8/25/2015
We spent the morning unpacking, and then George made a run
to West Marine to purchase new lines for our fenders, while Pat did some major food
shopping at the giant “Meijer’s“ Supermarket/Superstore in Holland. Afterwards, we called ahead to various
marinas where we planned to stay at our last three ports on Lake Michigan. Luckily, we had gotten as far south as we had
before going home, because we received word from a number of our boating
friends that they had been stuck for days at a time in various ports north of
us due to high winds, waves, and rainy conditions.
8/26/2015
South Haven, MI
Dave and Betsey Frye & Denise and Mark Gillespie
“Reflection” left the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club at 7 a.m. with
temperatures in the low 50s, and winds out of the north/northwest in the 10 -15
mph range. This caused a swell to
develop behind us, but we went down to the lower helm where the motion was less
and the temperature was warmer, and operated from there. South Haven, our next destination,
was only 28 miles away, and we were tied up at the South Haven Municipal Marina
Southside by 10 a.m. We were eventually joined
by two other “Looper” boats. Since the
town was only a short walk up the hill, we took one of the dock attendant’s
suggestions, and had a great lunch at “Clementine’s”, a bar/restaurant filled
with many tourists. Later on, we
welcomed fellow “Loopers” Denise and Mark Gillespie from “Island Office” and
Betsey and Dave Frye from “Fryedaze” aboard our boat for “docktails” and
munchies, and enjoyed chatting with them about our mutual adventures.
8/27/2015
Leaving South Haven
Approaching Michigan City, IN
Washington Park Marina
At 7:15 a.m. we left the dock for a 58 mile trip to Michigan
City, Indiana on the southeast
side of lower Lake Michigan.
Our trip was quite comfortable because we hugged the coast, the
direction from where the winds were coming, and the protection of the land kept
the waves small. We could see Michigan
City from miles away because of its large smokestacks from an industrial plant
which overlooks the harbor. Despite
that, the Washington Park Marina where we docked was really quite lovely. That evening we walked over to the Michigan
City Yacht Club which was right next door to the marina. In reality, though it is listed in the
Registry of American Yacht Clubs, it was really only a waterfront
restaurant.Our dinner was fine, however, and we ate outdoors on their patio.
Hammond Marina, Hammond, IN
Horseshoe Casino
Our destination this morning was Hammond, Indiana, located
31 miles away across the bottom of Lake Michigan from Michigan City, and only a
few miles west of Chicago. Conditions
were calm as we crossed, and we made the trip in three hours, arriving at the
Hammond Marina fuel dock at 10 a.m.
After fueling up (they had some of the lowest diesel prices we had
seen), we headed to our slip, and a short time later we started on our chores
which included lowering our radar arch, so that we could transit under the 19’
7” high bridge on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and replacing the shift
lever cable which we had purchased in Manistee with one that was shorter. A little while later, another “Looper” boat,
“Knot Home”, pulled in two slips away with Al and Kaye Stirling from Baton
Rouge, Louisiana. Evidently several
other AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruisers’ Association) boats were also here at
this 918 slip municipal marina, but we were all spread out at various docks
depending on our boat’s size. In the
early evening we headed to the “Horseshoe Casino” (part of the Harrah’s brand)
right next door to the marina. We took a tour of the establishment, played a
round of Video Poker, had dinner at its Asian restaurant, and returned to the
boat a few hours later.
8/29/2015
While Pat headed to the laundry this morning, George
proceeded to wash the outside of the boat which was covered with spider, their
webs, their droppings, and gnats. He was
not alone in this thankless task, since many of our boat neighbors were outside
on their decks doing the same thing. The
amount of insects almost appeared to be a version of a biblical plague – “Midwest”
style. Later on, after up-dating our notes as Cruising Editors for Waterway
guide”, we returned to the “Horseshoe Casino” for another round of “Video
Poker”, and had a wonderful dinner at the Casino’s very lavish buffet. Again, we returned to the boat fairly early,
since tomorrow we would begin another leg of our journey – The Midwest Rivers
to Mobile.
Entering the Calumet River south of Chicago
Traveling through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
The lowest bridge on the "Loop" - 19.7'
The waterway gets narrow
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| Entering the Carp Barrier
We awoke to dense morning fog, but when it finally started
to lift at 7:15 a.m., we left the dock in the company of “Knot Home”, our
marina slip neighbor. We entered the
highly industrial Calumet River which was the beginning of a 49 mile trip that
would take us through two locks, the Little Calumet River, the Cal-Sag Canal, the
Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal, through the Des Plaines River to Joliet,
Illinois, where we tied up to the wall at the Billie Limacher Will-Joliet
Bicentennial Park. Eventually there were
seven “Looper” boats tied up here: “Reflection,”, “Knot Home”, “Chester B.”,
“It’s About Time”, “One Bay at a Time”, “Leukothea”, and “Valentine”. Naturally, in the late afternoon we all got
together for “docktails” and stories about our adventures, and where we were
heading.
