Grafton Harbor to Alton Marina

As we awoke the boat was covered with small May Flies, they could be moved lightly with a broom but would only move a few feet. At one point there were 200 on the stern of the boat. A short cruise planned for today just 16 miles, we fueled with 165 gallons of diesel fuel, I am very pleased with the fuel consumption at this point. This was our first fueling since Racine, 390 statute miles or 340 nautical miles.

Bluffs in Illinois

The information about the Mississippi makes this part of the trip to seem quite dangerous. Strong currents, lots of traffic and few places to stop with only a few fuel stops and no repair facilities. 

The cruise today was great, sunny, 75 degrees with northeast winds 7-10 knots. 

Beautiful bluffs along this portion of the river with islands and good depth small current about .7 mph. A very enjoyable day. 

The Alton Marina is covered and under a large highway bridge

Tonight the harbor host here at Alton will present some information about the river conditions. Looper harbor hosts provide a valuable service with local knowledge.

Addendum: Bob and Patty were great and provided much information about the river and what to expect. Then they took us to this great restaurant called Mac’s for our “last supper” in a restaurant for a while. Ribs, prime rib, steaks, good company and great stories, Mac the owner bought us all a round of drinks, amazing.

Bob and Patty far right, potential harbor hosts of the year.

Great house on top of this bluff

Grafton, Illinois

Grafton is a nice town for a rest day – we slept in, and took it easy.  We woke up to gray skies and reasonable September temperatures, what a relief.  This marina has lots of nice amenities besides the pool and restaurant.  We did the laundry and hung out doing chores and visiting with the marina neighbors.  

Garden and Gift Shop

Midday we went for a walk down the Main Street; about four blocks of historic buildings and small businesses.  One block had three different ice cream store choices so we had lunch at one of them.  It’s a quiet town on a Thursday, but the local people were all very nice.  The yards in front of some shops had beautiful flowers, and the old Bank Building is now a gift shop.  Next to the front door is a sign that says “If we are closed, slide your money under the door”.  Very enterprising we thought – I wonder if it works.

Really good restaurant with lots of history

For dinner we went to the Reubel Hotel.  Built in the 1800’s it has survived floods and fires, and has a resident ghost to add to the local color.  It also serves very good food and we highly recommend it for a stop on the Loop.

Blue Moon, Always 5 O'clock, Reunion, and Entree 

Havana to Grafton

A fixer upper

Two days without a blog post – let’s blame that on the lack of wi-fi connection, which is true.  But we can also site some extremely long, hot days sweltering under 97 degree heat while covering mega miles on the Illinois River.  Also very true.

Logsdon Tugs and Barge

After leaving Tall Timbers, we motored to our most interesting mooring to date.  We docked Tuesday night alongside a barge on the side of the river.  Yes, Logsdon Tug Service will allow transient boaters to tie up alongside one of their tugs – a very good thing because there is almost nowhere else that a good sized trawler can safely harbor for the night.  The tug workers were very hospitable and we were welcomed to Beardstown with a map of all the places we might want to visit.  We tried out the Mile 88 Pub – their location on the river map – and we visited a Mexican bakery to buy an anniversary treat for Chuck and Sue on Blue Moon.  Charlie and I even found a place to get a pedicure so civilization has been restored to its rightful order.

Moored to the Barge

No protection but no problems either

Barges waiting to be filled

Today we covered 88 miles by river.  That’s eleven hours in the (again) 97 degree heat and we were just about wrung out when we reached Grafton Harbor.  A few hours in the pool, some Illinois wines and some snacks at the Kahuna bar and restaurant – by tomorrow we should be returned to normal again.  

Interesting architecture

One of the things that we are noticing is that the barge traffic is not as great as we expected.  Because its mid-September, barges are being “stockpiled” next to the great grain elevators along the river, waiting for the corn and soybean harvest.  In the next couple of weeks, the elevators will fill with new crops, and the barges will be moving up and down the river to bring us all the grains of the bread basket of America here in the Midwest. 

Heritage Harbor to Tall Timbers Marina

IVY Marina

The Illinois Valley Yacht club where we spent last night is one of the oldest yacht clubs in America – 107 years old.  They are currently refurbishing, rebuilding and re-dredging after serious flood damage invaded a couple of years ago, silting in the marina and reaching well into the 2^nd floor dining rooms.  Some of the work was done, much is left to do, but this will again be a magnificent club in a beautiful setting.

