Trip Diary for August, 2008

Tuesday, Aug. 19:  The saga finally began after having spent the past week aboard in St. Joseph!  Weeks of checking, fixing and stocking the Lola Marie completed, we cast off from Pier 1000 at 7 AM with Robert and Ann Levine, Sandpiper, following us out the channel.  They had arrived the previous afternoon from Holland MI.  We will travel together until they complete their loop upon reaching Green Turtle Bay Marina at Grand Rivers, KY near the lock and dam for Lake Barkley.  Surprisingly, the St. Joseph railroad bridge was open (the operator must have forgotten what our boat looked like over the past 3 years because it seemed to us he always made a special effort to close whenever we approached).  Lake Michigan was great with only 1-2 footers as we proceeded at 11-12 mph.  It was slightly cloudy and 66 degrees (water was 75).  However, about 1/3 of the way across we began picking up beam 4-5 foot "rollers", i.e. swells.  These caused us to wallow for the remainder of the crossing; thus, the Chicago skyline was especially welcome after an uncomfortable 3 hours.  Early in the crossing we called for reservations, but found none of the lakefront marinas could accommodate both boats.  Given the early hour, we decided to continue to Joliet, IL.  Downtown Chicago via its namesake river, is spectacular; the only major difference from our first loop was a later hour and the nearly complete Trump Tower.  Other than a 15 min. wait for the Conrail bridge, the Chicago River passage was uneventful and enjoyed by all.  With only a 10 min. wait for the Lockport lock, we reached the Joliet city wall at 6:40 PM and tied exactly where we had 3 years before; our first mistake of the young trip!  A radio call from the nearby bridge operator soon pointed out a large sign informing boaters mooring there was unsafe (a tow had struck two pleasure boats tied there 18 months earlier).  Fortunately, they had expanded the docking wall downstream a 1000 yards into an area protected by the next bridge's support structure.  We quickly moved for very pleasant, complementary dockage with free electricity.

Aug. 20-21; Starved Rock Marina: Needing to make 56 mi. and after calling the nearby Brandon Road Lock to confirm a minimum wait, we departed the Joliet wall Wednesday at 9:10 AM with the highly commercialized and busiest part of the IL River already behind us.  The Dresden Lock 14 mi. downstream of Brandon Road, required a 40 min. wait.  The third and last lock for the day, Marseilles another 23 miles downstream, was less friendly and required a 2.5 hr. wait; with the lockmaster's permission, Sandpiper tied to a federal mooring cell and the Lola Marie rafted.  We arrived at the Starved Rock Marina just prior to dusk at 7:10 PM.  Tired from consecutive long days, everyone welcomed the late, but excellent dinners available at the on-site Captain's Cove restaurant.  During dinner we decided to stay a second day to rest.  Thursday dawned cloudy with intermittent light rain.  After pumping out and partially re-fueling (partial since they were charging $5.80 per gallon), we relocated the Lola Marie from spending last night tied on fuel dock to an interior pier end.  Larry and Robert both washed down the boats while Ann and Lola cleaned interiors.  We returned to Captain's Cove for dinner.

Aug. 22-23; Peoria, IL: We called the nearby Starved Rock Lock at 6 AM Friday to be informed we would have a short wait if we arrived soon; thus, we left at 6:30 AM and experienced only a 15 min. delay.  Calling for reservations at the fine Illinois Valley Yacht Club (IVY) in Peoria, determined they could not accommodate both boat so we made reservation instead at Wharf Harbor Marina 2 mi. downstream.  Upon approaching IVY at 2 PM, we decided to take advantage of their relatively low-priced diesel fuel (who would have thought 3 years ago when paying $2.10-2.25 per gallon we would call $5.04 a good price for our second loop!).  While refueling, a radio call from Sandpiper informed us they had grounded (with .5 ft. less draft than the Lola Marie) trying to enter Wharf Harbor's channel and advised us to stay at IVY.  We quickly rented the lone available slip and awaited word on their marina's effort to tow them in.  In about an hour they called to say they had been towed in, but that both engine raw-water intakes were clogged with mud.  The marina service department removed and cleaned them, but they were waiting for a rigorous test upon tomorrow's planned departure.  Thirty minutes later, we received another call from Ann with the sad news that one of their closest friends in GA had died; thus, plans for a joint, leisurely trip down the IL and MS rivers were abandoned.  Since Larry's sister and brother-in-law, Sharon and George Lowry, had planned to join us at the next dockage (Beardstown, IL) to boat downstream with us, we quickly decided it best to rent a Peoria car and meet them in Beardstown where they would leave their vehicle and return with us to Peoria.  Thus, we quickly extended our IVY reservation for a second night and called Enterprise.  Using the rental, we picked up Robert and Ann for dinners at the city's waterfront Chicago Pizza.  Robert and Ann departed early Saturday morning, but even with Wharf Harbor personnel aboard, Sandpiper again gently ran aground twice while departing.  We worked and cleaned the boat before leaving for a pleasant drive to Beardstown at 12:30 PM.  Returning around 5 :30 PM we enjoyed good food at the Firestation Bar & Grill just across the highway from IVY.

