Expensive Lessons - Day 6 - Havana to Mile Marker 57.5

In the process of departung from Tall Timbers, Diana and I chatted with Bob, the marina owner, and Diana and Bob discovered that they had worked at Argonne National Labs at the same time, although they had never met.  They then proceeded to swap stories while I prepared for departure, which occurred at 9:39am.

Departure was smooth and we began cruising down the Illinois River bound for our destination, which, today, is an  "unofficial"anchorage behind Big Blue Island at Mile Marker 57.5.  "Unofficial," in this instance refers to the fact that this anchorage is not marked on any chart.  We learned of it from our friends from Belmont harbor, Lisa and Rick Curcio (In Recess), who have cruised the river, and from Bob at Tall Timbers.  Local Knowedge so to speak.

Cruising down the river

As we proceeded down river, running at our optimum, 2.4 MPG, slow cruising speed of 10 MPH (buring 4 gallons per hour) we got a call from Nathaniel Betts one of our favorite young (6 years old)  friends.  Nathaniel and his sister, Dakota (8) and their parents have been boating with us for years.  Nathaniel wanted un update on our progress and had lots of good questions about tows, barges and dredges.  So for Nathaniel and all readers here some river knowledge.

The photo below shows a big tow consisting of 15 barges.  The tug is approximately 170 feet long, 46 feet wide and draws around 9 feet of water.  The cargo carried by 15 barges is the equivalent of 870 semi-trailers.  The US government keeps river depths to at least 10 feet by continually dredging.  The second photo show an operating dredge.



A 15 barge tow going up river



Operating Dredge - Note the water flowing onto the bank

At 1:35pm we had traveled 40 miles and reached the Lagrange Lock, the last lock on the Illinois River.  As we approached the lock we observed two tows awaiting lockage, one of which had the maximum allowed 15 barges (3 wide and 5 deep).  Since commercial traffic has priority, we began speculating as to the length of the delay.  Four to five hours would not have been unreasonable since the 15 barge tow would have to go through the lock in sections.

We called the Lock Master on the VHF (radio) and advised him of our arrival and to our GREAT SURPRISE he informed us that he would lock us through as soon as the upbound tow currently in transit exited the lock.  This was like winnig the "lockery" (i.e., lottery).  Our wait turned out to be 40 minutes.  We "floated" down 10 feet and 10 minutes later we were off and running.

Upbound tow exiting Lagrange Lock

The Falls and the Lagrange Lock and Dam

At 4:35pm we reached our destination, Mile Marker (MM) 57.5 and here I made a very poor decision.  I estimated that we could "make tracks" and reach Illinois Riverdock Restaurant (aka Mel's Place) at MM 21.  Given our ability to make 30 MPH we could cover the 36 miles in 70 minutes.  So, I put the power to it and 4 miles later we heard a bang as some floating debris got sucked into the props.  Not good!  We turned around and returned to our destination anchorage.  On the way, we ran up the power and noticed a slight vibration at 2200 rpm and higher.  We had dinged a prop.  Good thing we carry spares.  Meanwhile, we will have no problem running at our slow cruise speed.  So we can get this resolved down the way.

The "lesson" you ask.  I should have known better.  Running at speed into the sun increases the risk of hitting debris.  Further, I noticed that after we passed Lagrange Lock the amount of debris increased.  A classic case of "Get Homeitis."  Oh well.

We anchored outside the channel on the left descending bank tucked in just south of overnamed Big Blue Island (over named).  In the photo below, the boat is tucked in behind the island.  You can see the red day mark just to the right of the boat.  The photo was taken from the dingy.

Kodi watching me take a photo from the dingy

Tucked in outside the main channel

Now to the fun and games.  Kodi needs to be walked.  So, she and I get in the dingy and speed over at 30 mph to where I saw a dock along the bank.  Turns out that it was high and dry due to low water.  So we motored upriver (back toward our anchorage) to where I saw a boat launch ramp.  I "beached" the dingy and took Kodi for a walk in what looked like a gypsy trailer encampment.  Kodi did number 1.  Ketting her and I back in the boat involved considerable mud.  But this was only the beginning.  Upon return to the big boat I took her to the muddy shore just to the right of the boat.  By the time we returned to Guided Discovery , Kodi and the dingy were covered in mud.  The photo below was taken on Saturday morning after our second visit to the bank.  The good news is she did numbers one and two. The other positive is Diana success in cleanbing the mud off Kodi.

Illinois River Mud

Here's the data:

• Miles Traveled: 68.8
• Cumulative Miles: 274.6
• Locks Traversed Today: 1 (Lagrange)
• Fuel Used Today: 32.4 Gallons
• Average MPG: 2.1 - Nice efficiency
• Average Speed: 8.6 MPH
• Engine Hours Today: 7:52