   
"Loopers" leaving the lock
Again we awoke to heavy fog, but happily we were able to be
on the move at 7 a.m. just in time for us to through the last Joliet bridge
that would have to open for us, because it would remain closed from 7:30 a.m. –
8:30 a.m. in order to ease rush-hour traffic.
Today’s trip would take us through three locks, and it was anybody’s
guess as to how long that would take, since commercial barge traffic takes
precedence. We had a fairly short delay
at the Brandon Road Lock, so we, “Knot Home”, and “Leukothea” tied up at the
wall of the closed “River’s Edge” restaurant wall, which is soon slated to
become a small grocery store on the water.
By the time we arrived at the next lock, we were also joined by “Chester
B.”, “It’s About Time”, and “One Bay at
a Time”, who all travel slower than we do, and both we and “Knot Home” allowed
the smaller boats to raft up with us for the descent. We all timed our arrival at the dreaded
Marseilles Lock, which is famous for its delays, and we only had to wait for ½
hour to get through. Eventually, we were
locked through with two small wooden “Looper” boats that had passed our group
earlier in an effort to get to the lock ahead of us, but who ended up instead
waiting for at least two hours until our group got there. Five of our boats headed to Heritage Harbor
Marina in Ottawa, Illinois, and we arrived there at 3:30 p.m. After naps and showers, we all met for dinner
at the “Red Dog Grill” on the marina’s premises, which had great food and a
small bar. It was a fun night!
9/1/2015
We decided to stay another day at Heritage Harbor to “catch
our breath”, do some chores, and to work on our up-coming presentation at the
AGLCA Rendezvous in Rogersville, Alabama in mid October. We both worked together to put the radar arch
back up, and then George spent hours
cleaning the outside of the boat AGAIN because of the continued presence of
spiders and gnats, but now we also had Asian Carp jumping around and splashing
the boat! Ah, the beauty of nature! Pat spent the day working on her portion of
our talk, and then followed up with several agencies who would be supplying us
with pamphlets and brochures about our assigned topic: “The East Coast of Florida and the Florida
Keys”. These information items we will also be distributing along with
hand-outs to our audience. We later met
up with Al and Kaye from “Knot Home”, Werner and Kathie from “It’s About Time”,
and Valerie and Tim from “Chester B.”, and we were also joined by Clark and
Evelyn from Rumson, New Jersey aboard “Sea Moss” for another dinner at the “Red
Dog Grill” at the marina. Again, we all had a terrific time together.
9/2/2015
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The tow we're waiting for to leave the lock
Today we and “Knot Home” left before 7 a.m. for a 75 mile
run to the Illinois Valley Yacht Club in Peoria Heights, Illinois. We had one lock to transit – the Starved Rock
Lock, and when we called the lock-tender ahead of our arrival, he told us to
tie up to one of the huge mooring cells before the lock to await his opening.
This was something we had never attempted before, but the process went well
with George’s expert boat maneuvering, and after Pat lassoed one of its cleats
with a line, George hopped on the cell itself and tied down some down some additional
lines. “Knot Home” eventually rafted up
to us, and then we waited about an hour for a tug with lots of barges to pass
through. After our locking, our trip
down the Illinois Waterway went very smoothly, though the wind was on our nose
out of the south with temperature in the low 90’s, and we eventually arrived at
the Yacht Club around 5 p.m. The dock
areas here were very tight, and the water depths were quite shallow, but both
our boats were able to “muscle” our way in.
Two other “Looper” boats were also there: “Leukothea” and “Aura”, both
express cruisers with all-male crews. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Club
with Al and Kaye, and eventually were joined after our meal by John, and his
son, Lee, aboard “Leukothea” from Guelph, Ontario, who were on their way to
Fort Myers, Florida.
9/3/2015
Illinois River
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| Tall Timbers Marina - Havana, IL
“Reflection” and “Knot Home” left the Illinois Valley Yacht
Club at 7 a.m. for a 48 mile run that only included one lock, the Peoria
Lock. Our timing went really well, and
we had only a wait of a few minutes before entering with “Aura”, and “One Bay
at a Time”, who were there ahead of us.
We all chose to tie a line on for the descent, but “One Bay at a t a
Time” chose to float in the middle for the 11’ descent. It again was a steamy day, and by the time we
arrived at Tall Timbers Marina around noon, the temperature was approaching 95
degrees. All four boats took advantage
of their air-conditioning, and eventually “Leukothea” also joined us later in
the afternoon. Al and Kaye came aboard
for a planning session about our stops going south, however, our tentative
schedule might also be influenced by the closing of the main chamber of Lock 53
on the Ohio River over the next few weeks, and major delays are being
expected. We also heard from Randy and Cindy
aboard “I think I Can…” who will be traveling down the Ohio River with us, and
are two days behind us right now. George
had conversed with them several times about possible stops along the Illinois
Waterway which now become few and far-between, but we hope to meet up with them
in Alton in a few days.
