Great Loop Day 037 Part 2. Oct 4, 2016, Chicago to Joliet, Illinois
Chicago to Joliet, Illinois Part 2 of 2
“Rivers know this; there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.” – A.A. Milne
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Day 37. Tuesday, Oct 4, 2016. Part 2 of 2. Leaving downtown Chicago and the industrial sector the Chicago Sanitation and Ship Canal (CSSC) goes rural. Trees and vegetation line the banks on both sides. Great blue herons and egrets occupy the shoreline now and then. Mallards, Great Blue Herons, and Canada Geese are among the frequent canal users. Traveling at 6.5 to 7mph is quite relaxing on the still waters. They say there's a half-mile current downstream that'll add to my speed. Lots and lots of barges here. Most of them tied off waiting for the next tug to get them to their next destination. Tugs and pushers move these barges around this narrow channel. It's amazing to watch them move these steel behemoths around. One tug was pushing a barge against its side blocking the channel and giving little room on its stern for me to pass. I slow down and let them work. With its job done, it squared itself alongside the barge as I attempted to pass. I know from my personal experience on the Cuyahoga to keep clear of the prop wash behind large vessels. This tug was attached to the barge's starboard to port and under power as I approached sending its prop wash in my direction. As I got closer I can feel the bow of the Sea Marie being pushed to the starboard shore which was lined with a wall of stone and concrete. An underwater current that you can't see but just small ripples on the surface can send a small boat right into the wall in a short amount of time. Putting the auto tiller on standby and taking it off my tiller I swing the rudder hard to starboard moving my boat to port. Unlike a car, all boats steer from the stern much like a forklift tow motor. 12 years of forklift experience at the Johnson Wax warehouse makes piloting a boat instinctively easy. In less than a minute I cleared the tugs prop wash and sail on.
Saying so long to the Chicago skyline.
These barges move large amounts of cargo, here one is getting loaded with sand.
Up ahead a bridge that looks too low to the water. I don’t think I could get under it.
I get a little closer and make a judgment call. I hope I made the right call.
With inches to spare, I clear the bridge metalwork. That was a close one!
There was a section of vegetated shoreline with small branches sticking out of the water near the shore. Trees and logs can stay unseen and submerged just below the surface. I hear a loud thud. Looking behind my stern for a log I see my popup rudder perpendicular to the water. No debris, just the rudder in the up position. No doubt I hit something heavy. Checking the hardware nothing seems damaged. Slowed the motor down I then reposition the rudder in its proper position and continue on. Pogo Bob, has a story of his non-popup rudder getting damaged and requiring a jury rig repair until he could get the rudder replaced. I don't have a spare rudder. Protecting this rudder is always at the front of my mind. Should the rudder fail for whatever reason I could still steer with the outboard motor on the motor mount.
This sailboat was getting lifted out of the water.
This channel I am in appears to be cut as the walls of solid rock are straight. Some sections appear to have laid stone like the canals of the old Ohio Erie canal leading from Cleveland to the Ohio River without the obvious towpath that teams of mules traveled pulling canal boats to their destination. The towpath on the O&E canal was built on one side. When 2 canal boats would meet head-on, one boat's line goes over and the other goes under. The mules that were the engines would live on the canal boats along with the captain and often with his entire family. The wife would do all the cooking on a wood-burning stove, the children were off fetching firewood along the canal, or if they could afford it, coal. With the mules and feed, and living quarters to include laundry, cooking, bathing, and record-keeping, makes one wonders how they had room for cargo.
Now passing the Electric Fish Barrier erected to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. Asian carp are prolific breeders and can decimate local fishing populations and do great damage to the Great Lakes if they enter. Signs are posted for boaters to wear life jackets and have children supervised. Obviously no fishing or swimming. According to the Army Corp of Engineers website: The Electric Barriers are operated to deter the inter-basin establishment of Asian carp and other fish via the Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal by maintaining an electric field in the water. The barriers are one control technology in a broad interagency Asian carp prevention effort. They are formed of steel electrodes that are secured to the bottom of the CSSC. The electrodes are connected to a raceway, consisting of electrical connections to a control building. Equipment in the control building generates direct current (DC) pulses through the electrodes, creating an electric field in the water that discourages fish from crossing. Laboratory and tagged fish study results show that electric barriers are an effective fish deterrent.
