6 Locks Down and Only 20 More to the Gulf

We did two locks on Wednesday and two today (Friday). Remember we did two before Joliet and with these 4 that makes 6. I wish I could say we are experts but we are still learning. The first four had what they call floating bollards. You pull up to the lock wall at the middle of the boat and wrap a line around the middle cleat on the boat and then wrap it around the pole and back to the cleat. The pole or bollard goes up and down with the water so with the line wrapped around it holds the boat to the wall without other lines. This is a pretty nice system and easy to use. The last two locks did not have enough bollards for all of the boats so they just give you two lines and you hold on while the water drops. There was no wind or current in the locks so this was easy too except that it takes two people to hold the lines as opposed to the bollard which only has one line.

We met some very nice people in Joliet and we have traveled with them for the last three days. One couple is from Vermont and the other couple is from Martha's Vineyard. It has been great to follow the leader each day on the river and in the locks. We went from Joliet to Seneca, IL on Wednesday and stayed at Spring Brook Marina. There were two locks to get through and we got right through the first one but we were held up at the second lock for about 3 hours. Spring Brook is a nice marina and they had a courtesy van so we decided to stay another day and hit the Super WalMart which was only about 15 miles away. There was laundry to do also so 5 of us (Michael, from "Nova" stayed at the boat and changed his oil) went into Seneca to do laundry and then we were off to WalMart. I was the navigator and if you have been reading the blog you know that is probably not the best job for me. We went the wrong direction for about 10 miles but I figured it out and we were back on track. The girls put the clothes in the machines and we went to have coffee until it was time to put the clothes in the dryer. Gene (from "Free To B") and I walked around town while the clothes dried. We then all headed to WalMart and did a lot of shopping. Besides food, we each got oil for the engines and thankfully we had a van because we needed all of the room. Gene and I decided it would be best if I drove home and he did the navigating which was fine with me. We had happy hour on "Free To B" and decided to head to Henry, IL on Friday which was 55 miles away.

We left Seneca at 8:00 and we made both locks in good time with very little delay. It was raining pretty hard when we got to Henry so we went really slow and figured out where to tie up. The entrance to the marina is too shallow for our boats so we docked on an abandoned lock wall (see pictures below). We are headed to Peoria tomorrow to fuel up and hopefully spend the night. Right now we are headed to dinner in a few minutes.

We are back from dinner at the restaurant at the marina. It is a bar and restaurant. Country music in the bar (and a few bras) and Frank Sinatra in the dining room (we were the only ones in there). Typical bar food and the drinks were cheap. Check out the pictures.

A floating bollard

I always get the hard jobs - what the heck is Ginny doing?

A wannabe casino

One of the boats we are traveling with waiting for the lock.

I am pretty sure this is a duck blind, but what do I know.

We found the floating houses.

Spring Brook Marina in Seneca, IL

Leaving Spring Brook headed for Henry

Obviously this is not just corn and beans country.

Starved Rock

The town of Hennipen, IL.

We passed up this gem for Henry, what were we thinking.

Nice big Hatteras that passed us on the river.

Tied up at Henry.

At least we had 50 Amp power

Tied up to trees on an abandoned lock wall

You didn't know I was a mountain climber did you.

Not sure we are the same - but I can't argue with the price of beer.

In case you want to google this hot spot

I asked Ginny if she wanted to contribute but she said bras aren't cheap.

Not sure what a Lawn Chair Hero is but I can bet it includes beer, country music and maybe a few bras.

