Into the locks

As I write this we are in the Illinois River system woking our way through the 8 or so locks to get us to the Mississippi. It's a mess. The locks are now open but there is a backlog of traffic, both tows and barges and "PC's" Pleasure Craft which is us. We have the lowest priority. We stopped at a free wall at Joliet Fiday night and at Spring Brook Marina last night and have been traveling with a really nice couple from South Haven, Michigan on a demasted sailboat. Friday night we went out with them to celebrate Chris' birthday, had a nice meal and drank a Zombie Dust beer, an excellent IPA. Yesterday we traveled with a group of 8 boats through the Brandon Road and Dresden Locks, and things went reasonbly well. Lost one boat, that went aground yesterday, a sailboat. Another boat pulled him off, but he then tangled his lines in his prop and had to find a diver to clear them. I sure don't envy that guy. The water here is about as ugly as I have ever seen. Dead carp, and all kinds of detritius floating in it. This seems to me to be the colon of middle America.

The Channel above Marseilles Lock

Channel lined with tows and barges

Crap Pile coming through south of Chicago

Calumet River canal south of Chicago

This guy has a tight squeeze coming the the channel

Lining the canal is all this limestone

In the Dresden Lock

Leaving Spring Brook this morning. The top deck was icy

Hammond Indiana

We left Benton Harbor on Saturday after a 4 day stay. We rented an Enterprise car and drove to Kalamazoo to meet up with my brother Jim and Nancy, at Sally and Dale's, (my niece). Had a great visit and a great meal of chili Sally made. The last couple of days we are at Hammond Marina in Hammond, Indiana. It is an inexpensive no frills, but huge marina near the Calumet River entrance which will take us into the Illinois River system. There are two options, the Calumet or the Chicago River, and they meet up 25 miles or so down the line, forming the Des Plains River leading to the Illinois. The marinas at the Chicago River are all high ticket, and Chicago doesn't hold much interest for me. So we left Benton Harbor and came here, where there are probably a dozen or so other looper boats, all waiting for the locks to open. The director of the AGLCA has taken it upon herself to organize the 65-70 boats that need to get through the locks into groups, because with that many boats and the back up of barges, it will be a a real traffic jam. We are in the first group, meaning we will likely go through the closed locks first when they open on Sunday October 13, or that's the current plan. We will like head down the river system on Friday and Saturday to position ourselves for that first lock through, with 14 other boats. Until then, doing boat chores, varnishing and re doing the weather seals on the pilot house doors, and getting in some exercise. There are some pretty good bike trails close by and Cindy is able to run. Not as many pictures, just not a lot to look at here. All industry, but it Keeps America Great!

Chicago Skyline

Chicago from one of the Hammond Parks

Beautiful Hammond

More Hammond on my bike ride yesterday

Railroads and Industry

Chicago through the marina

Benton Harbor and stuck again sort of

The past three days we have been able to move from Frankfort on the northwest side of Michigans lower peninsula to Benton Harbor on the southeast side and now only a 70 mile jaunt across the lake to Chicago. We left Frankfort and put in a long day, to White Lake, just off the big lake, almost 100 miles, with a fuel up in Ludington. Diesel there was $2.85/gallon, so we filled and shouldn't need fuel until we hit the Gulf of Mexico, whenever that will be. That long day was not flat, but pretty tolerable and we pulled into White Lake and anchored in it's sowuthwest corner at dusk. I new it was weedy there, the depth was 10 feet or so, but the sounder said less than two, bouncing off the weeds. The next morning we found out how weedy. The anchor was loaded. It was then on to Grand Haven, a nice harbor town on the Grand River, downstream from Grand Rapids, Michigan. They had a wall tie up for $10, a prety good deal. It had a nice downtown area, and a good "gastropub" with outstanding hot wings. Our attention was now on the weather. Initially the weather window looked to be on Wednesday to move on, but that closed and it was Tuesday or sit for 4-5 more days, so we fired up and moved on to Benton Harbor yeserday. The first half of the day was pretty ugly with short period 3-4 foot waves. The boat did fine, but the thrift shop beer mugs less so. The day did improve as predicted and by the time we arrived at Benton Harbor things were pretty flat. The next three days look awful though. So, we are about 70 miles ENE of Chicago, a good day run, with our goal to be there October 5 for the locks on the Illinois River to open. About half way through our day yesterday, we were informed via online sources that the lock openings are going to be delayed, at least until Oct 10, and likely longer, so once again we are on hold, but not weather related this time, and everybody else doing the loop still on Lake Michigan is in the same boat, so to speak. There is an Enterprise car rental here so we are going to go to Kalamazoo tomorrow and meet up with family there and re supply some groceries and tequila. I hope within a day or two we'll have a better handle on when the locks will open.

