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| Statues of Lincoln & Douglas debating - Ottawa, Illinois |
Hello to all,
We are presently on the Mississippi, having finished the Illinois River on Friday. After Starving Rock Lock, we stopped at Henry Illinois for the night. The marina was ok, the bar was good and we had a short walk around town the next morning before heading out. The town was small but they had preserved their downtown and it was pleasant to walk through. It was a fairly short days run to Peoria where we stayed at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club. I was the only one to use the pool there that day as everyone else thought it was cold. I had a good swim anyway. There was a dock party that evening with the seven or eight other looper boats staying there.
The next morning we were off early and headed south to Beardstown which was approximately 80 miles away. The wickets were down at the Peoria dam so we were able to sail right through without stopping. The water around the town docks at Beardstown was too shallow so we tied off to a barge at the towing service and went for a walk in town. The park was nice, otherwise there wasn't much else to town.
The next day was another 80 mile run to Grafton which is the point where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi River. The wickets were down at the last lock also so we again sailed right through. The wickets are in effect a moveable dam. When the water is too low for navigation, the wickets are raised and a dam is created that creates a pool of water behind it (generally all the way up to the next dam) that is adequate for safe navigation. When this happens, then vessels need to pass through the lock rather than around it. The locks and dams are managed by the Army Corps of Engineers and depths of each pool are measured in feet above sea level. The Corps publishes actual water levels daily on the internet based on “pool level”. This allows one to adjust both depths on the charts to the river level and also to adjust bridge clearances to actual.
When we passed through the low (17 ft) bridges in Chicago, we actually had over a foot of additional clearance since the pool above the Lockport Dam was over a foot lower than normal. Conversely, we could not pass under a 26 foot bridge on the Illinois because the water in that pool was much higher than normal, which is why the wickets were down. (Fortunately it was a lift bridge so we were able to pass through it).
The Illinois River after Joliet became more and more scenic the further west and south we went. The banks were lined with trees and we could see a lot of farmland behind the banks. We also saw Eagles and Blue Herons as well as fish jumping. As we approached Grafton, the banks rose to high hills and cliffs and it was very pretty.
Grafton was an interesting stop. The marina was nearly new. I had to squeeze the boat into a slip that was crosswise to the river current and the wind and had only a foot or so on each side. No damage! The town has a population of 600 and at least 5 bars and restaurants, 3 of which had live music that evening. There seemed to be very few customers in any of them which seemed strange for a nice Friday night. We walked around town a bit but other than the winery there was little to see.
The next day we traveled a whole 12 miles to Alton, Il which is a town of around 35,000 people. We took a car and drove into St. Louis that afternoon, visiting the famous Arch which commemorates St. Louis’s role in the westward expansion of the US. We spent most of the afternoon in the Museum of Westward Expansion which is located under the arch. It focused on the history of St Louis, the key events that pushed the country’s borders west such as the Louisiana purchase, the transcontinental railroad and the Lewis & Clark expedition. We also saw the baseball stadium. The Cardinals were playing a day/night doubleheader against the Cubs and there were fans of both everywhere.
The following day we went to the “Great Rivers” Museum which is located at the Melvin Price Lock which is about 2 miles below the marina. We were too late for the lock tour but we did get to try the simulator which lets one get a feel for driving a river tow. After a couple of tries both Bob and I successfully got the tow to pass under the bridge. We knew driving a tow had to be difficult and this further confirmed it. The tows have been getting bigger and bigger as we go. On the Illinois, the bigger tows were 3 barges wide by 5 long. We’ve seen a lot of those and several that have been 5 by 5 for a total of 25 barges being pushed by large towboats. We are told we may see some that are 56 barges! That evening there was another looper happy hour as there were at least 14 looper boats at the marina that evening. We followed that with a light dinner at Fast Eddy’s which is one of those places that has to be experienced to appreciate.
On Monday, we went back to the great rivers museum to do the lock tour. It was fun to see the operation from high up although we could not go in the control room because of security concerns. We also saw two movies there, one on commerce on the river and one on Lewis and Clark. We also had to try out the pool and hot tub in the afternoon.
The next day we started our 200 mile trek down the Mississippi. It was great going with the current and the first day was a short trip pf 40 miles to Hoppie’s fuel service dock. This is another of those classic stops which you have to do once. The “docks” consist of a series of barges anchored lengthwise in the river to which one spins around and docks going into the current. Fern, Hoppie’s wife is the fountain of knowledge for boating on the Mississippi and she gave all of us a chart class on where to anchor and what to watch out for on our way down the river. We also took a quick walk into town and sampled the mile high apple pie at a local restaurant.
On Wednesday, we did another 40 miles or so to the Kaskaskia River where we tied up to the lock. That afternoon we, Bali Motu and Silver Boots took the dinghies (theirs as ours is way too slow) and went through the lock (interesting in a dinghy) and went 10 miles up the Kaskaskia River to Evansville where we tried a couple of the local establishments for drinks and dinner.
Today was the longest day we have ever done – 110 Statute miles down the Mississippi to an anchorage at Boston Bar about 8 miles above the junction with the Ohio River which was recommended by Fern in lieu of one that had silted in. We are not out of the current, have a (high level) bridge behind us and the tows pass within 300 yards of us. Others, including Silver Boots, have used it and say it is fine but it is definitely different from anywhere else we’ve anchored. We left at 0630 and got in around 1630, helped immensely by the current. Tomorrow we go up the Ohio and have two locks to deal with as well as the current.
Everyone asks for pictures so I’ve attached a few MIS1.jpg is a scene from the Missisippi. This is one of the smaller tows. Noroom is what we had to deal with on the Sanitary and Ship Canal. We were following Honga and as you can see had no place to go. Sunset was tonight’s sunset over the Mississippi. Note the current on the float for our anchor retrieval line! More pictures on the Blog.
