Runnin' the Illinois Rivers

Bye, bye, Chicago

Big ships in the CalSag Canal

Cruising the CalSag Canal

We got a late start leaving Chicago. The plan was to take the Chicago River through downtown Chicago to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, then into the Des Plaines River. Our friends on P-dock had been talking about a certain railroad bridge on this route that didn't open during rush hour traffic, because of the commuter trains. Some reported waiting up to two hours at this bridge. This really presented a dilemma for us, because we needed to get an early start to reach our intended destination just beyond Joliet. We also had two locks we had to transit and the commercial traffic could present delays at the locks. We had morning coffee with the "P-dockers" thinking we would arrive at the bridge after rush hour traffic, but an experienced captain informed us, just as we were thinking of leaving, that we could still experience up to an hour's wait at the bridge. Capt. Larry decided at the last minute to alter our route and go to Calumet Harbor and take the Calumet River and Calumet Sag Channel to the Des Plaines River. We wouldn't get to experience the thrill of cruising through downtown Chicago and would have to contend with lots of commercial traffic through a heavily industrial area, but we hopefully wouldn't have any major delays. When you have to travel at basically no-wake speed, any delay can add considerable time to the itinerary.

Busy fleeting area

Barges from exotic places

Tight squeeze at lowest bridge on loop

A really shocking place we passed!

Boy, do we LOVE floating bollards!

Down 40 feet at Lockport Lock

Ready to leave the Lockport Lock

We worked our way through the CalSag Channel until we came to the junction with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal at the Des Plaines River. Then the fun part began. We entered a towboat and barge fleeting area that stretched for the next five miles. The channel is narrow and barges are parked to one side or the other of the channel. If we encountered any commercial traffic, we would have to duck between parked barges and wait for the traffic to pass. We were fortunate in that this only happened to us one time, but it seemed to take forever to run this section at idle speed or slower. While we were in this area we went under the lowest fixed bridge (actually it's a swing bridge that no longer opens) on the loop at 19.1'. If you can't clear this bridge you cannot do the loop. You can travel to here and turn around and travel back around to the other side and call that your loop, but you have to be able to clear this bridge to do a continuous route. We made it through this area only to face the one-half mile long electrical barrier designed to prevent the entry of the invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes. We radioed the Coast Guard as instructed, but received no reply, so through the barrier we proceeded. The electric current had been recently increased and we weren't sure what to expect. Jokingly, Capt. Larry wanted Jane to handle the metal helm wheel through the barrier, but she would absolutely not touch anything metal. With an eye on all of the gauges for signs of something going awry, we made it through the barrier. Five miles further downstream we encountered our second lock, the Lockport Lock and Dam. We had to wait about an hour for an upbound tow to lock through, before we could do our thing. With this delay and the added distance from altering our route, it was obvious that the additional two hours to the recommended marina was going to be too much for one day. We decided instead to tie up on the free wall in Joliet. This turned out to be a good decision, because we were there with three other looper boats. We had met a lady named Carol while we were on P-dock who lived near the marina (and Joliet) we had planned on going to. After we were tied up we got a call from her wondering where we were. When we told her that we had to alter our plans, she showed up at the boat in Joliet with friends who had done the loop a few years ago. We sat on the park wall and had drinks until well into the evening.

Carol waving on her dock

Barges tied to trees

Rafted to Mary Frances IV in Ottawa

The next morning we left with two other looper boats and made our way downstream. We passed Carol's place on the river and she was out on her dock screaming at us and cheering us on. The two other boats we were running with decided to pull into a marina to fuel up. We didn't need fuel, so we proceeded on by ourselves and locked through the Dresden Lock and Dam. Further on we were passed by a boat, Mary Frances IV, that we had met when we were in Benton Harbor/St. Joseph, MI. We made our way to Ottawa, IL and intended on tying up at the Ottawa free dock for the evening. When we got there, there was no space available, but Mary Frances IV was tied up and John and Mary Leatherman invited us to raft up to their boat. This was our first experience in rafting, but something we will probably be doing more of as we run the inland rivers. We got off the boat and walked to town. We found a grocery that would give us a ride back to the boat, so we did a major reprovisioning of the stores. We invited John and Mary aboard Bavarian Cream for happy hour, then turned in for an early start the next morning.

