Grafton, IL to Green Turtle Bay - Part 1

We've been "off-line" for nearly a week due to a serious lack of marina's on the Mississippi River.  It has been quite a week and all great travel days through the river system.   Late last night we arrived in Grand River, KY at Green Turtle Bay Marina and will stay here for a week until next Wednesday.

Last Saturday we traveled from Grafton, IL to Kimmswick, MO which is about 65 miles and required passage through two locks (#8 and #9 since the trip started).  We had  "family day" on the boat and it was a great day for a boat ride.  In addition to the two of us, we had five adults and five children, making twelve total.  Some family came from Michigan for the weekend and some was local to the St. Louis area.  We completely enjoyed getting to see some family and were fortunate to see some of the family on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

There was a lot to see along the way in those 65 miles and two locks.  The trip covered the convergence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers right at the start of the day.  We finished the Illinois River at MM 00 and joined the Mississippi River at MM218.  We were able to see two historically significant pieces of art on the Mississippi:  The Lady of the Rivers Shrine and the Piasa Bird.

The Lady of the River Shrine is in Portage des Sioux and was erected after the Great Flood of 1951 by residents thankful that the town was spared after praying to Mary.  The Madonna that was erected is the fourth largest statue of Mary in the world and blesses river travelers as they pass by.

Our Lady of the Rivers Shrine

The Piasa Bird is a Native American landmark on a high bluff overlooking the river.  Legend has it that the giant mythical creature was painted to frighten away European invaders.  However, Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet proceeded on with the expedition undeterred by the painting.  The original was destroyed, but was restored by town residents near the original location.

Piasa Bird

Shortly after that the Missouri River joined the Mississippi River and we also passed around the east side of St. Louis, MO and got to see the Arch and also a major bridge construction project that will span across the river when complete.

Portion of a new Suspension Bridge being built in St. Louis, MO

The Arch

Mississippi Paddle Wheel River Boat

Our Great Niece Leah and Nomie

Took the Plunge arrived at Hoppie's Marina and pictures were taken of the day's crew.  We are most grateful to the crew who treated us to dinner at a local restaurant and also provided transportation for some needed re-provisioning.  Thank you very, very much!!!  We knew we were headed for some dry counties and wanted to make sure rations were on-board prior to moving farther down the river.  Having access to a car made this an easy task and we even brought rations back to the marina for fellow loopers who didn't have access to a car.

Family Day

Family Day "docktails" at Hoppie's Marina

Family dinner

Hoppie's Marina at MM 158.3 is the last marina for nearly 230 miles!  It is the only marina on the Mississippi river in the section loopers travel on.  The Mississippi river is no place for a traditional marina due to the flooding and currents so Hoppie's is a collection of barges called "flats".  These flats are lashed together to create the marina and house fuel pumps, water and outbuildings.  The owner of Hoppie's, Fern, is a river legend herself.  Each night she gather's all the loopers for a river update meeting.  Fern's evening update meetings are held in an outdoor patio area on the flats that are complete with coffee tables and lounge chairs.  During our river update meeting Fern said the Mississippi river is down about 15 feet and at its lowest level since 2003 when they closed the river for commercial traffic.  We heard reports of barges getting stuck on the bends on the radio but we didn't see any.

Hoppie's Marina - looking south

Hoppie's Marina - looking north

Stairs are provided at Hoppie's

We stayed at Hoppie's for two nights before moving on so we could see some of the local shops in Kimmswick.  Monday mid-day we left Hoppie's and continued on down the Mississippi River.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of this past week's journey.

Sights from the Illinois River

As promised in the last update it is time to share some of the interesting things we saw last week as we traveled down the Illinois River from Chicago.  There hasn't been much mention yet about the tows that we have encountered on the river.  A tow is a tug pushing one or more barges.  The size can very from small (one tug pushing one barge) to huge (one tug pushing up to 15 barges).  The barges are in "packs" and they can be a 6 pack, 9 pack, 12 pack or a full fifteen.  A full fifteen is three barges wide by five barges long.  They can be over 100 feet wide and over 1,000 feet long.  Radio communication is always required when passing or overtaking a tow as the tow captain will tell us if we should pass "on the one" or "on the two".  On the one references one whistle and on the two references two whistles.  Prior to radios, vessels communicated with each other using the horn or whistle.  Passing on the one (one whistle) is port side - the left.  And passing on the two (two whistle) is the starboard side - the right.  All of this is done while staying in the channel for depth and watching out for other possible traffic.  Below is a picture of a tow.  The bottom line for us as a pleasure craft navigating a commercial waterway is to do what the tow captain asks and stay out of their way as they have very limited maneuverability.