Salad on the anchor at White Lake

This is the old coal bin at Grand Haven. It loaded the coal car behind the engine, fueling it.

Huge steam engine at Grand Haven

Fireworks at Grand Haven, part of a celebration of new lights at the harbor entrance.

Sandbar off the beach at Benton Harbor. 10 minutes later in the image below, it is covered up. The ebb and flow of the water levels occur over minutes and are 6-10 inches. Never realized this happened. 

The two heads are swimmers off Benton Harbor entrance

People in Benton Harbor were out last evening paddleboarding

Huge mansions on the shore of Lake Michigan at Benton Harbor

Moving Again

I've been pretty neglectful with the blog the past week. I'll update this morning. We have been stuck for most of the time. We left Mackinac Isand and had a good trip to Charlevoix, but then got weathered in for 4 days. We enjoyed the town, it was a delight. Ate some good fish and good beer. The marina folks there were great and the boat in the slip next to us was a Canadian couple doing the loop as well. Due to fmily issues, though, they are stopping and putting their boat up in Charlevoix for the winter. After 4 days there, we were able to move on to Frankfort, 75 miles down the shore. We were stuck there for 5 nights, but again enjoyed the town, fish and beer. We anchored in Betsy Lake the whole time, near a boat that had traveled from Germany, a big catamaran. Frankfort is where my brother Jim kept his boat for many years, salmon fishing. It has a great brewpub and hardware store. Cindy found a thrift store of sorts and picked up some treasures, and I found some neat old books. Yesterday we adventured out to try and move, but it was pretty bouncy, and came back in, went to the Frankfort farmers market nd wasted another day. Today the weather is much more benign and we are on the move as I write this. Not sure where we will end up yet, at least Ludington, and maybe further. All is well, but we are used to moving and all the sitting in one spot gets a little old.

Docked at Charlevoix

Betsy Point, sand dunes everywhere

Frankfort Beach

Coast Guard Station

Birds on the Frankfort breakwater

Waves breaking on the barrier

Ancient medical texts at the thrift store

Some of Cindy's treasures

Farmer's Market

Mackinac Island

We've spent the last couple of days touring Mackinac Island. Very interesting place histoically and aesthetically. Flowers and gardens everywhere and learning the history of the island since the Revolutionary War to the present was new to me. We toured the fort, walked the town, had a good beer and some mediocre food. No cars here, only bikes and horses, but everything ws so close that we walked. I think their season is winding down, and it wasn't real crowded. Lots of older people, and the island has a lot of vertical to it, so a lot of the were struggling with the walking. This morning we will pass under the Mackinac Bridge ( in about 30 minutes) and move on to Charlevoix for a couple of days I think, our stay depending on weather. It is flat today and a good day to move on.

Clear water like the Bahamas

Monarch butterflies on the flowers near the Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel. They wanted $10 a head just to go inside. We passed.

Beautiful stone church along with the ubiquitous horses and carriage

Harbor view from the fort. Our boat is down there in the middle

Our boat is dead center

Two of the old people touring the island

This contraption is a "horse shit" zamboni. It is pulled by horses and sweeps up the manure they deposit on the roads.

Arch Rock

Grand Hotel this morning as we left

Looking at the bridge as we approach this morning

View of the fort this morning