Friday, September 12, 2014

Day 415 September 11 75 mi IVY Club Peoria IL

Thursday, September 11th......13 years ago that 911 happened......Light is coming with a 6:40AM departure......and it is 53 degrees on the bridge.....where are the long pants, sweatshirts and socks.....We have one lock today and according to the US Army Corps of Engineers Lock Queue Report we do not have a towboat and his barges to wait for.....


Tent camping on the Illinois River
 
 
Ottawa City Docks
 
 
Railroad Bridge is open unless a train is coming...want that job???
 
 
Going along the Ottawa water front
 
The Illinois Waterway replaced the Illinois & Michigan Canal.  In 1848 the I&M canal was an immediate commercial success, a highway of commerce that cut the time between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River to only 22 hours by tow-path mule.  Charging six cents a mile for passengers and a penny a mile per thousand feet of lumber, the canal grossed a staggering $80,000 in its first year of operation.
Chicago, a rough-and-tough fur center at that time instantly became a major port and trade center, growing six-fold in only ten years.
With only 20,000 residents in 1848 when the canal opened, its population grew to a half-million by 1893.
Chicago is now the third most populous city in the country with nearly three million residents.
Of course railroads reduced the 22-hour trip to only three hours later on......
 
 
This barge just cleared the Starved Rock Lock...northbound
 
 
Buffalo Rock State Park
 
 
Starved Lock and Dam with a 17 foot drop...our sixth lock
 
 
 
Starved Rock is a terrain of bluffs and canyons.  The bluff itself, call La Rocher (The Rock) by French explorers, rises over 100 feet above the river
 
 
We now have 10 looper boats waiting
 
 
On starboard 7 boats are using lines....one bollard...not working
 
 
Caroline on Friendly Cove II
 
 
4 boats on the port side using lines...lock tenders busy as they provide the lines
 
 
Starboard side leaves first
 
 
 
Its current name dates back to about 1760.  At that time, Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe was slain by an Illiniwek Indian while attending a tribal council, unleashing a series of battles to avenge his death.  During one of the battles a band of Illiniwek sought refuge on the bluff, but were surrounded and starved to death.
 

 
Bar is open in Peru
 
 
South Shore Boat Club (on the north side) in Peru takes transients
 
 
Towboats everywhere
 
 
Spring Valley Boat Club takes transients
 
 
Commercial but small towns
 
 
Hennepin's City Docks with a climb to town
 
 
Loading the barge....look at the tilt
 
 
Hennepin Boat Store
 
For commercial workboats, Hennepin is their grocery store stop.  The Hennepin Boat Store, owned by the Judd family for two generations, is a floating grocery and general provisions store.  Tow boats can radio ahead with their order and their order is delivered underway.  Wonder if that works for Looper boats......
 
 
 White Pelicans......three large groups.....better head South
 
 
Henry IL
 
 
Think the river gets high
 
 
Tow Boats and their barges...loading and unloading
 
 
Then nothing but river on the starboard
 
 
And nothing but river on the port
 
 
Beer trucks in Chillicothe
 
 
City Docks....floating....look how high the water can go
 
 
Interesting homes
 
 
Coming into the North Peoria lakes....very shallow
 
 
Lots of Tow Boat havens
 
 
Looks like a Riverboat being worked on
 
 
We follow the tug through the narrow channel
 
 
Stay in the channel Satisfaction you just got a new prop
 
 
Oh me... the Pinta has gone aground....please help Mr. Tug
 
 
Hope the Gene Herde slows down or rocks them into deeper water
 
 
IVY CLub.....our stop
 
 
Pinta made it .....off to the Peoria City Docks to join the Nina
 
 
South Harbor of the IVY Club
 
 
Vicki and Caroline.....12 Looper boats in port
 
 
Neat looking
 
 
Nanseann is in the North Harbor for a starboard tie...great for Saddi
 
 
Dinner at the No Wake Zone Bar and Grill
 

Today has been in the 50s, cloudy but no rain which is good.....The river is rising and the marinas are full.....boats can't move......
Fern at Hoppies on the Mississippi says......do not come......we are at flood stage....wait 5 days and see if the water goes down.....stay where you are......
So we will stay another day and check the next marina where we have a reservation to see if boats have left and we can get in......and of course.....check the rivers and their levels.....
Having fun.....that's what it's all about.....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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