A tow on the Illinois River

The channel of safe passage is maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers and is marked by red and green buoys.  Because we are going downstream on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers we always keep the red on our left side and the green on our right side.  Once we enter the Ohio river we will be headed upstream and the reds will be on the right and the greens will be on the left.  Below is a picture of the red and green buoys up on land waiting to be deployed into service on the river.

Red/Green buoys on the bank

Everyone has heard about the river system being low this year and we have found that to be true.  Below are is a pictures of the riverbank.  Notice all the exposed tree roots.

Trees on the River with exposed root system

SnowCat the catamaran has been mentioned in some of the prior blogs entries.  We had gotten ahead of them for a bit but on Saturday, they passed us by on their way to Mel's where they stayed for the night.

Our friends on SnowCat

The river is low right now but the houses along the riverbank are prepared for high water.  They are all built on stilts.  The marina we are in here in Grafton, IL is a floating marina so it can accommodate the high water.  Even the pool is floating.  As we have gotten further south, the riverbank is also becoming steeper and the landscape is changing as you can see in the picture.

All the houses on the southern Illinois River are built on stilts

The view along the river is changing as we get farther south

Pictured below is a vessel graveyard of sorts.  There were many old riverboats on shore in various stages of decay.  This picture is at a place called Hamm's at MM 178.8.  We even saw a few houseboats that were probably lost during floods of years gone by.  The riverbank seems to be full of abandoned barges along the way as well.  Barges can also be re-purposed and the next marina we stay at, Hoppie's, is set of three barges that have been turned into a marina.  

Riverboat Graveyard at Hamm's

Last Saturday when we arrived in Grafton, there was a pirate ship going by.  We saw it several times Saturday evening as it was cruising the river out in front of the marina.  

Pirate Ship on the river in front of the marina

In case anyone is wondering how CJ and Turner are doing, they are doing just fine since we've been on the river.  They look quite comfortable in the picture below.

CJ and Turner

Grafton has many wineries and one is up at the top of the hill with a great view.  A courtesy shuttle comes to the marina and picks guests up and takes them up to the winery.  There is a zip line too which we may do tomorrow.  Below is the view of the river from the winery last evening when it was a clear night.  Nothing better than an evening with Bert, new friends, a cheese plate, a glass of wine, and a view!

View from the winery - looking upriver

View from the winery - looking downriver

Since we have been here a week, we've had a chance to meet many new Looper friends.  Last night there were about eight or ten boats here in the marina.  This has been partially due to a lock farther downriver being closed since last Saturday - lock #27.  Fortunately the lock re-opened this morning so it doesn't impact our travel plans.  

Yesterday a 1979 CAL 2-27 sailboat came in with Katie and Jessie aboard.  They are in their early 20's and also have a dog and a kitten on board with them.  They are headed for the Bahamas and started in early September from the west side of Michigan.  They are a couple of pretty brave young ladies and we hope to see them again this weekend at Hoppie's marina where we plan to go on Saturday.  Their blog is http://katieandjessieonaboat.com/ and they seem to be having the time of their lives!  

Katie and Jessie and the Lovey Louise

Another very interesting vessel stopped in the marina this morning for a short period of time.  Two exceptional young ladies who are doing the entire Mississippi River in a Kayak!!!!  They started in Minnesota in June.  Today they tied the Kayak to the Lovely Louise and jumped on with Katie and Jessie for the day.  With luck, we'll also see them again soon.

New Friends

Kayaking down the Mississippi - camping as they go

Today the generator exhaust hose and inverter arrived and Bert is busy reading the manual for installation.  We have one more day here in Grafton and on Saturday morning we will be blessed with family boarding Took the Plunge to travel with us for the day to Hoppie's in Kimmswick, MO.

Mile Marker 00 - Goodbye Illinois River & Hello Mississippi River

After three long travel days we arrived last night in Grafton, IL.  The marina is located at MM00 on the Illinois River and is advertised as the Key West of the mid-west.  It is sort of like Key West and PIB all rolled into one and we enjoyed very much one of the local establishments last evening while getting to know some of the local folks.