Starved Rock State Park

Starved Rock butte and lock

Starved Rock

Jumping Asian carp

Leaving Ottawa, we went through a beautiful section of the Illinois River around the Starved Rock State Park and the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. According to a native legend, a group of Illini Indians were pursued by Ottawa and Potawatomi enemies and fled to a butte overlooking the Illinois River in the late 18th century. The Ottawa and Potawatomi besieged the butte until all of the Illini had starved, and the butte became known as Starved Rock. The butte is now a national historic landmark. We quickly locked through the lock and pressed on to the Henry Harbor Marina in Henry, IL. During this leg we saw our first Asian carp that would leap from the water when boats approached. Some of the smaller boats would purposely rev their engines to stir the carp up. We weren't sure if they were using some type of fishing method to catch them, or if they were just having fun. These fish are just thick and it is easy to understand why they are such a concern. We joked that they needed to import some Cajun fishermen from Louisiana and tell them how good the carp are or how much money they could make selling them to the Chinese. Problem solved! We cleaned up and had happy hour in the marina's bar/restaurant with our favorite northern appetizer, fried green beans. We went back to the boat, had supper, then watched another of Todd's movies.

Duck blind on the Illinois River

Navy ship with escort

The scenic Illinois River

The next morning we left for Peoria. The trip was uneventful until we almost got to our destination. We encountered a large navy ship and escort in the channel just as we arrived at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club. The ship was huge and seemingly out of place on the river. We pulled over to the side of the channel to give her plenty of room when the escort boat pulled up between us and the ship. Totally unnecessary assholes! All that maneuver did was reduce the amount of space the boats had in the channel. Sometimes this security crap gets a little out of hand. We also have a radio and a call to us we would advise you of our intentions. We heard that this ship was on its way to Henry where we had started the day from. Anyway, we got into the yacht club and got secured. This club has absolutely fine facilities and when Jane checked us in she made reservations for dinner. It was hot, so we enjoyed the club's swimming pool while the boat cooled. We cleaned up and had happy hour in the club's bar, met the commodore who bought us a round of drinks, then we went to the restaurant for a wonderful meal. We had wanted to stay an extra day here, but a major front was predicted to come through the area on Saturday, so we thought it best to move to our next destination ahead of the storm and wait the weather out there.

Kamikaze carp on the dock

Lynette catches a nice largemouth

More jumping carp

Jane catches a crappie

Jane with her largemouth

Jane and Lynette knocking 'em dead

All in an afternoon on the Illinois River

We left early the next morning to avoid running in the hottest part of the day. The area was experiencing unseasonably hot conditions with heat indices approaching 105 degrees. We were delayed about an hour at the Peoria Lock and Dam, because the lockmaster was having difficulty getting the upstream lock gate to open to let us in. After filling and emptying the chamber three times, the gate finally opened and we locked down. With the exception of passing a couple of really large tows, we had an uneventful run to our marina in Havana, IL. However, getting into the marina was really something. The entrance channel was only about 20 feet wide and when we got into the basin the depth sounder was showing 0.0 feet! We did get into our slip, but not before stirring up the Asian carp which were leaping all around us. One carp leaped onto the dock and just laid there, unable to get back into the water. Stupid fish! We noticed several of the boats that were moored in the marina had dead carp on their decks. Must be a mess to clean up. This is really a nice place with the downtown area a short walk away and the Tall Timbers Marina having really nice accommodations. Immediately after docking, Jane took off to do some shopping and scout the town out. When she returned to the boat we grilled some pork chops and corn-on-the-cob, had dinner, watched another of Todd's movies, and turned in for the evening. The next day we did some boat chores, Jane went shopping again, and looked for a bar/restaurant that would have the LSU vs. Oregon game on. We found a bar with a TV that would have the game on. We ate at Babe's which everyone from Chicago on down had recommended, then went to the Stag Tap a few doors down to watch the game. The bar was loud and by half-time it was time to head back to the boat. We listened to the second half on the satellite radio then turned in for the evening. The next morning the marina had coffee and cake for us. We chatted with Lynette who served as dockmaster in the owner's absence. She was catching some nice fish right at the dock. Jane jumped in and also started to catch some really nice fish. Jane went shopping one more time and Capt. Larry chilled out on the boat and worked on the blog. In the evening we bought pizza to share with Lynette and had a nice time.

Eagle along the river

White  pelicans in the river

Turkeys along the river