Peoria to Grafton - Sept 17 & 18

We left the Nina and Pinta in our dust early Wednesday morning. Our travels today took us past two lock and dams.  Because of high water, we were able to go through the dam and not need to lock down. Both of these had "wicket dams". At times of high water, the wickets (the dam) are lowered to the bottom of the river, allowing the water and boats to flow through the dam.  Smooth and much faster than locking down.  

Late in the day, we spotted three fellow loopers anchored behind Big Blue Island. We anchored there also.  We were very happy with our progress today as we covered 100 miles instead of our goal of 80 miles.  After enjoying brats cooked on the grill, Steve went to work on fixing a sticky transmission cable. As usual, he did better than McGuyver!  We were thankful enjoyed quiet, peaceful night sleep.

We are seeing more and more debris in the river each day. Large sticks, logs and trees! We are hearing of others that are having anchors dislodged or tangled due to the debris. 

Thursday morning we continued on to Grafton. It was a windy day with more logs, tows, pelicans and bald eagles.  Mid afternoon we arrived at our marina in Grafton where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi River. Grafton is labeled the "Key West of the Midwest". Great little town with shops and wineries.  

 The Nina at sunrise.

Beyond the bridge you can see the lock and wicket dam. (The open lock to the right and open dam to the left)

 Debris playing havoc with the nun.

 Our anchorage. You can see the river current sweeping past the boats.

 Work, work, work!

 Russ and Elaine from Twelve Stones pulling anchor.

 Cliffs along river at Grafton.

 View from winery on hilltop.

 Our first selfie!

Peoria Heights to Peoria Sept 15 & 16

We stayed at the Illinois Yacht Club two nights due to rain and fog on Monday. The captain did some projects on the boat. The first mate did some wash and took a walk around the area with her umbrella.

Quite miserable, yet adventuresome. Had dinner across the street at the No Wake Zone restaurant with  three other Loopers. Heard lots of stories about what's to come.

Tuesday morning we headed on down to the city docks of Peoria - 5 miles!  Short travel day. (Free dock with electric.) Beautiful sunny day!  We docked next to the Nina and Pinta replica ships. Very cool!  

Walked into town and toured the CAT Visitor Center / Show (off) Room.  Wow...big trucks!

Steve did a great job in the bulldozer and excuvator simulators. Sheli didn't do so well.

Enjoyed the sunny warm day walking around the area.  Two other looper boats (As the Crow Flies and Blue Moon) joined us at the City Dock. Soon after a third boat joined us - a couple doing the loop in a canoe!  Yup....a canoe, a couple and a dog!  (Ready to try it Rol & Sherri?)

Our goal is to make it to Grafton by Thursday evening. Grafton is roughly 160 miles from Peoria. 

We hope to travel 80 miles on Wednesday and Thursday.

Local ducks named Aflac & Flo. They bubble an area in the marina in the winter for them!

   

  HISTORY CORRECTION: It appears the three ships were "The Nina, the Pinta and the Pura Vida!

 Canoe! No way!

Chilicothe to Peoria Heights - Sep 14

Sunday morning we bicycled back to town to attend Chilicothe Christian Church.  Many members as well as the minister thought is was a hoot that we showed up on bicycle (especially when they learned we are living on a boat!) The minister showed us where to park our bikes and welcomed us, before the service.  We thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, especially when an elderly member broke out his harmonica and played along with the singing.

We took on fuel before departing Hamm's and then continued down the river ten miles.

Our destination for the evening is Illinois Valley Yacht Club. We are unsure how long we will stay here as many marinas downstream are full.  The Mississippi River is closed to Pleasure Craft due to high water and debris so all loopers are stacking up, waiting for the river to open.

So much for our year in flip flops! 

Henry to Chilicothe - Sept 13

We slept great our first night "on the hook" even after watching the movie Captain Phillips on the ipad before retiring for the evening.  Woke up to beautiful blue skies and pelicans flying above. What a sight!

Out AIS system warned us of a tow coming up the river, so we delayed our departure until he passed by. 20 miles downstream we slipped at a very unusual marina. Hamm's Holiday Harbor Marina is a one man show marina with old, out of commission Casino River Boats and barges. This stop is not for everyone, but the captain reminded his first mate that we are on an adventure...so why not!

And we loved it!   We bicycled a couple miles to the nearest town of Chilicothe. The town was offering passenger train rides for the locals, so in the town square there was music, food and fun for all.

Dinner was yummy as we grilled out on the boat again.

 Grilling at our anchorage.

 Sunny morning view.

 Bow fishing for Asian Carp!

 Hamm's Holiday Harbor Marina

Ottawa to Henry - Sept 12

Up at 6am to get a report from a fellow looper on what time we can get through our next lock, just 10 miles down river.  The report was there was a tow coming up that would take 2 lifts to get all his barges through. By being at the lock at 9am, we could ride down between his sets of barges. Our timing was perfect and six Looper boats locked down together. We snuck around the barges waiting on top and again on the bottom. Fun! The captain of the Pura Vida was fabulous!

We had a smooth ride on to Henry, Illinois.  We travelled from mile marker 242 to mile marker 195. Easy day!  We dropped anchor around 2pm in an abandoned gravel pit off the river, 1/2 mile south of Henry.  We are the only boat in this small cutout.  Very neat!  After lunch on board we jumped in the dinghy to check out the town of Henry. Sheli was hoping we would scare up some Asian Carp, but Steve was happy we didn't.  The town was pretty much closed up except for a hardware store and a grocery store.  We made purchases at both.  Even though it's cool and rainy, we plan to grill out tonight on the boat.  This is our first night "on the hook" (anchoring out) since we left, so we will see how well we sleep!

 Captain Adorable!

 Pelicans!

  We are here!

 Our home for the night.

 Very cool old time hardware store!

Ottawa - Sept 10 & 11

Wednesday morning we used a courtesy car from the marina to go out to breakfast and then to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries.  Paul and Cindy intended to head home this morning but after many broken commitments from the car rental agency, it became apparent they wer not getting out of town on Wednesday.  So, Steve and Paul went to work on running wires to control the anchor from the helm. Great bonus for us!

Thursday morning we drove Paul and Cindy to Joliet where they were able to get a car to drive home to Michigan.  They were a great crew and will be missed.  We spent the day cleaning, organizing and researching our next few days of travel.  In the afternoon, we took a long walk around the Marina's new housing project.  It was a cold, dreary 50 degree day but all is good!  

Joliet to Ottawa - Sept 9

Left the Joliet city wall by 7am to begin our 46 mile cruise to Ottawa.  This turned into a 10 hour day due to a three hour delay at our last lock.  A 14 barge tow and a fuel barge take a long time lock through. Our marina for the evening is the Heritage Harbor Marina where we stayed with Henk Witte on the Marco Polo II three years ago. Great marina!  Due to weather we will spend Wednesday here also.