We covered 242 miles in 3 days and at 10 miles an hour, that is a lot of time on the bridge especially when you factor in lock delays.  When we left Heritage Harbor on Thursday we encountered a 2 1/2 hour lock delay at the one and only lock we had to pass through that day - Starved Rock Lock (17' drop).  By the time we pulled into the Peoria City dock it was dark, raining and cold.  We'd been traveling for 11 hours and I was starting to get sort of nervous about encountering a tow in the dark.  Only one other boat was there, Tango, and they were just coming back from dinner at Joe's Crab Shack upon our arrival.  We got the boat secured and happily discovered they had 30 Amp power for our refrigeration which was a pleasant surprise.  Many of our companion boats that we've been traveling with the past few days had stopped about an hour earlier at the Illinois Valley Yacht club, but the draft was too shallow for us.  The prospect of making dinner was just too much for me and since it was free to dock there overnight, we enjoyed dinner at Joe's Crab Shack just like Tango did.

On Friday we arrived in Beardston by 4:30 thanks to a quick pass through Peoria Lock (8' drop) which was just opening when we arrived.  In Beardston we had zero amenities and rafted off of a tug that was rafted to a couple of construction barges.  Cash only to stay overnight - no names - no registration.  We thought possibly to protect the company should an unfortunate accident happen traversing the maze to land across the tug and barges and up a very scary staircase!!

Took the Plunge way out on the end behind the Tug

The stairs to land from the barge

Stairs actually looked scarier going down.  Notice the coiled rope at
the bottom used for anti-skid before crossing the gangway to the barge.

We had to step off swim platform to the tug and then walk the
length of tug to get to the barge to cross to land.

Once we got to the front of the tug, we crossed the two construction
barges to the staircase at the wall to get to land.

Because there was no electricity we couldn't run the fridge.  The boat has a generator but the exhaust hose needs to be replaced.  The boat also has an invertor but it is non-functioning.  Both the generator exhaust hose and invertor were ordered this morning.  We plan on staying in Grafton for a week so hopefully parts arrive before we leave.   "BertGyver" came to the rescue yet again and managed to install a suitable small invertor with pieces and parts he had on the boat.  Strong enough amps that we could run the fridge overnight and save our food but not enough amps to cook dinner so up the scary stairs we went in search of dinner, which we did find.  I am married to the most resourceful man on the planet.  It is amazing what he can do with an truck camper invertor and a couple of re-purposed extension cords.  All that engineering after a full day of driving the boat.  It took him about an hour to get it all hooked up when we arrived.

The green box is the make-shift invertor that Bert installed to
get  the fridge going for our overnight stay with no electric.

We also got to enjoy a beautiful sunset while rafted to the tug, but in the morning it was fog!  We had to delay our departure for just a bit and as a result, got tied up at the LaGrange Lock (10' drop) for about 90 minutes.  LaGrange was the last lock on the Illinois River.  We've passed through eight locks so far and dropped a total of 157 feet!  

Peaceful and Beautiful Sunset at night

Scary fog in the morning

Grafton marina offers a buy four nights, get three nights free option, so we plan to just kick back and relax for a week here and wait for the ordered parts to arrive.  As always, the boat needs to be washed so that will be a project one day this week.  Next weekend we look forward to having some family come to visit and ride along with us on our 1st day on the Mississippi River to Hoppie's Marina in Kimmswick, MO.  

We've seen some pretty interesting sights as we've come down the Illinois River this week so I'll post some pictures of what we've seen soon.

To go or not to go???

To go or not to go?  That is the question of the day.  On Tuesday we left Dresdin (MM 273.5) and headed out.  The first lock we came to only two miles down the river had a huge crane in it doing work so we were forced to tie up on the wall and wait when we arrived at 9:15 am.  By the time the lock was open, there were six looper boats all waiting to lock through.  Some we knew, some were new that we became acquainted with.  Snow Cat was there.  We met a new boat, Our Bubble, from Charlevoix, MI that is a nice family with two small kids and two small dogs.  They started the trip on Sept 2nd.  Such a small world and in talking with them we learned Bert's cousin Klaus and his wife Chelsea know this couple quite well as Chelsea was the nanny for their kids for several years.  We also met Tango and Carried Away.  We all cleared the lock at about 12:45 pm and were on our way.  The remainder of the day was smooth and there was a minimal 30 minute delay at the second lock on Tuesday.  Snow Cat, Our Bubble, Tango, Carried Away and Took the Plunge all arrived at Heritage Harbor in Ottawa, IL safely which is at MM 242.3.  We made it 31.2 miles Tuesday and dropped a total of 46 feet in the two locks (20' and 26').

