Day on the Cruise: 148
From: Logsdon Tug Service, Beardstown, IL
To: Grafton Harbor, Grafton, IL
Statute Miles: 88.1 SM
Time: 9.25 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,664.9 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We have internet service back as we are at the confluence of the Illinois River and the Mississippi River in Grafton, IL.
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| We are at the Confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers Tonight |
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| Grafton, IL in reference to St Louis and Chicago |
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| Grafton, Il in reference to the Eastern United States |
We are at mile 0 of the Illinois River, finally done with the waterway that we started in Chicago 9 days ago. Another nice milestone on a sweltering day. They set a record high of 98 degrees today just down river in St Louis. The humidity was also very high.
Early this morning at about 2:00 the generator suddenly shut down. So, I put on shorts and went into the engine room to investigate. It shut down on high temperature after running 16 hours straight. I decided I would check it out after the 5:30 AM wake up call.
After getting up at 5:30, I went back down into the hole and checked the raw water strainer and the coolant. Everything was normal. The generator was re-started and ran OK until 6:45 when I turned it off. It was pumping cooling water fine from what I could tell. Not sure what is going on. After Thursday, the temperatures are cooling off with lows in the 50's. Maybe we can get by without running the generator for long spurts when we get to the Mississippi.
Our trip today started at 7:00 when the flotilla of 4 left the barge at Logsdon's Tug Service in Beardstown. We saw Jeff, the towboat captain before we left, and I thanked him for his help and wished him luck on the Harvest. Last night we had talked to the "night crew" at Logsdon and one of the captains said that they had just seen the first combines in the fields yesterday. "Let the harvest begin".
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| Sunrise at Logsdon's Tug Service |
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| Sunrise at Logsdon's |
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| Flotilla is ready to depart |
All day today we were in farmland. Several big power plants, but many more grain elevators looming large along the river. Leaving Beardstown, we saw several huge grain elevators. All had empty barges staged to start loading when the corn starts to arrive.
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| View out the Front Door this Morning. Entree' is in front of us. |
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| The Flotilla in the early morning light |
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| Huge grain elevator along the way |
It is hard to describe the magnitude of the farming operations in Illinois. It is also unbelievable how important the river systems are to the agricultural efforts of this region. We take all of this for granted, but without this river system, getting the corn and other farm products out of the fields and to the end users would be a nightmare. The thousands of barges that we see will all be filled with product in the coming weeks and months. They will be pushed up or down stream by the big tow boats and unloaded at processing facilities. All is quiet now on the river, but in a few weeks, it will be busy. Very busy. Let the Harvest begin!
The last lock on the Illinois is the LaGrange Lock, and we were in the lock about an hour after leaving Logsdon. We got right through and were out of the lock in less than 15 minutes. There was a black Lab "lock dog" that came over to the wall to greet Maggie. They were nose to nose, and Susan was afraid that the Lab would jump on the boat. Maggie was having none of it and was very aggressive with barking at the poor Lab. Soon we were dropping down 10' and the lab got higher and higher above the boat. I wonder what Maggie thinks when the boat drops down along a concrete wall and her view disappears so suddenly?
We saw many more upbound tows today than we have seen yet on the Illinois. In one stretch they were three or four, one after the other. I was running number three in line today with Always Five O'Clock leading us, but I am the only boat with an AIS. I would see the tows and alert Always Five to the location and name. Always Five would then talk to the tows and get the side on which to pass them.
We always ask the tow which side on which he wants us to pass. He will say "see you on the two" or "two whistles", or "stay on the reds" etc. You really have to know the one and two whistle nomenclature on the rivers. It has become second nature to us now.
The tows always thank us for contacting them. We try to call them when we are a mile or two miles away so that they can plan for passes, particularly in the narrow sections of the river. Having the AIS lets us know the name of the tow as well as which direction he is heading and how fast he is going. It also gives us his distance from us. Today we picked up some tows 10 miles before we met them.
We passed a dredging operation this morning. A big dredge and its flotilla of support barges and tugs is an impressive operation. You always talk to the dredge to get instructions for passing so that you don't interfere with the discharge pipes or the auger head under water.
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| Big Dredge in the River |
Other than being very hot, the trip was uneventful. We did pass the Westernmost point on the Great Loop when we went under an interstate highway bridge.
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| This Interstate Highway Bridge is the Western most Point on the Great Loop! |
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| Lower Illinois River Scene |
We arrived at Grafton Harbor at 4:15 and refueled and got a pump out. The four boats in our flotilla are docked together. It is good to be on shore power again!
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| Coming Into Grafton, IL |
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| Grafton Harbor |
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| Bluffs on the Mississippi River Just Below Grafton Harbor. |
Grafton has a nice pool and plenty to do. We will stay here tomorrow also. Our next stop would have been at Hoppies about 60 miles down the Mississippi, but they are full, so we will probably go 20 miles to Alton on Friday, then Hoppies on Saturday. Hoppies is the last marina before we get to Kentucky Lake, so we have to stop here for fuel. It is about 250 miles from Hoppies to Green Turtle Bay Marina.
Tonight, our Flotilla surprised us with some pastries that they brought over for our Anniversary. Who would have ever thought that 42 years later, we would be cruising on the Illinois River????? Thank You Reunion, Always Five O'Clock, and Entree'!
Thanks for Reading!
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