Peoria Downtown

Coming down the river through Peoria we got a new perspective on that city, and continued out into the area of Havana, Illinois to the Tall Timbers Marina.  This is a small but well run marina and it accommodated 5 looper boats, 3 forty foot, a 34 foot and a 56 foot boat in the transient slips. This is a great stop everyone should make, Bob is dredging the marina and plans to have 7 ft. water depth. We had a “docktail party” early this evening to discuss plans for upcoming anchorages.  There aren’t many good places where larger boats can stop overnight and so everyone’s input and research is welcome.  The “Integrity” from St. Petersburg, Florida is making the loop for the second time, after a pause of 12 years.  They were describing the differences they have seen over that time.

Loopers Tucked in for the Evening

 Tonight we are enjoying the peace and quiet inside our cozy little AIR CONDITIONED home.  Some days you really can appreciate the finer things in life…….. like electricity.

McNaughton Bridge

Heritage Harbor to Peoria

Starved Rock Dam

A steaming hot day but we covered a lot of distance.  We left Heritage Harbor at 7:30 in the morning and fortunately the overcast sky kept the heat down until about noon.  The Illinois River is wide and shallow and on a Sunday it’s got a ton of recreational traffic.  We enjoyed seeing speedboats, boogie boards, giant tubes, water skiers and a lots and lots of fishermen.  Families were camped along the river bank and fishing from shore. 

Since we were northeast of Peoria, but southwest of the fish electrification zone, we also saw quite a few Asian carp leaping behind the smaller boats.  Only a few were out in the center of the river where we were, but at least 4 made the jump that seemed like they were aiming to board our dinghy.  Being an aluminum dinghy set up vertically against our stern, it made a great sudden thump that caught us by surprise the first time – but got to be funny after a few more.   One of the boats traveling near us had to scoop a big carp back into the river.  Their boat has a lower stern than ours.

Supper with other Loopers

Arriving at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club around 5 pm, we were greeted by 4 other couples that we have already met – some at the Chicago Pizza Party (thanks Wally and Ellen) or while waiting for a lock to open.  So we joined them at a bar across the street to watch the end of the disappointing Packer Game and had some supper.   Any of you that were worried about me not getting enough social life can relax now. What does this make:  Five nights on the water, and five nights of socializing?   These folks were from New York, San Diego, Tampa, and Alabama.

Professional Taggers

These guys are on their way to Nashville

Heritage Harbor Marina

Today was a rest day at a nice quiet marina near Ottawa, Ill.  The place is planned for a development of cottages, townhouses, marina and hotel space.  The progress was held up by the recession, but its still a great spot and perhaps in a decade it will be a thriving vacation destination.

We met Mark and Becky here, people that we enjoyed in Door County, and Mark and Dennis rebuilt our radio antenna this morning so we should get great reception and communication.  Thank you Mark! It rained on and off all day and this evening we took the Mathers out for a burger.  They had a vehicle here so we got a lift to the grocery store in town and enjoyed a lot of laughs hearing about their family and sharing stories.

Our cruise planning says it should be about 9 travel days from Chicago to the Mississippi and another 5 days on the Mississippi to the Ohio River.  We have been traveling at about 7.8 knots in this current, about a 0.7 knot favorable current.  This info may be useful to other boaters on this branch of the loop.

Joliet to Ottawa, Illinois

DesPlaines  River.  47 miles.  3 locks.  Trees.  Water

The lock personal take pride in providing assistance

Each lock holds 1.7 million gallons of water, so every time a boat is locked through, that is the approximate amount of water that goes from upstream to downstream

Tonight we are at a very nice marina called Heritage Harbor, just east of Ottawa.  What a great place, the personnel are the most helpful we have encountered thus far and the facility is clean, pretty and all around first-class.  PLUS they cater to Loopers so it was only $1 per foot – for Reunion that’s $40 for the night. We highly recommend this stop.

We chose not to stay at this marina

A floating village on the river

Need a lift?

We also encountered Becky and Mark from the Mara Beel, whom we first met in Door County – they are so hospitable and easy to visit with, we enjoyed the evening very much.