Line of pleasure boats cleared to enter the first lock

We've been here since then.  Heritage Harbor is a fantastic marina.  We negotiated a group discount of $1 per foot so it is the cheapest we've found so far.  There is strong internet, BBQ grills, an on-site restaurant and bar call Tracey's Boathouse, a pool and an brand new courtesy van which we all used to go to WalMart on Tuesday night.  After dinner we hung out at the bar for a bit and met Tracey (the owner) and her husband which were great folks as are the harbor hosts we me upon arrival.

Memorial in Ottawa, IL - Lincoln/Douglas Debate - First National Debate 08/21/1858

Yesterday was a low key day.  One side of the boat got washed and a significant amount of time was spent determining the stops for the next few days and our options are very limited due to the depth we need and the shallowness of the river.  Many marinas are not available to us at all.  Happily we do have a game plan.

While I've been typing, Bert has decided we go today so it is time for me to start securing the boat for travel once again.  Today we will stop in Peoria on the city dock at MM 162.5.  They allow no overnight transients, but we called and made arrangements provided there is room on the wall.  We've heard they have 15 amp power so we will at least be able to keep the fridge/freezer cold.  Next we will go to MM 88.4 and tie to a barge courtesy of Logston Tug Service.  Again, provided there is availability.  No electric, no services.  On day three we'll go to MM 21.1 and tie at Mel's diner.  Again, provided there is availability.  No electric, no services.  Finally we'll arrive in either Graton or Alton and wait out the weekend in a marina once again.  There is more to the story, but we'll save that for next time.

We finished last night with exchanging of boat cards and  "docktails" with Snow Cat and Our Bubble.  We also got to do boat tours.  Both boats are really nice and it is wonderful to get to see other looper boats.  Snow Cat is a Catamaran.

Quiet First Day on the River

Yesterday was such an amazing day and the place we stopped for the night, Harborside Marina (MM 273.5) has extremely strong internet so I can post many pictures this morning before we start for the day.  The marina has room for one or two large boats on its gas dock which is where we parked for the night, water depth of 7' and we were able to get shore power and walk around a bit so we were very thankful there wasn't a boat here already when we arrive last night around 5:00 pm.  

The journey down the river is measured in miles in the guidebooks, sort of like the Florida Keys are.  We started at MM 327.4 at the Chicago Lock yesterday morning.  We arrived at the lock at 8:00 am to pass through with another looper boat SnowCat only to learn from the lockmaster that the river is closed in downtown Chicago from 10 after to 40 after every hour for a movie that is being filmed.  We just waited out in the lake until 8:30 at which time the lockmaster let us pass through.  Only a 2' drop in the first lock.  Once through we saw the movie camera's on the side of the river.

In total we passed through 3 locks yesterday dropping 2', 40' and then 34' and the lock delays were minimal:  30 min, 45 min and 10 min.  We went under approximately 64 bridges.  Some of bridges were sooooooooooooo close.  Bert reached up and touched his hands to one of them as we passed under.  The bridges in Chicago were full of pedestrians and we could hear their feet as we passed under many of them.
On one bridge we noticed a man that just stopped to watch us pass.  He had on his suit and his briefcase.  Bert called up to him to jump on and come with us and the guy said:  "I wish I could".  At that moment, I knew we made the right choice to just do this trip now.

We passed by barges/tows too.  Fortunately the "10 miles of Hell" as loopers call it where commercial traffic is heavy and the canal narrow was light on traffic yesterday and we passed right through.  The AIS part of electronics system Bert selected and installed was fantastic because when we had to hail another captain on the radio, we could call the vessel by name because the AIS system provides the name of the vessel.  It also tells us if the vessel is moving, at what speed and which direction, either up or down river.

Once we left Chicago, the river was pretty industrial/commercial and then it turned rural.  This morning it is quiet and there is a great view out the window of the river and trees.  When I opened the blinds this morning there were even two swans swimming just outside the window.  With the windows open all we can hear are the birds.  Just beautiful!

We have no idea where we will end up today but we are hoping to get to Peoria, IL by Wednesday or Thursday.  We have 2 or 3 locks again today to pass through.  Now for the pictures.

