The morning was crisp but sunny as we continued south on the Illinois River. I can not believe that it has been a week since we departed Chicago. The time has flown by so quickly. I think this is due to the fact that we are so physically and emotionally exhausted each evening. We are almost always asleep before 9:30p. I was very concerned about how we would provision and prepare a variety of meals during the trip and surprisingly this just has not been a problem. Other than when our friends Mark and Lisa took us out to dinner that first night and our breakfast at Starved Rock, we have eaten all meals on the boat. Mark is such a finicky eater but we have managed very nicely with an assortment of both fresh and canned meals. I think this is one area that I need not worry about any longer. We had planned to stop in Beardstown for ice but the river was so low that we did not want to chance getting stuck again. What has happened as a result of the recent floods in the Midwest is that the Illinois River system has actually been lowered more than it should have been. It seems that when regulating the flood waters that someone overcompensated temporarily making the river lower than normal. We just need to remember this and plan accordingly.
We had a funny happen to us today. As I mentioned in a previous post, when we pass tugs with barges we are very careful not to cause a wake that may endanger the crew working aboard. But today, we asked permission to pass a tug with six barges going in the same direction as us and we were told to come on ahead. About halfway through passing the tug, the captain radios me to ask if we could speed it up a bit and not “Lolligag” so much in passing him. I laughed and responded that we would be happy to comply.
We were making such good time that we and Restless Wind decided to plow forward to make it the Railroad Bridge Anchorage location at mile marker 61.6. We were doing great until we got the LaGrange lock and we had a 2.5 hour wait. This was okay as it allowed us to practice our anchoring techniques. All went splendidly this time and I am much more confident in my ability to throw and lift the anchor. Also this is our last lock on the Illinois River. We will not encounter another lock until we reach the Mississippi.
After the lock, the river was truly even more scenic than previously. It was a calm and serene ride all the way.
Our anchorage this evening is not in a secluded location as it was last evening. We are outside the channel markers but anchored in the main part of the river. Each time a pusher with barges goes past we do a 360 spin, which is kind of cool if somewhat disconcerting for us at times. Paul and Emy from Restless Wind invited us to their boat for dinner this evening. They are cruising in a 40 foot Beneteau sailboat that is spacious and lovely. Dinner was excellent and we had a wonderful time. In addition, Mark and William were able to meet two of our neighbors at this anchorage. I did not think that I was spending the night in a swamp, but then again…
Everyone who has done the Great Loop trip has said that the people that one meets along the way is the best part and I must say that thus far we certainly have found this to be true. To say the mosquitoes were awful is the understatement of my lifetime. Having lived in Chicago for the past ten years I became very accustomed to NOT being bothered by them as mosquitoes do not live in downtown Chicago due to the wind. We really wanted to sit outside to enjoy the full moon and calm river but the bugs were so bad that we retreated inside the boat as fast as we could. I must have left the door open a split second too long because about a trillion of them decided that they too wanted to live aboard the Lolligag. I woke up in the middle of the night literally covered with bug bites and slathered myself in anti-itching cream.
Friday morning we again awoke to a beautiful morning on the river. In the morning I was able to sit outside for a little while to enjoy the sunrise over the trees lining the adjacent shore. We have a long day ahead of us in that we want to make Grafton, Illinois by nightfall.
Hours on the water: 9 hours
Nautical miles traveled: 53
Number of locks: 1
Time spent waiting at locks: 2.5
Tomorrow's Destination: Grafton, Illinois
What we're listening to: Finished Three to Get Deadly & started Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
Lesson for the day: It is nice to meet Ogres along the way.
Obligatory knitting report: Mittens for Wunder Kids
1 comment:
How cool that you met shrek!!
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