16-Sept 2 We are on the water again- In my last post I mentioned that I went under the knife to correct my duypatrins contracture of my little finger on my left hand. The surgery went well and now I am in the healing process. As anyone knows, that has ever had an obvious injury to a limb, you get to tell the story a thousand times of what happened. Now I have a funky looking hand protector and get to do therapy on my hand many times a day. My stitches are still in, but the Lake Michigan boating weather looked great for the Labor day weekend and beyond. Sunday September 2nd, we are on the pavement to Whitehall Mi where we left the boat. Son Brad was the chauffeur and our good friends Don and Sharon Barger were along with us and they will accompany us on our next leg of the trip. The plan is to move the boat to Chicago, rent a car in Chicago to go home and have my stitches out on Sept 7. It worked! Sept 3-8 Our first stop on the way to Chicago would be South Haven Mi a distance of 73 miles. We debated whether to cross the Lake now and go to the Wisconsin side and then head to Chicago but as is often the case the wind direction and the weather forecast helps to make the decision. The lake was full of 1-3' rollers left over from the very windy previous day. Sharon and Don quickly got their sea legs. We were greeted by a channel full of boats as it was a beautiful Labor day afternoon when we arrived. No problem getting a dock at the municipal marina. The evening was spent watching the boats parade down the river, watching the sunset, fixing sausage on the grill and engaging a bit of ice cream from the local ice cream parlor.
On Tuesday morning we took on fuel and decided to head for Chicago as the weather forecast was iffy for the next day and that would preclude another stop before Chicago. As it turned out we could have made another stop. The crossing of 81 miles was picture perfect. Calm seas and a temperature in t
he seventies. These are the days you would like to bank and trade them for some ugly days which we know lie ahead. When we left for Chicago there was no room at the "inn" (marinas). Plan A was to call at the last minute before arrival and see if our wait list would come to fruition and plan B was to grab a mooring ball at Monroe Harbor. As it turned out Plan A worked and we have a slip for 5 nights at Burnham Harbor marina. When given our dock assignment the harbormaster said don't get too close to the wall as it gets shallow. What he neglected to tell me is that there were rocks right under our slip. Luckily they were deep enough and we were oka
y. Silver Foxes has an inferiority complex as we are docked in megayacht alley! She was by far the smallest boat on our dock. These days have been spent doing Chicago things. A $49 City pass lets you go to the Aquarium, John Hancock building, Museum of Science & Industry, etc. The car rental and stitch removal process went well. Our plan is to depart on Sunday and enter the heart of Chicago through the Chicago River amongst the skyscrapers. Anxiously awaiting that awesome site but also with some trepidation. There are several bridges on the Chicago river that are 17' high. Silver Foxes' air draft is 16'4". Little margin for water level variation. We made a "tickler pole" that was 16'8" off the water and that would give us a little warning. Picture is of Judy washing the windows on the outside of the John Hancock building!!! Also you can see the tickler pole in the photo as we passed through downtown Chicago.
he seventies. These are the days you would like to bank and trade them for some ugly days which we know lie ahead. When we left for Chicago there was no room at the "inn" (marinas). Plan A was to call at the last minute before arrival and see if our wait list would come to fruition and plan B was to grab a mooring ball at Monroe Harbor. As it turned out Plan A worked and we have a slip for 5 nights at Burnham Harbor marina. When given our dock assignment the harbormaster said don't get too close to the wall as it gets shallow. What he neglected to tell me is that there were rocks right under our slip. Luckily they were deep enough and we were oka
y. Silver Foxes has an inferiority complex as we are docked in megayacht alley! She was by far the smallest boat on our dock. These days have been spent doing Chicago things. A $49 City pass lets you go to the Aquarium, John Hancock building, Museum of Science & Industry, etc. The car rental and stitch removal process went well. Our plan is to depart on Sunday and enter the heart of Chicago through the Chicago River amongst the skyscrapers. Anxiously awaiting that awesome site but also with some trepidation. There are several bridges on the Chicago river that are 17' high. Silver Foxes' air draft is 16'4". Little margin for water level variation. We made a "tickler pole" that was 16'8" off the water and that would give us a little warning. Picture is of Judy washing the windows on the outside of the John Hancock building!!! Also you can see the tickler pole in the photo as we passed through downtown Chicago.September 9. 
