Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Second Day of The IL River Voyage!

Today, we left a little later than planned, however when you are cruising, especially on Earthling, there is no schedule! Right outside Joliet, we had to wait for
Brandon Road
lock for an hour & half. We docked by River side grill & met the owner & he sent us a 12 pack of ice tea bottles, such good people!
Brandon Road
lock dropped 35 feet.
Yesterday morning Dee waved @ us when we left the dock, this Morning Rachael waved us & tonight Perry will leave for couple of days, so he will wave too! After the first lock Dariush was @ Helm for couple hours, meanwhile I made special Earthling sandwiches & served with chips & Salsa & some sliced apples! The river is looking more beautiful as we go, it's wider & more scenic!
Illinois river stretches from Lake Michigan to Mississippi River & the distance is approximately: 335 nautical miles. Mile Zero is the Mississippi & Illinois River Junction. Right now we are @ mile mark 241, Ottawa, IL. We have done an average of 48 miles a day! We could do more than 50 miles a day if we hit the locks @ the right time & leave early in the morning. We went through 3 locks today. We were lucky with the 2nd lock (Dresden Island, mile 271), we arrived @ the right time when the lock was raised & there were no barges waiting! At mile 245, Marseilles Lock, we waited an hour for a double barge to go through. During that hour we had dinner & sun went down & it got cold & dark. We went only few miles @ night which was not bad, I would prefer to do most of the passage during day light though! Tomorrow, we will go through Starved Rock national park & I'm very excited! Thanks for reading!


1 comment:

  1. Hi George, Congrats for getting underway. Just wanted to let you know I'm here reading and glad you are blogging and sharing your adventure. Keep it up.

    What was the process for getting through the electric fences? Have you seen Asian Carp?
    Capn. Vytas
    s/v Sunshine Daydream

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