We made it to the river

In the last post I told you we were stuck at Hammond Marina because of gale force winds on Lake Michigan. That was Monday, and Tuesday was not supposed to be much better. We got up real early on Tuesday and the wind and waves were less but not by much. We decided to take a chance, Ginny got us out of the marina just fine but I can tell you the waves were large and the way we needed to go the waves were on our side so Ginny had to turn into the waves until we were able to turn towards the river channel. It took about 15 minutes to go a very short distance but all was good and we were in the river. The wind was still strong but there were no waves so we were able to travel just fine. The only problem is that this was all new to both of us and we were a little lost at first. In the lakes you didn't have much to worry about except plotting a good course and maybe some angst at docking. On the river you need to worry about bridges and if they are to low then they need to be opened which means you need to know how to contact them which is an art in itself. There are barges or as they like to be called tows and they have to tell you which side to pass them on which is another art and a language all its own. I won't try to explain the one whistle and the two whistle but you get the idea. There are several no wake areas so you need to be aware. Ginny and I don't always agree on the speed we should be traveling but I am getting better I hope. Oh and don't forget the locks. You have to know how and when to call them and follow the traffic lights and horn signals and you will be fine. The first lock we came to we were the only one in the lock and the lock master didn't bother to tell us if we needed to tie off or not so we just floated around until the exit door opened and we left. I remembered a post last year on Ocean Breezes blog where they said the same thing so I was pretty sure we were OK. The second lock was much better because the lock masters were very nice and came out to explain how to do it. At first we were the only ones in the lock and then all of sudden another 4 boats came in which was great so we could watch them. It turned out that they were all going to the same place, on the wall at Joliet, so we got to meet them and we are traveling with them today through another couple of locks. We called the lock in the morning and they said they could take us at 8:00 but there was a bridge in the way that needed to be opened and they wouldn't open until 8:30 so we called the lock back and they said they would wait. We got in and out pretty quick and went to the second lock but they are really busy and they said we had to wait a couple of hours to get through so that is where we are now. Like I said we spent last night on the wall at Joliet and tonight we plan to stay at a marina in Seneca. We need a pump out (whew!!!) bad and we will get fuel also. I don't know if we are going to travel tomorrow or not, we will see.

Leaving Hammond.

I know it doesn't look rough but we were inside the break wall before I could stand up to take a picture.

A pretty water feature on the Calumet River

Just one of the many bridges we had to deal with

The first lock.

This is view outside before the lock doors are opened and the green light goes on.

Open Sesame.

The exit doors opening.

Don't dare leave before the horn goes off or you will get spoken to.

A bad day at the marina.

Our first tow.

I called and he said pass him on the 2. I called him back and asked him if that was his 2 or my 2 and he said it was both our two's. Ginny was driving so I let her figure it out :-)

Another tow - we passed on the one

The confluence of the Calumet River and Chicago River.

Going into the second lock at Lockport.

We were alone in the lock for a while but other Loopers came.

This lock was a drop of 40'

No more Michigan harbor signs so I will try to do the best I can.

Harrah's Casino in Joliet.

There were no bathrooms at the wall so we walked across the bridge to the casino.

These are the 4 Looper boats that stayed in Joliet and who we are travelling with today.

So close and yet so far away

We are still on Lake Michigan. We have been so lucky with the weather until now. We are less than 1/2 mile from the Calumet River but there are gale force winds out of the North and we can't even get out of the harbor. On Friday we walked from the harbor over to Michigan Avenue. It was in the 90's and high humidity so we were completely exhausted when we got back. Cheri's husband and some friends picked her up late Friday afternoon and then Ginny's sister Cathy picked us up and we went to dinner in the city at a very nice steakhouse. Saturday was a lay around day. I did some maintenance on the engines but mostly did nothing. There was a Looper party on Saturday night hosted by the Sutton's who live in Chicago. There were about 35 current and former Loopers and it was great meeting new people. The Sutton's live in a high rise and the party was on the penthouse level with a great view of the lake and Soldier Field. There was a lot of talk about the bad weather coming and what everyone was going to do. We had planned to stay at Burnham Harbor in Chicago until Monday and then go to Calumet which is about 10 miles away. On Saturday the weather report for Sunday and Monday was high winds and rain so we decided to move the boat to Hammond, Indiana on Sunday morning which is only about 1/2 mile from the Calumet River thinking that we would be close to the river and even if the weather was bad we could still get to the river. I didn't count on 35MPH winds and 10' waves in the harbor. I am still glad we went to Hammond because when the weather does get better we can get going through the first couple of locks and on to Joliet in good daylight. The trip to Hammond was fine and the marina is very nice. There is a large casino called Horseshoe on the marina grounds which will probably get some of my money today. We spent all day on Sunday (my birthday) at Ginny's sister's house in the suburbs and it was great. We got off the boat, got caught up on the family gossip, went to the grocery store and Ginny made a great pot roast for dinner. When we went to bed the wind was low but it picked up quickly. I was up at 2AM checking the lines and adding more but the boat was still moving around quite a bit keeping us up. By early this morning it was obvious that we weren't leaving today. Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and we can get going.

