Sankaty on the Illinois River

October 4, 1999:

At 7:45 A.M. with our mast lashed securely to Sankaty's deck with the help of Racine Riverside Marine Inc., we motored along the Lake Michigan shoreline to Chicago. We entered the Chicago Harbor about 5:30 PM. 75 miles in 9.75 hours or 7.7 miles per hour. There was a strong following sea that probably made us go faster than expected. We entered the Chicago Locks without knowing enough about how to tie up on the sides. A luxury touring boat was filled with tourists who enjoyed our obvious first time in the locks. A man finally came to our rescue and I explained, though I wouldn't have had to "As you can see this is our first time" He just smiled and I thanked him for his help and patience.

We continued down the Chicago Canal amid the skyscrapers. It reminded one of a beehive with all the busy workers scurrying home from work. And on we floated past the Merchandise Mart, the Civic Opera, Union Station and lots of riverside bistros. We went under many bridges easily but the Cermak Bridge was a bit low at 14 foot and we had to bend over the antenna for the Loran.

We arrived at Crowley's Boat Yard as the sky turned from corrugated pink to gray and night set in. We docked without incident and Mark took off to find the owner. Just as he disappeared up the stairs I thought what if they have a large ferocious German Shepherd guarding the place. After a long time, he returned with good news. The owner had a van we could borrow to go to a nearby restaurant, "Connie's", and get a good meal. Mark had a great grilled chicken salad and I had the best steak sandwich with roasted red peppers that I have ever had. either that, or the river makes you appreciate things more.

We brought back some pizza from Connie's for Grant Crowly and he loaned us the entire set of charts for the trip to Mobil, Alabama. The charts are outdated but way good enough for what we need. All we have to do is send them back when we get to Mobil. In the morning they let me use the other van to get some additional diesel fuel.

October 5, 1999:

Today we went through several locks. We are getting better at doing locks but they continue to be foreign.

We stayed the night at Harborside Marina at mile marker 273.7 as it has a pumping station, diesel fuel, showers, and even a restaurant. The restaurant however was closed on Tuesday's so we had salmon patties, tomato Parmesan pasta and corn in the boat. We ate out on the cockpit table under the darkening sky. It was romantic. I worked on Kelsey's quilt while watching My Best Friends Wedding and Contact. Riverside Marina is expensive - $36.00 /night and $ 20.00 for pump out. Nice showers though.

October 6, 1999:

Went through several locks today - Marselle, Dresden, and will go through the Starved Rock one in the morning. Getting the idea now, they are not so foreign. Stayed at Starved Rock Marina, tonight. Because of our big draft, we had to tie up to the fueling pier ($25). Not a very comfortable sleep last night. Rock and roll from the wind and barges going through. Very nice restaurant, I had honey spiked chicken and Mark had salmon steaks. We also splurged on dessert, Mark had apple pie alamode and I had cherry cobbler alamode. Total price $30.00 with tip. Then we went for a little walk under the stars. They were beautiful last night.

October 7, 1999:

Early morning departure (7:00 AM.) only to wait at the Starved Rock Lock for a large barge to come through. The shoreline and shallow waters along the river are dotted with white egrets and blue herons wading in for their breakfast meal. Mark put up the bell and the red awning so that we can have shade in the cockpit. It will also be good when the sun shines straight down (rain) -- Mark's words. I'm taking a little break from steering to write this journal and knit on Matt's sweater, which I hope to get done by Christmas.

October 8, 1999:

Last night we met a nice couple, Betsy and Dave. They are doing what we have planned but after buying an Irwin 37, the engine blew about 3 miles down the river from where they bought the boat. They are waiting for their engine to be repaired.

They toured our boat and liked the teak interior. We toured their boat and liked the extra room a center cockpit and the extra foot that the Irwin 37 provides. They retired early because of Dave's health too. He is only 50 and she 44. They plan on retiring to Maine and have purchased land there after selling their house. They were so nice to us; they had a car and took me grocery shopping. I got lots of things I forgot last time, plus ground chuck for tomorrow. She gave me a card for Kroger's, that saved me $5.00, and some baking pans that she didn't need.

I baked bread last night and gave them a loaf to thank them for their generosity. We had trouble getting into the harbor yesterday. No one would answer our pleas for help until "Hellraiser" came on line. He helped guide us into the Hamm's Holiday Harbor, which isn't being managed very well as the owner lost interest in pleasure boaters and is turning to barge operators where the money is. The jump to the pier is steep and I'm not comfortable with it even now.

