GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: September 2011

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

HOPPIES TO KASKASKIA

DAY 106 SAT. SEPT 25, 2012 “HOPPIES” TO KASKASKIA LOCK.
AM CLEAR COOL PARTLY SUNNY
DEP. HOPPIES 07:10 ARR KASKASKIA LOCK 10:35
D. 41.0 / 2021.4

Kaskaskia Lock is on the Kaskaskia River, and we do not enter it. It is just a stop along the way where cruisers can tie up to a wall overnight, in this case at no charge, but there are no services. It is in this trip we do our first Miss. Mambo. It is both exhilarating and frightening. As we enter a curve in the river, we have to keep to the outside where the current is faster. The turbulence is caused by wing dams extending under water from the inside of the curve to direct the water to the outside. This helps to prevent shoaling in these areas. The good news is we get thru it pretty quickly as the current give us a boost to almost 15 smph. One of the rules at this lock is you cannot tie up to or climb the rail fence. When you see them it is apparent as to why. They are mostly broken off their bases. It is also apparent they were built by the lowest bidder. Since the fences are on the edge of the wall, you have to duck between the rails to get off or on the boat. But we don’t complain, because “happiness is being tied up!” After “Happy Hour” with Gemini and The Cooper, we have a hot dog and bean dinner with Theresa and Don from Great Escape.

FREE LOCK TIE UP AT KASKASKIA LOCK

THIS IS PROBABLY THE EQUIVALENT OF 1 LARGE TOW

LIMESTONE QUARRY

A LOOPER GET TOGETHERAT KASKASKIA LOCK
L to R THERSA, DON, BETH & STEVE WESTGATE (GEMINI),
RUSTY & BETTE HUGHS (THE COOPER)

WING DAM

FERN HOPKINS, LIVING LEGEND (AMONG LOOPERS)

DAY 105 FRI. ALTON TO “HOPPIES” (KIMSSWICK, MO)
M FOG COOL PM CLOUDY COOL
DEP. ALTON 06:50 ARR. HOPPIES 11:50
D. 44.4 / 2080.4

The fog lifted enough to get under way just before 7:AM. We called the Melvin Price lock and Go Forth was already there, but they held it for us so there was no waiting. We even got to use the commercial or Main side (this lock has a separate chamber for rec. vessels). From the lock we enter the “Chain of Rocks Canal,” which sounds more ominous than it really is. From the canal we enter the “Chain of Rocks Lock, then re-enter the Miss. River, and soon pass the famous St. Louis Arch. From the water, St. Louis is a very industrial dirty city. We are doing 9.4 smph thru the water, but 13.2 smph over the ground. That equates to a 3.6 smph current giving us a terrific boost in speed. We docked at Hoppies following Fern’s instructions, and were rewarded with a “well done.” Hoppies is named for its owner, Fern Hopkins. She is a cruising legend, 80 years old and holding daily training sessions for customers on how to deal with the Mississippi River. At 1:15 we walked a short distance to the Blue Owl Restaurant, another famous place in the tiny town of Kimsswick, MO. With nothing around for miles it was hard to believe the place was packed, until we saw the attraction. They are known for their desserts, especially their pies which are always fresh and homemade.
At 4:30 Fern held her training session. She told us about areas of extreme turbulence where your boat will “dance.” When we experienced this I dubbed it the “Mississippi Mambo.” You have to hold on to the wheel and power thru as the boat wants to turn sideways to the current, and twist in the eddies. Its something you have to experience to really understand. Unfortunately, we have 3 such experiences ahead of us. Another point she made is to meet tows in the straight-aways, not on curves as the tugs prop wash will blow you into a bank. I wish I knew about all this before we started this trip!

