Date: September 3, 2013
Day on the Cruise: 141
From: DuSable Marina, Downtown Chicago, IL
To: Harborside Marina, Wilmington, IL
Statute Miles: 60.6 SM
Time: 8.67Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,389.7 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We are on the Illinois River at Wilmington, IL tonight. Internet coverage is very poor, so this post will likely be late.
Wakeup call was at 4:30 this morning. Yuck! We were out of our slip and at the pump out by 6:00. At 6:20, "Journey "came by us and at 6:35, "Always Five O'Clock" came by. The three of us proceeded out of DuSable and into the Chicago Lock that connects The Chicago River with Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful morning with bright sunshine, cool temps, and clear skies. We wore jackets most all of the morning.
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| A beautiful morning in Chicago |
The locking went smoothly except that the Lock master yelled at one of the boats for not having life jackets on. We had our inflatable life jackets on. The drop down in the lock was only a foot or so, maybe 2'. As we left then lock, I noticed a River gauge that was reading at least -1'. That meant that the River was at least a foot below normal pool. This gave me confidence that we would make it under the 17' bridges in the Chicago River. As most of you know, I was apprehensive about clearing these bridges with my 16'-4" air draft.
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| Going into the Chicago Lock |
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| In the Chicago Lock. The Trump Building is Reflecting the Morning Sun |
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| "Journey" in the Lock |
As we entered the Chicago River, the sun reflected off of the Trump Towers, a 94 story building right on the River. It was brilliant! I am sure Donald Trump takes pride in reflection the sun into downtown Chicago!
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| The Reflection off The Trump Tower |
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| 94 Story Trump Tower Along the Chicago River |
The way we did the navigating this morning in order to know where we were in relation to bridges was to have the "Skipper Bob's Guide to Chicago to Mobile" with us on the fly bridge. It has a listing of all the bridges across the waterway. Each bridge in Chicago has a sign on it that names the bridge. Susan would spot the bridge and tell me the clearance. If The clearance was 17'-6" or less, I would slow down and "ghost" under the bridge very slowly. For bridges at 17', Susan went outside on deck and watched the top of the bimini to let me know how much clearance we had. It also helped that we were following "Journey", and he had 15'-5" clearance. We could gage his clearance and add a foot and see what ours would be.
Everything went fine, even the 17' bridges. Yes we were close, but the River being down must have helped. It is important to know what the River gauge says at the lock so you know where you stand from a River elevation standpoint!
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| Chicago River Scenes |
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| Chicago River Scenes |
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| Thousands of Workers Heading Into Downtown from the Train Station |
We only had one bridge that had to open for us. It is the Amtrac Railroad Lift Bridge at mile 323.5. It was closed because of morning rush hour and only had a 10' clearance in the down position. We got to the bridge at 7:30 and I was very apprehensive that they would make us wait until after 9:00 to get under the bridge. I was already looking for a place to tie up and wait, but "Journey" called them on Channel 16 and blew her horn. No one answered, but several minutes later, the siren went off and the bridge lifted! What a relief!
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| The Amtrac Bridge Raising Up for US |
After getting through downtown Chicago, we entered a very heavy industrial area and cruised past industry of all kinds for hours. The River and air smelled bad, for sure. We passed a huge garbage transfer facility. That was lovely! This River is not called a Sanitary Canal for nothing!
At 10:00 we passed the junction with the canal that comes in from the Lake at Calumet. This was option 2 if we could not have gone under a 17' bridge, but thankfully we gambled on option 1 through downtown Chicago and it was a great ride. The journey through downtown Chicago and the views rivaled our entrance into New York Harbor, if not better! Awesome!
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| This is the 19' Fixed Bridge that Restrains anyone on the Loop that Cannot Get Their Air Draft Down to 19'. The Bridge is Below the Cal-Sag Junction. |
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| Will we Clear? Sure! |
After the Cal-Sag junction, we entered a long stretch of intense barge traffic in a narrow portion of the River. It was testy as we wound our way past moored barges that narrowed the fairway to one lane.
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| The River Passes Very Close to Midway Airport-Hub for Southwest Airlines! |
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| Barge Congestion on the River |
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| Making Landscaping Mulch to be Loaded Onto a Barge |
We reached the famous "Fish Barrier" at 10:50 this morning. This is the electric barrier that was built to keep invasive species of fish, notably Asian Carp, from coming to Chicago and into the Great Lakes. There is large signage along the River warning of the barrier and the danger of passing through the electrified waters. We had to wait for a big Northbound tow to clear the barrier, then "Journey" went through. We were next, Five O'Clock followed us. The transit is about 1000 feet. You have to announce on the radio when you enter and when you exit. Other than that, it wasn't much of a deal. We got yelled at by someone on the radio because we went into the barrier before a Northbound pleasure craft (the tow captains call us "PC's") had gotten out of the barrier. We learned that only one vessel at a time can be in the barrier.
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| The First Sign for the Fish Barrier |
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| A big Tow Coming North Out of the Fish Barrier. We Had to Get Way Over to Let Him Pass |
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| Only One Vessel at a Time in the Fish Barrier! |
We transited three of the eight locks on the Illinois River today. These are Federal Locks run by the Corps of Engineers and they run these by the book. Not like the Erie Canal locks! After the Chicago lock, we had the Lockport Lock and the Brandon Road Lock. One was a 40' drop and the other was a 36' drop. We used floating bollards in each one and it was really easy. Loop your midship's line around the bollard and float down.
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| Waiting to Enter a Lock. Journey is in the Lead. |
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| In a Lock on the Illinois River |
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| Up High in a Lock on the Illinois River Waiting to Be Lowered. These Locks are Much Bigger than Those on the Erie Canal |
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| Lock Master watching us go down |
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| Right Next to the Lock Gates |
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| Gates Opening on our Bow |
We debated about stopping at the wall at Joliet for the night. It was a long wall, but high and very rough. The neighborhood was not the best either. The three of us decided to goon another 12 miles to Wilmington and stay at Harborside Marina. The owner met us at the entrance to the marina which is very narrow and has a big sign that said "Do Not Enter". Very welcoming! He chastised me for getting too far over in the very narrow entrance channel, barking and looking agitated. We had 4.5' water at the lowest and then got into 6' water as we went back to a very nice marina in an embayment off the a river. Good power and docks,and an very good restaurant that we enjoyed for dinner.
Today was a long day. Tomorrow we will only do 30 miles to Heritage Harbor Marina on the Illinois.
Thanks for Reading!
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