Down the Rivers We Go (Finally)Days 115-121

 

After leaving Chicago we went to fill up our diesel tanks at Hammond Marina before heading into the Calumet- Saganashkee Channel a.k.a Cal-Sag.  Unfortunately the starboard engine would not start after filling up and we limped up the Channel with just one engine to our first stop at Marine Services.  We thought we might end up staying for a few days unless Mike could work his magic on the engine.  Turns out after we ordered a new starter, Mike decided to use a hammer on it and it worked.  In fact it has worked ever since.  We left without the new starter but the “Looper Express” has it just a few days behind us.

We left Marine Services on the Calumet River before the sun was up with a small flotilla that Mike was leading to the Joliet wall.

Although this was in the middle of Chicagoland, we did manage to find some beauty.  Most surprising were the three deer swimming across the river.

There were several of these surprisingly pretty parks with waterfalls that turned out to be the Chicago water sanitation project.

There are electric barriers set up in the river to protect Lake Michigan from the invasive Asian Carp. Most boats do not have a problem crossing the barrier but we had two boats in our flotilla lose power as they went through.  One was able to shut down all systems and bring them back up one at a time.  The other boat had to wait for a tow.  It was so sad to leave them behind.

This bald eagle was just sitting on the top of this sand pile. Most of the Illinois was fairly industrial at this point.

We had 4 bridges that needed to be raised just before we reached the wall in Joliet.  The bridge tender was kind enough to take photos of all of us passing through.

These are my shots.

I think vessel this is the prettiest.

The rest of our flotilla arrived at dusk.  We had16 boats which made for a very entertaining captains meeting to plan for the big 3 lock move in the morning.

This drone footage was taken by our new friends on Pickette’s Pub.

It was a pretty exciting morning to get 16 boats off the wall, under a bridge that needed lifting and staging at the lock where we had to wait about 25 minutes for the lock to be ready.

We have three flotillas of 4 boats each rafted in front.  Mike had the best shot we could get from up on the roof.  He was also able to get a shot of the three boats rafted to us.  These would be our rafts for each of the locks.

The boat next to us, Frosty, shared this time lapsed video of the first lock.  If you look closely you can see them pull up to us.

We stayed at Heritage Harbor, which is a lovely marina community.  They opened the restaurant just for our group. Jermey gave a detailed presentation on what we could expect as we proceeded down the Illinois River.

It was really cold in the predawn hours. There was even a layer of ice on the bow and I had an unfortunate fall. Fortunately, my knees are just fine.  My posterior is not too happy. Mike led the entire flotilla to the only lock of the day.

It was much prettier as we moved south.

We assigned everyone a rafting order and we moved through the lock with military precision.

The Illinois Valley Yacht Club was our home for two nights. 

We had visitors from Mike’s hometown, the Quad Cities in Iowa, just an hour and a half away. Ralph Sr.; a boating mentor of Mike’s, made the trip in the morning and graciously took us on a provision run to the local grocery store. Mike’s aunt Kathy, cousins Shelly and Barbie and her husband John joined us in the afternoon for a short cruise and dinner at the club.

As I said earlier, the further south we go we have nicer scenery.

We also see lots of tugs pushing barges.  The wakes behind them are impressive.

After a 165 mile run with two locks (yes we travelled alone today) we arrived at sunset in the “Key West of the Midwest,” Grafton Harbor.

Our Journey

“All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