Meandering Magees: Peoria to Havana

Day 6- Monday, Sept. 12

411 miles

True North left Eastport Marina in Peoria on Monday morning at 9:30 local time under sunny skies. If we didn’t know what day of the week it was (only those that are retired or on vacation can understand how this can happen), the total lack of activity on our dock that morning confirmed that the weekend was over.

We cruised past downtown Peoria, which seemed quite nice. It is the world headquarters for the Caterpillar Corporation.

There was only one lock today - the Peoria Lock - which turned out to be a non-event for us. It is a wicket dam, and the wickets were down, so there was no variation of water level. We didn’t have to enter the lock, just stayed right on the river.

I mentioned that we got our AIS up and running. Again, it is not an essential navigation tool, but boy is it nice to have. Several times on our route to Havana today, there would be a barge ahead, but around a bend and not visible to us. The barge shows up on our AIS, which would also happen if you have radar. But with this device, we can touch the boat image on our screen and it gives us the name of the tow, the distance away and how fast it is going. And the great thing is, because we have a registered MMSI number, the tow can do the same with our boat. He can see our name, that we are a pleasure craft and what size we are. We had tow captains hail “True North” on the radio, calling us by name. One saw us on his screen and radioed to us, asking us to wait as he came around a bend. Greg and I would get big smiles on our faces, knowing that our splitting and splicing of wires really worked!

There is a protocol to passing a tow, whether it is in front of you or coming from the opposite direction. We radio and ask the captain if he wants “One or two whistles”. This system dates back to pre-radio communication days. Back then, when tow barges had to pass each other, the captain would blow the whistle to indicate which side to pass on. One whistle means to pass on the port side and two whistles means starboard. With the advent of VHF radios, vessels can now talk to each other and could easily say “port or starboard,” but the whistle signal is a tradition that has endured. I’m glad. Some things shouldn’t change.

We came up to a RR bridge that could be raised. The stated closed height of the bridge was 34 ft. We knew we could clear that, but as we got closer, it didn’t look 34 ft. To be safe, we radioed and asked it to be raised, which it was immediately. From the fixed sections on the side of the river, it was very clear that we would not have gotten under it. (A good lesson that we can’t keep our eyes on the charts and electronics.) We always give a “thank you” over the radio when we clear a raised bridge and this was the first time the bridge master said more than “Have a safe trip.” He asked what our destination was, and when we said Marathon in the Keys for the winter, he said he wished he could go with us. (maybe it was a slow bridge-raising day for him!)

Further confirmation of the raised water level of the Illinois river was the boat launch ramps we passed that were under water. Or the small campgrounds that had trailers with river water nipping at their jacks.

For several minutes, we had a distinct gravy smell as we passed Pekin, IL. Yes, gravy, and it was a very pleasant aroma. That soon turned into a real nasty odor, but fortunately didn’t last long. You have to be thankful for the little things . . . The culprit was probably the multiple grain companies along the river at this location.

We arrived at Tall Timbers Marina in Havana at 3:30. (I cannot type the word “Havana” without having Barry Manilow in my head singing -“At the Copa . . Copacabana. The hottest spot north of Havana. . . “

Tall Timbers is a small, quaint marina, that we may have passed by as too small if we hadn’t called ahead and confirmed the depth and that they could accommodate our size. It was a tight fit getting in, with about a 2 ft clearance off the bow when we spun around to back into our slip. A big thing to be thankful for is having both Mike and I on the deck on the boat, one in back and one on the bow in these tight situations. Another great docking job by Greg.

Tall Timbers was worth the effort to get in. Not by any means because of the facilities -the restrooms were port-a-johns with a roof over them. But very friendly owners and we were tied up by 3 other Loopers. We had our first “Docktail” party! We had read all about docktails- cocktail get togethers on a dock with fellow Loopers. In fact, one of the boats - Captain’s Choice from Buffalo, NY - was the one we followed coming out of Starved Rock Lock. The other two boats were on their home stretch - both started the Loop in Florida. On the dock behind our boat was a covered sitting area with two picnic tables where we gathered and shared appetizers. The best part was the information for us newbies. Their philosophy was “There are no stupid questions” and they let us fire away. They also told wonderful stories of the eastern seaboard part of the Loop, which confirmed our thinking that that area was going to be the most interesting - especially the northern part.

Captain’s Choice stayed at the IVY Club in Peoria. It was a marina we had considered, but went to Eastport instead. While we were very happy with Eastport, we missed out on free beer at the IVY Club. And it wasn’t like the “Free Beer Tomorrow” sign, it really was free beer. You may be chuckling, wondering why that would be a big deal to me, but I mention it to show the hospitality to Loopers we have encountered. (like discounts on dockage, etc.) The free ice and laundry at Eastport was perfect for me!