A REALLY BIG TOW

CKECK SPEED, 10.4 SM/HR

THERESA, DON,(GREAT ESCAPE), PAT AT HOPPIES

TALK ABOUT SUPER SIZE! ST LOUIS, OF COURSE

HOPPIES MARINA, KIMSSWICK, MO

PIE AT THE BLUE OWL

FERN HOPKINS HOLDING HER AFTERNOON TRAINING SESSION

FINALLY, A REALLY NICE MARINA

DAY 102 WED., DAY 103 THURS. HARDIN TO ALTON LAYOVER ALTON
AM SUNNY & COOL, pm SUNNY & COOL, THURS, COOL W SHOWERS
DEP. HARDIN 07:40 ARR. ALTON 11:30
D. 35.1 sm /2063.0

We are making good time as we picked up a fast current on the Old Missippi River. We arrived at the gas dock at 11:30 to fill up. Diesel was a bargain at $3.96 per gallon for Boat US members. Alton Marina was also a bargain at $1.00 ft. for Boat US members. The marina was spectacular, with covered slips, hot tub, pool and gorgeous showers that made us Loopers drool. We caught up with Sharon and Ken our good friends from Dockers Inn. It was great seeing them again and catching up with each other’s adventures. Met the Harbor host Patty Mitchell who very generously offered to take all of the women to a real super market. Teresa, Linda and I (Pat) piled into her red mustang convertible for a brief tour and some serious grocery shopping. That evening Patty and her husband Robert took all of the Loopers to Tony’s a nice restaurant in Alton. Patty and Robert are wonderful harbor hosts who made our stay warm and memorable. We planned on staying 2 days in Alton as we really needed the rest. It was great to be able to sleep in the next day. For lunch we went to Fast Eddies for $.99 hamburgers (1/2lb.) with Teresa and Donald from Great Escape. What a great find. Lunch for 2 with fries and shrimp appetizer only $6.59 (both, NOT each!) and it was good. What a good time we had.

LIMESTONE CLIFFS ALONG THE UPPER MISS R.

WOW! COVERED SLIPS.

MORE AND BIGGER TOWS

THE 99 CENT BURGERS AT FAST EDDIES
ALTON, IL

JOE & PAT, THERESA & DON, AT FAST EDDIES

GLORY DAYS UNDER COVER

DINNER AT MEL'S RIVERSIDE

DAY 102 BEARDSTOWN TO HARDIN
AM COOL CLOUDY, 4:00 PM SUNNY
DEP. BEARDSTOWN 06:15 ARR. HARDIN 3:00
D. 64.06 sm / 2027.3

We planned to leave early, but were fogged in until almost 8AM. It was good to leave Beardstown as the water smelled “fishy.” At 09:05 we went under the Norfolk & Western Bridge, which is only significant because it is the westernmost point of the Great Loop trip. We pulled up to the floating dock at the Mel’s Riverside Restaurant in Hardin, Il. to spend the night for only $25., no electric or water. At that price you are almost obligated to have dinner there. We did, and it was good. Mel smokes all of his own meats and the menu consists mostly of BBQ chicken, ribs, brisket, etc. The pies were all homemade and especially good. At $62 for 2 including the slip it was a bargain. We were joined by Linda & Bob (Erica Lin), Theresa & Don (Great Escape), Fred & Sue Huse (Aloah), and Ed & Cindy (KayDeeAnne). It was great getting together with all those loopers.

FROM BARGE TO HOPPER

GLORY DAYS AND SISTER SHIP ERICA LIN

MORE SCOOPS

DINNER AT MEL'S RIVERSIDE RESTAURANT
HARDIN, IL

THE LAND OF LINCOLN

DAY 98 SEPT. 16, 2011

DEP. OTTOWA 07:30 ARR. HENRY HARBOR 1:40

AM 45*, CLOUDY COOL

D. 44.5 / 1877.7

We called Starved Rock Lock early to get their status and were told as of right now it looked good. When we got to the lock they had just closed the gates on a down bound tow and we had to wait about 40 mins. The instructions were to tie up to the bollards on the left descending bank (LDB). Check out the pictures. The bollard is a round concrete freestanding structure with huge cleats on it designed for barges to tie up to. While Great Escape had no problem with this because they have a very high deck, Glory Days did. I had to practically climb off the boat to get a line around the cleat, but somehow managed to do it without falling in the water. If this happens again, I will try it from the upper deck. We cleared the lock at 9:40 and within an hour found ourselves behind a large down bound tow approaching 2 large up bound tows in a fleeting area. A fleeting area is a long stretch of riverbank where tugs pick up and /or drop off barges to make up their tows. Kind of like a barge terminal or Chinese fire drill from our perspective. We agreed to wait behind the down bound tow until they cleared the 2 up bound tows, and then proceeded to overtake him. When we arrived at the town of Henry, IL, we were told to tie up at the old lock wall. This was the most deteriorated, uneven “wall” I have ever seen. They had the nerve to charge us $1/ft to stay overnight. We did have electric, but again, no water.

