532 miles
This was going to be a long travel day for us, so Mike was up at 5:00 am, (local time) wanting to be on the river by 6 or 6:30. He pretty much had everything ready to go (water and electrical unhooked) by the time he knocked on Greg's door to have him man the helm to leave. Greg's motto is there are only two things worth getting up that early in the morning for: hunting and fishing. Meandering down the Illinois river doesn't fall under either of those two activities.
Our destination was Grafton, Illinois, where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi. We figured it would take us about 12 hours to go the 120 miles. Thought was given to breaking the trip up and anchoring out one night (which the other 3 Looper boats we were with in Havana did), but we passed the halfway point about 12:30 so kept going. We had one lock today, the LaGrange, which ended up being just like the Peoria Lock - no change in water lever so kept right on going.
We had heard so much about the Asian carp. There are videos on You Tube of water skiers with nets catching them. And other Loopers wrote in the forum about seeing them jump out of the water constantly, with some having the fish jump right into the back of their boats. At our docktail on Monday, someone mentioned they were a little disappointed in not seeing more carp, mainly for the entertainment value. We don't want them jumping in the boat, because I don't drive the boat so would probably be the one to get them off!
Red and green buoys mark the river for us, with 90% of it being tree lined banks. We looked forward to tows or little towns for a change in scenery. Every so often we would see large docking structures where barges could tie up and wonder what cargo would being loaded or unloaded there. Other times there would be a large plant, usually identified in our chart book, (never with signage on the buildings) where barges docked so no guessing needed.
We passed Coon Hollow Island, and we aren't even in Kentucky yet! We also passed McGee's creek, but they obviously spell it wrong. :)
At our cruising speed of 10 mph, it is easy to walk around, prepare meals and even take showers while traveling.
We arrived at Grafton Marina at 5:30 local time. A stop at the fuel dock brought a very pleasant surprise. I mentioned before that our slow speed was saving fuel, but Mike and Greg were actually shocked at the great mileage we were getting. Earlier trips this summer, when it cruised at 30 mph, True North was a fuel hog. Traveling the Illinois river was like going from a Suburban to a Prius!
The marina is just before the Mississippi so we haven't quite got on it yet, but you might hear us give a cheer when we do as it would be a milestone moment for us.
We are at Grafton for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It is Wednesday as I type this and the day has been one of washing the boat for the guys and laundry, dusting, vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms for me. Yes, all those household chores still need to be done, even on a boat.
We just got a message from the Army Corps of Engineers that a major lock on the Ohio river is broken and may be several days before it is fixed. This would back up barge traffic so we may be delayed here a few more days. I'd be happy to spend the time exploring the little, hilly town of Grafton.
Life on the river
An example of floating debris. The bigger the better for us as things like this are
easy to spot. It is the smaller logs that you often can't see until you are right to them
We are sure these are pelicans, but can't really tell in this picture, even zoomed in
Coming into Grafton, IL
From the fuel dock. Around the bend is the Mississippi
Sunset looking down the river
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