Free concert near Grant Park for Columbia University students

Millennium Park

The Bean at the park

A view of downtown from the marina

Sunrise over the Planetarium

A group photo at the Suttons

Leaving Burnham Harbor going to Hammond on Sunday

Cathy's house

The waves in the harbor today

Sad and Glad at the same time.

We made it to Chicago on Thursday which means we have now traveled across 3 of the 5 Great Lakes. That is the good news, the bad news is that Cherie is leaving us today. We have planned this trip for the last 5 years and Cherie has been excited for us the whole time and she has been looking forward to joining us for quite a while now. I never thought the trip would happen and I am sure Cherie felt the same way, but the trip did happen and Cherie has been with us for two weeks now and she said the time flew by. We will miss her very much but maybe she can join us again in the winter. I will stop being sad and tell you what has been happening since we left South Haven. We went from South Haven to St. Joeseph/Benton Harbor on Wednesday. When we got to the marina they said they did not have space and the fuel pumps were off because of the power. They let us tie up the fuel dock and within 1/2 hour we had a slip and the power was back on. There was really only one thing I wanted to do and that was to go to Wolf's Marine Store. It is supposed to be the largest marine store with a ton of stuff. They picked us up at the marina and took us to the store. I could have spent a full day in the store. If you are a boater then you should not miss it. I only spent $400 and I didn't see half the stuff. The prices were better than West Marine and the selection was outstanding. Now I am sad about two things, Cherie leaving and not being able to go to Wolf's again. We had originally planned to go to Chicago on Friday but the weather was supposed to be great on Thursday so we went early. We followed a freighter out of the channel and I tried to convince Ginny to out run it which was of course stupid and she smartly waited until it set a course and then we set ours and proceeded at our usual pace of 10MPH. The seas were calm but it was very hazy so we could not see the city until we were about 3-4 miles out. We are staying at Burnham Harbor which is a little to the South of the main harbor where Navy Pier is. The marina is huge and the office and bathrooms are in the middle. We are on one of the furthest docks from the office. Chicago is not like any of the other cities, nothing is very close. We ate lunch on the boat and decided to walk to the Shedd Aquarium to look at fish. The walk was about 15 minutes but it was unbelievably hot, upper 90's with 100% humidity. The aquarium was nice but we only had general admission passes so we couldn't see everything. We then took a water taxi to Navy Pier and went on an architectural boat tour of the Chicago River. Even though it was hot and we were in the sun the trip was great and they sold beer. A boat ride in a great city with someone else driving and drinking beer, what's not to like. We have been debating about whether to take our boat down the Chicago River or go a little South and take another less crowded route. I honestly have never seen a waterway that crowded with tour boats and personal boats, not to mention the low bridges. Since Ginny is the pilot, I asked her if she wanted to take the Chicago River when we left town and she said no fricking way. We had dinner at the Navy Pier and then took a cab back to the boat. The marina is right across the street from Soldier Field and the Bears were at home against the Browns so the traffic was bad to say the least. We made it fine and the girls took showers to cool off and we went to bed. We are going to be in Chicago until Monday spending time with Ginny's sister, Cathy, and I hope the weather gets cooler quick.

Leaving South Haven

Coming into St. Joeseph

A view from the marina

My favorite store in the whole world

This was just a tiny piece of the store

I could make a comment about my large balls that I got at Wolf's but I won't

Downtown Benton Harbor

A nice fountain in the city

Leaving St. Joeseph

The freighter that Ginny tried to race :-)

Perfect day to cross the lake

Doesn't she look good in a hat

This freighter was only a couple of miles away

A crib light and fog horn in the Chicago Harbor

The city at last

Soldier Field

What the heck is this guy looking at?

Shedd's

A man and his fish

You can see where us boaters rank

Low bridges