WAITING FOR THE LOCK TO OPEN

ITS DIFFICULT TO TIE TO A ROUNDMOORING CELL

FINALLY IN THE LOCK

DAY 99 SAT.SEPT. 17, 2011

DEP. HENRY 07:20, ARR. PEORIA 11:00

AM 56* SUNNY COOL, LATER CLOUDY PM 70*

D. 34.4 sm/1882.1

No locks today, and a short run so we get to sleep late, 06:00. We met tow “Pat White” on 1 whistle. It was kind of hairy for me as it was on a curve and we had go to the right side which was the outside of the curve. It was also the direction the stern of the tug was swinging toward in order to get its front barge to steer right. We came within 15 feet of its stern and had to really power up to keep from getting sucked in by its wake. It seemed to me that a 2 whistle meeting would have been better, but who am I to argue with a tow Capt. At 10:30 we met up bound tow “Gregory David,” 2 barges wide and 5 long, in a straight away and went by on 1 whistle with no anxiety. As we are travelling south the river is widening and eventually opens up into Peoria Lake which is about a mile wide, with a narrow channel around its perimeter. We also see our first bald eagle of the trip, high up in a bare tree. When we got to Peoria we were met by old friends Jean and Brian Orr on Spirit of Whitby. It is always good to see them and they helped us get into a nice slip (free) with electric (free) but no water. We spent some time catching up and walking around the area. To our good fortune, there was an “Octoberfest” going on tonight and tomorrow. It was the highlight of our day. The polka music was great and the food was very good, and cheap. Roast pork dinner with red cabbage and spaetzel for only $10. Did I mention, the beer was good?

WAITING FOR THE NEXT FLOOD??

JEANNE & BRIAN ORR DOING THE POLKA AT OCTOBERFEST
PEORIA, IL

NOT QUITE A POLKA

DAY 100 SUN SEPT. 18, 2011

LAYOVER AT PEORIA

RAIN, ALL DAY

It’s hard to believe, this is the 100^th day of our cruise. We did not count the week at home. We celebrate by sleeping until 8:00, having a big breakfast, and going to a German “Polka” Mass at the “Octoberfest” next to the marina. In spite of the rain today, it was a great weekend. We even managed to find a source of water to fill our depleting water tank. Tomorrow we plan to head for Tall Timbers Marina for the night, IF they have enough water depth for us to get in. The Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) controls the pool depth (read water level) on the rivers and adjusts it depending on the amount of rain. The water depth at the marina has been low all week, but they are hoping it will be back up tomorrow. If not, we will anchor out behind Quiver I. which is why we need the tank water.

DAY 101 MON. SEPT.19, 2011
AM CLOUDY, CHANCE OF SHOWERS, DAMP AN COLD . 4PM SUNNY 72*
DEP. PEORIA 0615 ARR. BEARDSTOWN 2:30
D. 71.68 sm / 1963.8

We planned to leave at 06:30 and cruise to Tall Timbers marina 30 sm south, but that didn’t work. We called the lock at 06:00 and the lockmaster said to bring it on down, then Don (Great Escape) heard a south bound tow on the radio and we had to make a quick departure in order to get to the lock before him. Had he got there first, or called before we got there, we would have to wait (possibly hours) as commercial tows have priority. No problem, we beat him. We called Tall Timbers and they said the water level was too low for us to get in so we were going with plan “B”, anchor behind Quiver Island near the barge loading area, until Don heard from friends that they did that last night and were told to leave at 10:00 at night. That left plan “C”, cruise 71 sm. to Beardstown and tie up to a barge for $1/ft. So, after 8 hrs. of cruising in damp cold clothes, we tied up to a barge and the sun came out. We met (head on) 5 tows, including one that was overtaking another in the channel, and went thru one lock. After a celebratory cocktail, Pat wants to walk into town. Beardstown, IL, looks like a ghost town with many stores closed and very few cars. Another one of those small towns that were prosperous at one time, and are now depressed. The river that brought them prosperity, has flooded the town on many occasions and brought them ruin on others. We visited the local museum and the curator gave us a personal tour even though it was closed. What looked like a small 1 room museum turned out to be at least 6 large rooms and took us an hour and a half. Their big claim to fame is the court room where Lincoln defended a murder suspect in what became known as to “Almanac Trial.”

