moving on. Along the riverbanks, we saw lots of houses on stilts, no doubt because of the floods that afflict this area from time to time.
Later on, the scenery changed from low flood plains to more mountainous, similar to parts of North Carolina.
In a couple of places we had to be alert for ferry boats crossing the river, the only way for cars in this area to get from one side of the Illinois River to the other.
At Mile 0, we arrived at Grafton Harbor Marina, our voyage on the Illinois River now complete.
The Village of Grafton is a small, one street burg, but there seemed to be one winery/brewery per person. Pumpkin ale anyone? Actually, it was good.
After our overnight stay in Grafton we entered the mighty Mississippi River, but that's a story for another blog posting.
What an adventure!
ReplyDeleteHey are you guys coming down to Florida for Trawlerfest in February 2012? We met you there last year in Stuart at Cruiserfest.
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