Sunday, Aug. 24: Having to make 80 mi. with one lock, we cast off at 7:15 AM.  We had only a 10 min. wait for the 11 ft. drop at the Peoria lock 10 mi. downstream from IVY.  Traveling at only 10-11 mph, we had a very enjoyable cruise to Beardstown.  The free city barge at which we stayed on the first loop did not provide enough water to dock this year, so by 3:30 PM we were tied to the Logsdon Tug Service no-services barge as arranged the previous day by Robert and Ann who were now headed for Alton, IL asap to rent a car for their Georgia destination.  Logsdon had recently raised their price from a flat $25 to $1 per ft., but despite the lack of services it was the only safe stop in the area.  Sharon and George departed for Decatur to be at work Monday and we relaxed and went to bed shortly after sunset.

Aug. 25-26; Grafton, IL: With nothing to see/do in Beardstown, we pulled away from the Logsdon barge at 6:50 AM Monday.  The Versailles lock 8 miles downstream required a 25 min. wait, but was the last lock we would encounter on the IL river.  Interestingly, we seem able to see and enjoy the river more this time than last; having less apprehension about what's ahead makes for a more relaxed, observant perspective on one's immediate surroundings.  The Grafton Marina was just beginning construction 3 years ago.  We tied to the tee of its excellent B dock at 4:20 PM and were soon visiting with a couple of other looper boats already docked.  The on-site restaurant was closed Monday's (as are many facilities as we move south), so we had tolerable fish sandwiches at nearby O-Jans before enjoying a spectacular sunset.  Tuesday was our anniversary, but Grafton offered virtually no shopping or dining to celebrate, so we decided we would postpone any festivities.  Lola took advantage of the good marina facilities to do our first laundry since departing.  After a good, economical lunch at the marina's Grafton Landing restaurant, we borrowed their courtesy truck to re-provision at the local Jimbo's General Store & Hardware.  We returned to Grafton Landing for dinner.

Aug. 27-30; Alton, IL: With only 15 mi. and no locks to traverse, we left Grafton Wednesday at a leisurely 10:20 AM.  Upon reaching Alton Marina at noon, we took on 165 gal. of fuel at their good $4.30 price before pulling into the covered J-14 slip below the beautiful Clark bridge.  After lunch aboard we visited the Argosy Casino boat for an hour before strolling back along the river walk to work aboard a bit.  By early evening, and not wanting to leave, we had a "health food dinner" (popcorn and ice cream) aboard before turning in.  Sleeping in Thursday allowed a light breakfast aboard and a mi. hike to McDonalds for lunch.  From there we caught a cab to the Alton Square Mall were Lola had her broken nails reworked before shopping and returning on the city bus (free to seniors!).  Larry grilled brats on the marina's gas grills for a fine evening aboard.  Friday was a time to celebrate with brunch at one of our favorite restaurants in Alton, My Just Desserts.  Ann and Robert (Sandpiper) returned at 3 PM, so they took us grocery shopping and then to an early dinner at Olga's in Alton Square Mall before Robert and Larry drove to St. Louis' Lambert airport to turn in their rental and take a taxis 18 mi. back to the marina.

Saturday, Aug. 30: After calling the nearby Melvin Price lockmaster to determine there would be no wait, the Lola Marie and Sandpiper departed Alton at 7:50 AM for the cruise through St. Louis to Hoppies Marina in Kimmswick, MO, 52 mi. downstream on the MS River.  It was a beautiful day with temps reaching the mid-80's.  There was also no wait at the Chain of Rocks lock 15 miles downstream.  St. Louis presented its signature Arch skyline but no recreational boat docking, so we reached the legendary Hoppies Marina at 12:10 PM, assisted by a 3 mph current.  We soon met with Fern to seek advice about conditions on the downstream MS River.  We found out which anchorages still had adequate depths and were advised to be especially careful at MMs (mile-markers) 188, 80 and 2.  At these locations the Corps of Engineers has recently installed new Benwar dikes on river bends.  They create high turbulence to prevent silting, but require attentive handling and extra power to avoid losing control.  Exhausted from their long Georgia trip, Ann and Robert ate aboard and retired very early.  Larry and Lola walked the half-mile into Kimmswick for delightful dinners at the famous Blue Owl just before its 4 PM closing.

Sunday, Aug. 31: We dropped lines at 6:30 for the 110 mi. cruise down the Mighty Mississippi to one of the few safe anchorages between Hoppies and the confluence of the Ohio River (158 mi. downstream).  A hazy, humid day with afternoon temperatures reaching 90.  There was surprising little recreational traffic, but tow traffic was very heavy; the largest with 36 barges.  Fern's advice about MMs 188 and 80 proved to be accurate and useful; fortunately, we did not meet tows on those bends.  Using a 3 mph average current assist, we ran at 10 mph water speed to make the excellent Little River Diversion Canal anchorage just south of Cape Girardeau, MO at 4:20 PM.  With Sandpiper safely rafted off the Lola Marie, we started gennies to cool the boats, prepared dinners and enjoyed an early bedtime to achieve a 6:30 AM departure tomorrow.

Water miles traveled to date: 557; this month: 557.

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