GOING DOWN...INTO A FOG!

DREDGING OPERATION

ANOTHER TOW

TIED TO A BARGE IN BEARDSTOWN IL

Sunday, September 18, 2011

JOLIET TO OTTOWA

DAY 97 THURS. SEPT 15, 2011
DEPART JOLIET 06:25 ARR. OTTOWA 1:40
AM TEMPS 39*, SUNNY AND COOL WIND WNW 10K-20K
D. 46.2 / 1803.2

The trick to avoiding long delays at the locks is to call ahead on the cell phone before you leave the dock and ask the lockmaster how it looks. While they can’t always know what is coming, they can usually tell you if there is a tow in the lock and roughly how soon it will be ready for a downbound recreation vessel. We do this every AM about 6:00 and plan our departure accordingly. This is just one of those tips an experienced Looper uses. Another reason for leaving early is to take advantage of the free docks. Ottowa, for example, has only 2 available, and it is the first arrivals who get them. You then have the rest of the day to relax. We cleared the Brandon Lock about 7:30 AM with no problems and no waiting. We overtook or met several tows on the way, and gained more experienced and confidence in our ability to do so. The easy ones are on a straight away, and the more nail biting ones are on the curves. The tow Captains are all very courteous and helpful. The procedure is to call them on ch.13 and ask when and how you can overtake or meet them. They respond with “one whistle” or “on the ones” (each vessel steers to the right) or “two whistles” or “on the twos” (each vessel steers to the left.) Whistle refers to USCG rules regarding sound signals for meeting and overtaking another vessel. They will also tell you when and where is the most appropriate time and place to execute this maneuver. The secret is knowing that they cannot stop and have no immediate control of their tows, but they also know the river and the best places and times to meet or pass. We arrived in Ottawa at 1:40 where we had electric, but no water. After we had cocktails with Theresa and Don we walked into town and bought some groceries.

GREAT ESCAPE

EARLY MORNING SEA SMOKE

OVERTAKING ON "TWO WHISTLES"

MEETING ON ONE WHISTLE

HOLDING ONTO A FLOATING BOLLARD IN A LOCK

WE BEGIN THE RIVER JOURNEY CHICAGO TO MOBILE

DAY 96 WED. SEPT. 14, 2011
AM SEAS CALM CLOUDY COOL AM/PM SHOWERS
DEP HAMMOND 09:00 ARR. JOLIET 4:20
D. 47.4 sm / 1757

Today is the beginning of an entirely different segment of the Great Loop, and one that is a totally different kind of boating than we have experienced before. For roughly 1300 miles we will be cruising the rivers from Chicago IL to Mobile AL. The good news was that for now we were going to travel with Theresa and Don from GREAT ESCAPE. They are very capable and experienced cruisers, and this is their second time doing the loop. In addition to that, they are fun to be with. I always feel more comfortable cruising with another boat so this is great for us. We left Hammond after a fuel fill for the short trip to the CalSag Canal. By far the most industrial area we have been in, including the Harlem R. in the Bronx. We went under countless bridges, thru the T.J. Obrien lock (2’drop), more bridges, another lock, an electric fish barrier, and more low bridges. All this while meeting and overtaking tows. Tows are any tug towing OR pushing more than 1 barge. They usually push up to a dozen in the IL. River. The fish barrier is an area of the canal that is electrified to keep the Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes. In going thru the barrier we were only allowed to go in 1 boat at a time. When exiting that boat would call on the radio and the next boat in the queue would go. The fun part is maintaining your position without hitting anything. When we got to Joliet we had to go under 5 bridges with a clearance of 16’ Fortunately Glory Days has an air draft with it’s mast down of about 15’7”, so we made it OK, but just barely. Joliet provided us with a nice free wall tie up with electric, but no water. Shortly after we arrived several other Loopers arrived. We helped them tie up, but declined invitations to join them at the casino for dinner as we were tired and wanted to get an early start. We did not see much of Joliet.