Lines were cast off at 7:15 am. The first lock is the Chicago lock and it lowers you 2' into the River. The lock is there so that the Illinois River does not flow into Lake Michigan but instead flows into the Mississipi. The tickler pole did not come close to touching anything so we had an awesome cruise through Chicago. Soon after leaving Chicago the river becomes very industrialized and it is all business consisting of barges and tows. No autopilot today! The tow boat Captains were very polite and helpful. Sometimes it is obvious where they want you to pass or meet them but sometimes it is not. Today we waited on 2 occasions while they slowly turned a tow around and into a industrial slip. On one other occasion the tows were out in the river waiting and blocking the river. The towboat captain said he thought there was just enough room for me to slip between one of the barges and the shore. He said if there wasn't he would come up and move them over. Plenty of room--2' on either side. The second lock was a 40' drop. We didn't wait long as 2 other PC's (pleasurecraft) or RV's as we are called were also waiting to lock through. The commercial tows have first priority and then us. Shortly after the Lockport lock we welcomed the site of the Joliet town wall dock. The price is right, it is free. No water but there is electric. Before we arrived at the wall we passed under several bridges that were charted at 16'5" but the bridge tender thought we could slide under without him having to raise the bridge. He was right--several inches to spare. We are tucked in for the night. The bridges and Harrahs casino which is right across the river are all aglow. The tows pass by with their barges and rock us a little. The largest tow we saw today was 4 barges long x 2 wide but they will get bigger as we head for the mighty Mississippi! We only traveled 49 miles today mostly at 8 mph as well as at a standstill. In addition to waiting for the tows and the locks we waited for about 20 minutes for an Amtrak train lift bridge to open Picture of tow blocking river.
Lines were cast off at 7:15 am. The first lock is the Chicago lock and it lowers you 2' into the River. The lock is there so that the Illinois River does not flow into Lake Michigan but instead flows into the Mississipi. The tickler pole did not come close to touching anything so we had an awesome cruise through Chicago. Soon after leaving Chicago the river becomes very industrialized and it is all business consisting of barges and tows. No autopilot today! The tow boat Captains were very polite and helpful. Sometimes it is obvious where they want you to pass or meet them but sometimes it is not. Today we waited on 2 occasions while they slowly turned a tow around and into a industrial slip. On one other occasion the tows were out in the river waiting and blocking the river. The towboat captain said he thought there was just enough room for me to slip between one of the barges and the shore. He said if there wasn't he would come up and move them over. Plenty of room--2' on either side. The second lock was a 40' drop. We didn't wait long as 2 other PC's (pleasurecraft) or RV's as we are called were also waiting to lock through. The commercial tows have first priority and then us. Shortly after the Lockport lock we welcomed the site of the Joliet town wall dock. The price is right, it is free. No water but there is electric. Before we arrived at the wall we passed under several bridges that were charted at 16'5" but the bridge tender thought we could slide under without him having to raise the bridge. He was right--several inches to spare. We are tucked in for the night. The bridges and Harrahs casino which is right across the river are all aglow. The tows pass by with their barges and rock us a little. The largest tow we saw today was 4 barges long x 2 wide but they will get bigger as we head for the mighty Mississippi! We only traveled 49 miles today mostly at 8 mph as well as at a standstill. In addition to waiting for the tows and the locks we waited for about 20 minutes for an Amtrak train lift bridge to open Picture of tow blocking river.
2 comments:
Jim and Judy,
Glad to see you back on the water. I saw that Bill commented on KY lake and staying inside the channel. One of the most spectacular bass boat mishaps occured on KY lake because the idiots did not stay inside the channel. Their huge Mercury motor snapped off the transom and landed in the boat after they hit the shallow water at high speed.
Glad you got your surgery done and done successfully. The next legs of your trip will be totally different than your Great Lakes trip. I'm sure you're in for some great scenery.
Post a Comment