Off to Kentucky and Tennessee!
Steve & Jean
Aboard MV Sun Cat
We are presently on the Mississippi, having finished the Illinois River on Friday. After Starving Rock Lock, we stopped at Henry Illinois for the night. The marina was ok, the bar was good and we had a short walk around town the next morning before heading out. The town was small but they had preserved their downtown and it was pleasant to walk through. It was a fairly short days run to Peoria where we stayed at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club. I was the only one to use the pool there that day as everyone else thought it was cold. I had a good swim anyway. There was a dock party that evening with the seven or eight other looper boats staying there.
The next morning we were off early and headed south to Beardstown which was approximately 80 miles away. The wickets were down at the Peoria dam so we were able to sail right through without stopping. The water around the town docks at Beardstown was too shallow so we tied off to a barge at the towing service and went for a walk in town. The park was nice, otherwise there wasn't much else to town.
The next day was another 80 mile run to Grafton which is the point where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi River. The wickets were down at the last lock also so we again sailed right through. The wickets are in effect a moveable dam. When the water is too low for navigation, the wickets are raised and a dam is created that creates a pool of water behind it (generally all the way up to the next dam) that is adequate for safe navigation. When this happens, then vessels need to pass through the lock rather than around it. The locks and dams are managed by the Army Corps of Engineers and depths of each pool are measured in feet above sea level. The Corps publishes actual water levels daily on the internet based on “pool level”. This allows one to adjust both depths on the charts to the river level and also to adjust bridge clearances to actual.
When we passed through the low (17 ft) bridges in Chicago, we actually had over a foot of additional clearance since the pool above the Lockport Dam was over a foot lower than normal. Conversely, we could not pass under a 26 foot bridge on the Illinois because the water in that pool was much higher than normal, which is why the wickets were down. (Fortunately it was a lift bridge so we were able to pass through it).
The Illinois River after Joliet became more and more scenic the further west and south we went. The banks were lined with trees and we could see a lot of farmland behind the banks. We also saw Eagles and Blue Herons as well as fish jumping. As we approached Grafton, the banks rose to high hills and cliffs and it was very pretty.
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| The lower Illinois |
Grafton was an interesting stop. The marina was nearly new. I had to squeeze the boat into a slip that was crosswise to the river current and the wind and had only a foot or so on each side. No damage! The town has a population of 600 and at least 5 bars and restaurants, 3 of which had live music that evening. There seemed to be very few customers in any of them which seemed strange for a nice Friday night. We walked around town a bit but other than the winery there was little to see.
The next day we traveled a whole 12 miles to Alton, Il which is a town of around 35,000 people. We took a car and drove into St. Louis that afternoon, visiting the famous Arch which commemorates St. Louis’s role in the westward expansion of the US. We spent most of the afternoon in the Museum of Westward Expansion which is located under the arch. It focused on the history of St Louis, the key events that pushed the country’s borders west such as the Louisiana purchase, the transcontinental railroad and the Lewis & Clark expedition. We also saw the baseball stadium. The Cardinals were playing a day/night doubleheader against the Cubs and there were fans of both everywhere.
The following day we went to the “Great Rivers” Museum which is located at the Melvin Price Lock which is about 2 miles below the marina. We were too late for the lock tour but we did get to try the simulator which lets one get a feel for driving a river tow. After a couple of tries both Bob and I successfully got the tow to pass under the bridge. We knew driving a tow had to be difficult and this further confirmed it. The tows have been getting bigger and bigger as we go. On the Illinois, the bigger tows were 3 barges wide by 5 long. We’ve seen a lot of those and several that have been 5 by 5 for a total of 25 barges being pushed by large towboats. We are told we may see some that are 56 barges! That evening there was another looper happy hour as there were at least 14 looper boats at the marina that evening. We followed that with a light dinner at Fast Eddy’s which is one of those places that has to be experienced to appreciate.
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| Mississippi River scene |
On Monday, we went back to the great rivers museum to do the lock tour. It was fun to see the operation from high up although we could not go in the control room because of security concerns. We also saw two movies there, one on commerce on the river and one on Lewis and Clark. We also had to try out the pool and hot tub in the afternoon.
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| A "tow" and a train on the Mississippi |
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| At anchor at Boston Bar - Note the current on our anchor retrieval bouy |
On Wednesday, we did another 40 miles or so to the Kaskaskia River where we tied up to the lock. That afternoon we, Bali Motu and Silver Boots took the dinghies (theirs as ours is way too slow) and went through the lock (interesting in a dinghy) and went 10 miles up the Kaskaskia River to Evansville where we tried a couple of the local establishments for drinks and dinner.
Today was the longest day we have ever done – 110 Statute miles down the Mississippi to an anchorage at Boston Bar about 8 miles above the junction with the Ohio River which was recommended by Fern in lieu of one that had silted in. We are not out of the current, have a (high level) bridge behind us and the tows pass within 300 yards of us. Others, including Silver Boots, have used it and say it is fine but it is definitely different from anywhere else we’ve anchored. We left at 0630 and got in around 1630, helped immensely by the current. Tomorrow we go up the Ohio and have two locks to deal with as well as the current.
Everyone asks for pictures so I’ve attached a few MIS1.jpg is a scene from the Missisippi. This is one of the smaller tows. Noroom is what we had to deal with on the Sanitary and Ship Canal. We were following Honga and as you can see had no place to go. Sunset was tonight’s sunset over the Mississippi. Note the current on the float for our anchor retrieval line! More pictures on the Blog.
Off to Kentucky and Tennessee!
Steve & Jean
Aboard MV Sun Cat
