Starved Rock to Harborside

Tuesday, June 9

It was a cool morning with overcast skies and temperatures in the mid 50’s. Diana fixed hot oatmeal, it tasted good. We were underway by 7:30 with a plan for only 40 miles plus two locks.

When I was walking around the marina early a tow went by headed our direction. I was worried that starting an hour behind him we would catch him just as he got to the lock and we would be held up for a couple of hours, out we went anyhow. As it turned out we caught him and squeezed by him about five miles before the lock. It was a straight but narrow stretch of river. As close as we are to him I was closer to a buoy on the other side.

I radioed the lock when we were ten minutes out and he said he would open the gates and to keep coming. The gates were open when we got there and we went straight in. The winds were light and we had a very easy lockage, the Admiral/deckhand’s favorite kind.

The river scenery is changing; we are out of the lowland of the lower river and starting to see some bluffs. The weather remained overcast and it was slow to warm up so we ran from the lower helm most of the day, except for into and out of locks and docking. The river continues to be very busy in stretches with barges being loaded and unloaded.

As we came around a corner just before the second lock of the day there was a tow working under a railroad bridge, this time we had to wait. I checked with the lock master to let him know we were waiting and found out at least the tow was a single lockage not a double. We followed him under the bridge and pulled to the side of the channel and dropped the hook. After about an hour he cleared the lock and we went right in and had another easy lockage.

Just two miles beyond the lock was our marina for the night, Harborside Marina, Wilmington, IL. By 3:30 we were tying up to the slip we were assigned and getting ready to relax. After five straight days of running hard we are going to take tomorrow off and do boat chores; Fuel, water, pump-out, clean inside and out etc.

The last two evenings we have had some member of the sparrow family flying close around the boat, they will land on the dock and even hop on to the deck of the boat. Both cats are becoming avid bird watchers. They will dash to the door to look out intently then dash to the back of the chair to look out the window, up on the front console, then to the back of the couch. It makes them tired but, I think they are forgetting how bad three 500 mile car rides were and settling nicely into the boating life.