Good-bye Chicago, Hello River Bridges!

The first thing we had to do this morning was visit the pump-out dock at the marina.  It was another Do-it-Yourself type.  Look at this photo... can you even see the little cleat I had to lasso?

Here I have accomplished it and then the Captain jumped off and secured the stern line.  I was feeling good about our “team” which had been out of practice for many days.

Good-bye Chicago!

We had 4 foot rolling waves while we were in the Lake until we reached the mouth of the River.  We are glad we will not have this turbulence again until the Gulf Coast crossing.

Hello Lots and Lots of Bridges!

We were able to get under all the fixed bridges but some were a little too close for comfort!!

Here you are looking at three bridges right together as many of them were today. The one in the foreground is a lift bridge and is all the way up.  The second one is a low fixed bridge and the third one is a high silver bridge.

This bridge had something hanging down on it that I couldn't see until the fore deck , where I was sitting, was out from under it.  I was very concerned and the Captain must have been also as I snapped this picture of him just after his BIG relieved smile!

I just liked this bridge tender's house on this bridge.

Here we are entering the first large lock.

We had no idea how they would do the locking process... things like “our lines” or “their lines”, were unknown to us but for some reason I was not nervous about it.  At this first lock we were told to just float in the middle of the lock with the engines running.  A tiny Coast Guard boat had tied up... you can see him on right side of lock....we were the only two boats in the lock.

Gates closing behind us.

We did get away from the industrial scenery for part of the time.

Asian Carp are in the Illinois River and they are being very careful to keep them from getting into Lake Michigan or other rivers.  I was hating to see them as we were told they will jump on your boat and start stinking if you don't throw them off... I sure didn't want to deal with fish!  So far though we have not had this happen to us... apparently it is the vibrations from the little motor boats that cause this.  Here is the photo of the warning sign.. .we had to wear our life jackets during the passage of this place.  I took the picture too close to the sign... the first line says, “Entering Electric Fish Area” and the second line is: “High Risk of Electric Shock”!

We had added to our experiences today.......calling a barge and getting permission to pass him on a particular side (one whistle or two... port side or starboard) and we did this twice... once going toward a barge and once going around one. Here is one that passed us going the opposite way... he was two barges wide and we had to wait until we came to a wide place in the river to pass!

We had to wait at the second lock for a barge going down and they had said another would be coming up.  But they decided to make him wait as it would have taken hours he was so big... he would have to separate his load!  From what we hear this is unusual as commercial barge traffic gets into locks first and “Pleasure Craft” as they call us are always last!  We tied up at the lock wall outside the lock and waited about 30 minutes.

This time they had us use our lines but the dock man took it from me and looped it around a floating bollard which goes down with the lock.... we were lowered 39 ft.   I kept looking for a gate to close behind us but it never did... instead it came up out from under the water.

Here the gate at the front of the lock or down river side is opening.

Then the Captain decided to “take a look” at a very low bridge that he was thinking he could get under... I had the chart book and it said 16ft 6in!  We are 17' 1” but he had to go look... I closed my eyes!  Thankfully, he backed off and called the bridge tender.  We found out that since it was work hour traffic we would have to wait about 15 min. for this bridge and three others also with the same low height!

Last bridge of the day opening.

We were delighted to see our friends from Second Wind and Golden Hark on the city wall.  They caught our lines and rejoiced with us that we had made it so far, 52 miles!

So after 43 bridges and two locks we are tucked in at The City Docks at Joliet, IL

Another looper had problems here with someone walking on his boat in the middle of the night.  He called the police and they were quickly here and no harm was done.  We have secured our boat as the others have tonight by looping our bow and stern lines back to the decks making it hard for anyone to untie them.

We had some excitement at 745p tonight, just before dark. The sirens on the bridge just behind us went off..... the one we came under...and red lights twirled and flashed and the bridge opened.... we ran up to the bridge to watch..what was coming through so late?  It was unbelievable!  You need to know that one barge is an average of about 100 feet long and 30 to 40 feet wide.   First we saw THREE barges strapped together (they just fit through the bridge opening!)  Then THREE more attached to those first ones and then TWO more behind them.. they were all one huge mass! Then the little tug boat pushing them... it was amazing as he was having to turn them before the next bridge.  Had we met them on the river there is no way we could have gotten around them.. maybe this big a group only travels at night?  Well, I can hope, eh?

It was chilly when we left Chicago but we are worn out from the heat on the river today.  We would love to keep up with our friends but they travel faster than us... we save fuel by cruising at about 8mph.

When we first left on this Loop trip after traveling for three long days up the ICW off the NC coast we discovered we could actually rent a car and drive back home in one hour!!  So boating is slow but now the rivers are ridiculously slow....with their winding around and around... it took us over 5 hours to get out of Cook County which is where Chicago is located!   But I'm loving our life in the SLOW lane!