9-18-2010 – We may have gone further, but a marina and a hot shower were a priority!

Jack’s son was picking him and Greg up in Peoria on Sunday. On Monday, Jack had a luncheon meeting with the village manager in Barrington and a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon.  The first 4 days of the trip could have easily taken 6 days at a more leisurely pace. However, I was happy for the extra hands, the company and camaraderie.  Jack on the other hand wants to come back for a week at whatever pace. What an experience!

There were 6 other boats that tied up on the wall in Joliet. We got in too late and were too hungry Friday night to socialize. I did have an opportunity to meet and speak to a few of them Saturday morning while I walked Kona. None of them seemed to be interested in pushing as far as Staved Rock on Saturday. Ottawa was the furthest that any would commit. I learned that there was to be a down-bound opening shortly at the Brandon Lock & Dam. We left the wall at 7:30AM heading for the lock. I promised jack and Greg that I would start the Generator and cook a proper breakfast after we locked down.

Jack was at t he helm on our way to the lock. At a very wind part of the river he passed one of the boats and was overtaking a second. The captains on both of the boats were not happy with us. They had obviously been privy to a different set of Coast Guard Rules that I had used when I received my Captains License. Oh well, I apologized reckoning that since we were all traveling at about the same speed, we would be locking together several times today, so why ague.

The Brandon Lock and Dam drops another 35 feet. Talk about a different perspective, many people from Wisconsin refer to Illinois as the flat land! The floating Ballard was noisy, but not as bad as Lockport. Kona was fine. Is she learning?

At the Dresden Lock and Dam, we only needed to wait for the slower boats that were parts of the 7 from Joliet. There were only 5 of us, 3 floating bollards. The lock master asked that three of us take a bollard and that the rest raft off of one of us. This was another new experience.

From Dresden we proceeded to the Marseilles Lock. This is a 24 foot drop. We needed to wait for 45 minutes as an up-bound tow locked through and cleared the lock. From Marseilles, Starved Rock Marina is 10 miles. We traveled only 55 miles in 9 hours. The day included three locks that lowered us 80 feet closer to sea level. The day ended with a warm shower, and a prime rib dinner in the restaurant at the marina. After dinner there we met some nice people including Justin and Candy who live in the Chicago suburbs, boat around Starved Rock and have a second home in Fort Meyers.