9/4/2015
 
Sunset at Bar Island Anchorage
We took our time this morning, and did not leave Havana,
Illinois (though it felt like Havana, Cuba with the 95+ degree temperatures!)
until 11:30 a.m. for our 35 mile trip to the Bar Island Anchorage near South
Beardstone in the company of “Knot Home” and “Leukothea”. Bob, the owner of the marina, came onboard to
wish us “Good-bye!”, and we arrived at the anchorage to find two “Looper” boats
already there: “First Snow”, and the small sailboat that was being single-
handed by a gentleman who had left Tall Timbers Marina yesterday a short time
after we had arrived. The anchorage was
calm, and we all had a quiet evening there anchored in 8 - 9’ of water.
9/5/2015
            
The Mississippi River at Grafton, Il
All of the boats in the anchorage except the sailboat left
at 6:15 a.m., and we and “Knot Home’ were bound for Grafton, some 86 miles
away. We also had to pass through our
last lock on the Illinois River, the La Grange Lock with a posted descent of 10
feet. However, the lock-tender told us that today it was more like only 7 feet
because of the recent high water conditions.
The excessive heat of the last few days continued, and as we headed
south the amount of recreational boat traffic on this Labor Day week-end
greatly increased the closer we got to Grafton.
We couldn’t understand why anyone would want to swim, water-ski, or
jet-ski in these murky, muddy waters, but apparently the “locals” didn’t let
those conditions bother them. It
reminded us of the Labor Day week-ends we’ve seen at home on crowded Barnegat
Bay in New Jersey! “Reflection” arrived at Grafton Harbor marina around 3 p.m.,
and later on we went to “Aerie’s Riverview Winery” for dinner with Kaye and Al,
and the crews of two other “Looper” boats: “Sea Venture” and “Renegade”. This restaurant was located high on the hills
over-looking Grafton and the view from there of the Illinois and Mississippi
River was magnificent, but the food was just “okay”. However, they did provide
a free shuttle service back and forth from their establishment to the marina,
so this worked out very well for us.
9/6/2015
         
Since Alton was our next stop, and was only 17 miles away,
“Reflection” and “Knot Home” didn’t leave the marina until 10 a.m. and arrived
at Alton Marina about noon. We first
headed for the fuel dock, and after filling up with diesel, we headed to our
spot on a “T” dock. Next to us we were
happily surprised to see “Time Out” with Mike and Gail Wright aboard. We hadn’t seen them since May, when George
helped them with advice about bringing their boat up the New Jersey
Intracoastal Waterway after they had run aground and had to have repairs made
on Long Beach Island. They stopped at Traders’ Cove Marina near to us in Brick,
and we brought them to our home for cocktails, and then took them on a quick
car trip up the New Jersey coast to “Pete & Elda’s” in Neptune, which is
one of our favorite pizza restaurants, for a real “New Jersey
Dining Experience”.
It was great to see them, and later after hosting Kaye and Al from “Knot
Home’, John and Lee from “Leukothea”, and Steve and Janice from “One Bay at a
Time” aboard our boat for cocktails, we joined Mike and Gail and Corinne and
Bob Lombardi of “Ariel”, and all twelve of us went to “Fast Eddie’s Bon Air”
for drinks and dinner. George went there
on our first “Loop” voyage, and had been raving about it ever since, so we
definitely didn’t want to miss it on this trip as well. This establishment is truly huge, with many
bars both inside and out, and has terrific bar food at cheap prices. The music was loud, but really good, we had a
ton of laughs, and it reminded us of how New Jersey Shore bars were in the
summers of the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s, when we were young, single, and
carefree! It wasn’t a late night for us,
but it was definitely a “fun” night!
Today we awoke to somewhat overcast skies and continued warm
temperatures, and we had chores lined up for our continued stay at Alton
Marina. We first headed to the laundry,
and then had a delicious breakfast at the marina’s small café. Pat then went back to continue to do laundry,
while George headed to the boat to change the oil and the engine filters on our
boat’s two engines. In order to do this
task, he had to open up the entire floor of our main cabin, and it was a good
time for Pat to be off of the boat.
After her return, we had a call from Randy and Cindy on “I Think I Can…”
, who said that were willing to do two long days on the Illinois River, in
order to get here on 9/9, so that we can leave together on 9/10 to begin our
Mississippi River run. We have been
concerned that on their 25’ Ranger Tug they might not be able to carry the
amount of fuel and water necessary to go 250 miles without fuel stops or any
other marine services over a period of at least five days, so we wanted to be
able help them accomplish this by having them accompany us so we could assist
them in various ways when needed. In
order to save time, we had Cindy and Randy send us their grocery and other
supply lists ahead of time, and we will rent a car on the day before they
arrive here and make their purchases for them along with ours. Later on, Al and Kaye came aboard so that we
could go over our charts with them about their next segment of the
journey. They will be leaving here
tomorrow morning with three other boats, but we hope to eventually catch up
with them in Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, Kentucky next week. After cocktails and munchies, we had Chinese
food delivered here to the marina for all of us for dinner, and this turned out
to be a wonderful idea!
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