Al and Kerri drove from Hazlehurst on Sunday meeting me at the boat a little after 4 PM yesterday. We visited, unloaded Kerri’s car, had a glass of wine and later a Burger at the Pub across from the Illinois valley Yacht and Canoe (IVY) club. We turned in by 8 PM to get a good night’s sleep. I am not sure how well anyone actually slept, but there was a level of excitement about the next adventures. Everyone was up by 6:30. After a hot breakfast on the boat, Kerri drove toward home in the car. Al and I left the dock a little after 8 AM.
The first of a day of firsts- we should have been aground, but weren’t. By my careful calculations while on the hard this spring, the sensor for the depth sounder is 21 inches from the bottom on the keel and Sleeping Bear’s required minimum water depth 45 inches. By this math, the sensor is 2 feet below the water line. This was further proven out last Saturday when I used a boat hook at the slip at the IVY club to sound the bottom. It measured a depth of 54 inches. The depth sounder was reading 2ft 6inches or 30 inches. 54-30= 24. However, while leaving IVY this morning we saw several depth readings of less than 18 inches. We should have been aground this morning, but just kept on going. It wasn’t until the end of the day that experience from another first provided a better understanding of the consistency of the bottom of the Illinois River.
Next was Al’s first lock and Sleeping Bear’s first significant delay. From the IVY club, it is a 10 mile ride to Peoria Lock and Dam, the first and only lock on today’s schedule. It was a cool but clear autumn morning with bright sun and morning moon. We met and passed one tow on the way to lock on “one whistle.” When we arrived at the lock the lock master told us that he was just starting on an up-bound tow. He estimated a one hour wait. The up-bound tow only had three barges but for some reason they were slow getting in the lock and even slower getting out. It took nearly two hours for us to lock through.
We did not think that Illinois looked anything like this. After we left the lock, most the rest of the day was spent traversing on the Illinois enjoying its very natural and unspoiled state. While there was the occasional industrial stretch, house, trailer park and/or abandoned barge, the vast majority of scenery was as Native Americans must have seen it centuries ago. It is more beautiful than I had imagined. The shore lines have abundant trees. There are sections where you can see the root systems of the trees and higher waters have eroded the soil away. They almost cry out, “one of these days I going south like you!” I have spent a far amount of time driving through Illinois on Interstate 55 and 57. From that view point Illinois is a flat land. It looks totally different when looking at it on the river.
Sleeping Bear’s first night at Anchor is beginning. The goal for today was Havana, Illinois, a 48 mile day. There were two options for overnight accommodations. First was an anchorage off of Quiver Island. If that did not look accommodating there is the Tall Timber Marina, in Havana. Since Sleeping Bear has not done an overnight at Anchor, the first option, Quiver Island deserved serious consideration. We anchored about a half mile off the river channel in an area between Quiver Island and Havana. It is as wide as a football field. It is beautiful calm night. The silence is soothing. The Pasta was awesome. Thanks to Al, food service on Sleeping Bear has improved! Not a first, but continuous improvement!
The next first came when it was time to take Kona to shore to do her business. The inflatable came off of the davits, no problem. With Al to hand be the motor and later the pup, we were ready for shore in less than 5 minutes. The shoreline did not get shallow until the last few feet. The dinghy ran all but last few feet with under motor power. It was a successful beaching with only a few inches of water in front of the bow. I tossed the bow line ashore, lifted my fur child, (who never understood the Spaniel is a water dog) and made it for shore. On the first two steps, my feet sunk a couple of inches into the mud. Not a big deal. Then as I turned to pick-up the bow line, my left foot sunk a foot. Turning toward the wooded shore I was able to raise the left foot, but the cost was the right foot was now down 18 inches. Fortunately, the ground hardened the further we got to the woods and away from the water. However, the strap on my right Clog broke on the attempt to free it from the mud. Seriously, I had a flash back of one of those movies we watched as kids when the bad guy is lured into the quick sand pool. In the next scene all you see is his head. Then only bubbles as the mud swallows him up. Back on the boat for the rest of the evening, it’s a good thing I had trained Kona to use the foredeck. It may take some tough love to get her to use the foredeck when she can see and smell land. Look for a tough love sorry on the BLOG soon. But back to today’s first experience, is it possible that Sleeping bear just worked her way though some very soft mud?
The Final first is that I can post this BLOG while at anchor using the AT&T Card for which I broke down and signed the 2 year commitment. Not so fast, the network card didn’t work at Quiver Island. I will try posting this underway tomorrow morning. It’s still a first!
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