Heading for Chicago Lock

Passing our first tow right in Chicago

One of the bascule bridges

The next one is a video of the 10' clearance Amtrak Rail Road Lift Bridge at MM 323.5.  I'd never seen a lift bridge before so I took a short video of it.  Once we hailed the bridge, up it went so we could pass through.

River view once we left Chicago

The marina we stayed at has floating houses.  Below is a picture of one right in front of us at the gas dock.  The view off the aft deck was much better.  More like the one above.  Sitting on the aft deck last night we just saw the river and the trees.  Until dark, when the Coke machine on the gas dock provided us illumination.

View from the bridge of our boat

Radar Mast, part of the canvas and the flag back in place!

Ready for Downtown

Time to say goodbye to Chicago in the morning.  We are ready for downtown adventure tomorrow.  All the canvas is down.  Took the Plunge looks so different with the bridge canvas and radar mast removed.

Canvas and Radar Mast Removed

PS:  Half Marathon went much better than expected.  No official finish time posted on the internet yet, but it is somewhere around 2 hours 16 minutes.

Chi Town

There is so much to see and do in Chicago it is a bit overwhelming.   Our trip from Kenosha to Chicago on Friday was a little more "exciting" than we had planned for.  It was still a fairly good ride, but some weather developed part way down and we considered changing plans and seeking a closer harbor to get out of the waves.  We took several waves over the bow for the first time since we started the trip.  I guess Lake Michigan didn't want us to miss some big water experience on our last day on the lake as she showed us 4 foot seas for a bit.  Bert says our old boat The Work Zone handles waves much better than Took the Plunge does.  Fortunately the lake calmed back down and we continued on safely to Burnham Harbor in Chicago.

Here in the harbor on the next dock there is a 190 foot privately owned vessel named Blue Moon.  It has three tenders including a 29 foot restored Riva.  It holds 14,000 gallons of diesel and 8,000 gallons of fresh water.  It has crew quarters for 16 crew members in 8 staterooms.  It has 5 staterooms for guests, a Star Trek elevator and two gymnasiums.  After dusk last night its lights were on and it was just as beautiful as the Chicago skyline at night.  Bert did some research on the web last night to learn a little more about it which is why some information about it can be shared.

Blue Moon

Yesterday afternoon we visited Navy Pier and Hilary is now registered rather unexpectedly for the 16th Annual Chicago Half Marathon that will take place on Lake Shore drive tomorrow.  The package pick up and expo was going on in exhibit hall B and we wandered in "just to take a quick look".  ha!

I'm a sucker for the free shirt and finishers medal

Art outside entrance to Navy Pier - yes those are all full size canoes!!!

Bert's "must see" list included the Chicago Bean made of stainless steel.  After completing our visit to Navy Pier, we set out to find the bean.  It really is quite amazing to see.  I liked how all the surrounding buildings reflected off of it.

Chicago Bean

Bert, BMX & Bean

Today we set out to locate the Metra station to get to the start line of the half marathon.  Since train boarding will be at about 5:30 am it seemed like a good idea to find the station today. Just as we were leaving the marina to find the Metra station, in front of McCormick Place there was a man flying around with a water jet pack.  We watched him for about 15 minutes in amazement.  Sometimes he would get at least 30' up in the air and it seemed sort of like Iron Man for the water.  Not pictured is the jet ski that followed him around as he flew.  It seemed like the pump for the jet pack was attached to the jet ski somehow and then the big orange hose ran from the jet ski to his jet pack.  Now this is something you don't get to see everyday.  We were suspicious that an expensive toy like that might be a part of Blue Moon, pictured in the back ground.

Flying man!

Once the flying man stopped flying and we found the Metra station, we headed for the Magnificent Mile for a day of window shopping and a nice lunch too at an Italian restaurant on Rush street.  We rounded out the day by attending the Vigil Mass at Old St. Mary's Catholic Church which happens to be the oldest catholic parish in Chicago.  Their chapter of the Knights of Columbus has a charter number of 185, which means it is the 185th chapter founded in the United States.  It is an old one.  Tonight is a quiet evening on the boat with an early bedtime because tomorrow will be full of another day's adventures.  It is race day!!!!!  And don't forget about that Bear's game.  There will be tailgating to go to since the parking lots for tailgating are right here at the marina.  Today we learned it is the Chicago Bears season opening home game.  We watched the yellow stripes being painted on freshly top-coated parking lots for tailgaters just this morning when we were riding our bikes around trying to locate that Metra station.