Day 95: Locking Through to Heritage Harbor

Day 95: October 21: Another chilly morning. Sixteen boats in flotilla 13 left Joliet at 6:30 am with a goal of reaching Heritage Harbor in Indiana by the end of the day. One by one, boats of various sizes and styles fell into line, chasing 80 degrees! 

Leaving Joliet, we passed under the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Bridge which is always open unless a train is coming. On this morning no train was in sight. Right after that, we called for the McDonough Street Drawbridge. At 17' the it was too low for some of the boats to pass under. We still had our radar mast lowered so it wouldn't have been a problem for us but for others like our friend Zendeavor (19') it was. In addition to the series of seven locks and dams on the Illinois, this is just one of the many bridges we will be passing under throughout the trip. You have to experience being in a parade of boats passing through; it's really great fun. 

Shortly after passing through the bridges, we arrived at Brandon Road Lock and Dam, the first of the 3 locks we would be going through today. This lock was equipped with floating bollards and the preferred tie up is on the right descending wall (RDB). Our flotilla leader had contacted the lockmaster last night and again early this morning to confirm we would be able to pass. Lockmasters check for commercial traffic heading in either direction before estimating a time for pleasure craft to lock through. Our estimated time was 9:00 am. Once again flotilla 13 did a great job organizing itself according to the lockmaster's instructions. Sometimes small boats are told to enter first, followed by the larger boats, sometimes we  are told to raft off of specific bollards; it all depends! The important thing is to pay attention to the lockmaster.

We continued to pass barges and tugs as well as some farm land and of course nothing but trees along the shore as we continued on to the Dresden Lock and Dam. Hearing shotgun blasts we were surprised to learn duck hunters were staked out all along the river (I hope they had good aim). Once we realized it, we took note of the numerous duck blinds on the shore! Decoys were plentiful including some that fluttered up and down. 

The Dresden Lock also had floating bollards and the preferred tie up was on the left descending wall (LDB). The last lock for the day was the Marseilles Lock. A few miles out from the lock the wind kicked up. The lockmaster told our leader there was an upbound barge in the lock and we would have about a 2 hour wait. With the wind blowing it was a bit difficult to idle for that long in the river. Luckily there is a wall just beyond the lock; most of us took advantage of it, tying and rafting to wait our turn. 

Soon enough we were told to untie and head back to the lock. We idled for a bit longer and waited for the barge to slowly exit the lock and tie up on a wall. This happened to be a double lockage, during which the first set of barges (up to nine) are disconnected and put through the lock chamber. Since these barges are no longer connected to a towboat, they are pulled through using a tow-haulage (cable and hoist system) lovingly called a mule. Once the first barge is safely tied up outside of the lock, the lock is readied again for the second set of barges, along with the tug. The two sets are re-attached and off they go!. The process can take several hours. 

We entered the lock carefully driving between the lock and the barge before rafting up. We were lowered 26 feet! When we exited, there was the second set of barges waiting for its turn to enter the lock. 

We arrived at Heritage Harbor, Ottawa after traveling 40 miles in 7 hours. The marina crew was prepared for us as this marina works hand in hand with the AGLCA. They did a fantastic job getting all the boats in, fueled up and tied up for the night (even with the wind howling). I must say Captain John performed beautifully, slipping in stern first between the 14' wide finger piers. Our beam is 13' 7" so this was quite impressive. It was really helpful having the marina crew ready to grab our lines! We are always concerned about hitting the swim platform so having some help is appreciated. 

Once settled, we all attended an informational meeting with Jeremy, the manager/owner of the marina. He presented a talk about the rest of the Illinois waterway all the way to Paducah Kentucky, sharing information about the barges, fuel stops, anchorages, marinas etc we can expect as we continue south. We were exhausted after two long days of travel so once the talk was finished we had a late dinner and headed for bed.