We plan to go to the Pekin Boat Club; about 25 miles from Hamm's just south of the Peoria Lock and Dam. It is raining now so we may wait a while; meanwhile we're going to have breakfast. Today it will be eggs, as I got to go shopping yesterday, thanks to Betsy.

October 9, 1999:

Today we made it through Peoria Lake to the Peoria Lock and Dam. We made it all the way to Pekin Boat Club and ate battered walleye, baked potatoes and a salad bar, all for $5.95. They didn't charge us for staying at their pier either. Bob helped us tie up and his wife Judy took us shopping.

Later we went up to the bar and had an angel's kiss and a Jack Daniel straight up. But you can guess which one of us had which drink. A boat from St. Louis tried to get into the harbor and broke its propeller when it went aground. I also made a casserole for tomorrow (Parmesan tomato pasta with ground chuck and green and red roasted peppers. We plan to go about 63 miles to Beardstown Marina.

October 10, 1999:

We woke this morning to fog on the river. It was hard to see lights on bridges and tugboats with large barges used huge searchlights to scan the shoreline before chugging past. We waited before leaving until the fog cleared a little.

This year, there hasn't been much rain and the dams seem to hog a lot of the water, so the barges have a hard time of it. Today we ran into a dredging area and had to wait until the dredge swung to the other side of the channel. We saw an osprey on one side of the river today and directly on the other side in a totally bare tree was an adult bald eagle, white head and all, sitting majestically on a limb about 25 feet from the water. We motored through lots of farmland, grain elevators and finally arrived at Beardstown. We couldn't raise anyone at the marina and people on the UHF radio said that the depth was too shallow to accommodate a sailboat with a 5-foot draft. We went around the bend in the river and saw a motor boat that we had seen several times before - Kapowee. The owners, Diane and Corny were tied to a barge in the river. With their help, we tied up behind them. We paid $ 20 for the privilege of staying the night. We walked over narrow barges to the shore and ate at a diner. I had a pork chop dinner with salad bar and Mark had grilled walleye, which we suspect isn't the type of walleye that we have in northern Wisconsin. It sure doesn't taste the same, though it is good. I had to leave the restaurant before it got dark because I wasn't about to walk the narrow path on the barge in the dark. Tomorrow we plan on an 80-mile trip so I best get to bed. We will then be only 7 or 8 miles from Old Man River.

October 11, 1999:

We woke up this morning to the pitter-patter of feet on the dock. It turned out to be to kids about the age of 6th or 7th grade who were intent on fishing early in the morning. We got up and took our first showers on the boat. I struck up a conversation with them and finally asked them if they didn't have school today. They said, "No ma'am, it Columbus Day". On the river, you forget about what day it is. Time is relative only to what you are doing, not the nation at large. We talked a while about fishing and where we were headed. They told us that they liked our boat, but wondered where our car was. When we told them we were going to Florida, the blond boy, Adam said that he was born in ST. Petersburg, Florida. When I told him that we were going through the Okeechobee Canal and Lake, he said that his uncle runs the canal and to say hi. His Uncle is Bob Elmore. We promised to and headed out for the day. A little while down the river I saw a huge eagle nest and I looked all around trying to find its owner. After failing to do so, we came closer and I saw a huge bird just perched on a bare branch under the nest. You guessed it, an eagle. A beautiful Golden Eagle. A little later we saw another bald eagle hunting over the river. We came upon three white birds which Mark at first thought were Swans. As we approached them we found that they were Pelicans. Pelicans this far north at this time of year. Actually everything seems to be southern. Accents are southern; the politeness of the boys fishing had a southern flavor. Even the food has a southern spiciness. Mark really likes it. It is a bit too spicy for me, but I surely do like the southern politeness of those boys that we met on the river.

Today we made it to the Mississippi, which was really anticlimactic. There is no sign announcing it, just all of a sudden the Illinois joins the bigger river, the Mississippi. Seems like there should have been more fanfare, as it was a milestone for us. We figure that we are about one-fourth the way to Mobile, Alabama. I intend to get a fishing license in Kentucky Lake, which should be great fun and maybe even delicious meals if I can catch some. We tied up along a fuel dock called Venusian Marina (an older tugboat beached on the side of the river). We needed a pump out but they did not have it so we ended up going down stream to the Alton Marina. Paradise! Imagine, sitting under the modern Alton suspension bridge in a hot tub drinking a wine cooler. What a wonderful marina. Casino and restaurants nearby, but we stayed home the first night to, watched a movie under the stars and sipped wine coolers in our new plastic wineglasses.

Sankaty in Alton

The awning side curtains are up. The awning provided a nice roof for both the sunshine and the rain protection. However, because the mast was down so low in front it did obstruct vision way too much and when we got the bimini we never used the awning again.