Signs warning of electrical hazard.
Finally cleared of the electrical hazard we see more barges
These giant covers are placed over the contents of the barges to protect the contents from the weather.
Every worker on the barges wears PFDs.
Occasionally a powerboater zooms by. Many don’t realize the size of their wake can cause damage to small boats.
Some boaters do slow down
Get ready! We are approaching the Lockport Lock. Checking the guidebooks especially the one Al, from Hammond Marina, provided me on traveling the Illinois River I should see first as I round the bend four giant concrete pilings built to protect the spillway from a boat and barge damage. Right as the guidebooks said. The light on the lock is red. No pass go, no collect 200 dollars. Another cruiser is behind me. They pass the piling and tie off the wall behind my stern. I tie up a little further in front. The heard the occupant of the cruiser Moondance say to me the wait will be a long one. A worker from the waterworks plant along the lock approached me. He said my small boat was ok but not the larger boats. They tend to damage the rail and some inexperienced boaters would even tie their dock lines on the gray plastic electrical conduit pipe running near the center pole of the railing again causing damage. What they need then are more dock cleats that should be spaced closer together. He was nice to chat with and gave me a few postcards with a picture of the lock taken back in the early 1900s. There are signs posted not to leave the boat unattended so didn't visit with the occupants of Moondance who were loopers themselves. From their boat, they said two tugs were going ahead of us. Soon the tug Gladiator with several barges pushed into the upstream dock and the tug Margaret Ann with two barges followed. It's taking a long time for them to get positioned and lowered down. Finally, The skipper on Moonrise shouted over, be prepared to shove off after the signal horn sounds. Place your fenders on the port side. A loud blast sent Mickey running for shelter in the lowest reaches of the cabin as I untied the lines and powered to the entrance. Two other cruisers arrived, and now there were four boats entering the lock. I was directed to a section, placed the motor in neutral and a single 1/2-inch line was tossed to me. This time I had on gloves. The larger boats tied off floating bollards that lowered as the water level fell. The gates on the high end of the lock rise from underwater to shut the water entering behind us. Soon I feel the tug of the line as we descend. Inch by inch the water level dropped. The line slipped thru my gloved hand making sure the other end of the line in my boat doesn't snag on anything. A moderate tug kept my boat in place against the concrete lock wall. As we descend I look over to the outboard and see prop wash going under the boat. The outboard didn't go into neutral but was in reverse idle. Great, I'm holding the line while sitting amidship and unable to shift to neutral. Slowly I feel the boat go backward. A strong pull on the line sends it forward. Again it wants to back up and a firm tug keeps me against the wall. Down 10, 15, 20 ft. How far are we going? 30ft 50ft. The half-inch line looks like a skinny string above me. Another sharp tug to move the boat forward. I hear the sound of a waterfall and it's coming from the upper gate. The lower part of the gate doesn't shut all the water from above. The Moonrise is but a boat length behind me and the outboard wants to play tag with her. Another sharp tug, putting my foot on the wall helps a little. Finally, we stop dropping, and while holding the line I reach back to the motor to get out of reverse. The giant lower lock gate slowly swings open. There's a soft surge forward. I'm ready to go but we all must wait for the horn signal to proceed. 3 hours to get through.
Waiting for the Lockport lock gate to open for us.
Stagnant water has a nasty collection of debris to wander through.
We had to wait for two tugs with barges to get lowered in the lock. Here the Tug Gladiator enters the lock.
Soon Tug Margaret Ann makes her way through the lock.
Leaving Lockport Lock. You can see the watermark on the side of the wall as to how far the water dropped.
Moondance on her way
The sun is setting as the soft glow of dusk surrounds us. 3 more miles to get to Joliet and tie off on the wall and I have no idea what it looks like in daylight let alone at dusk. The other powerboats have passed me as I putter along. There is a drawbridge ahead, I see 2 of the cruisers slowing down. They can't get under, they must wait for the bridge to open. With my mast lowered I think I can make it. I aim for the center of the bridge where it's at its highest point. I slow down just to give myself an escape route of full reverse if my decision is wrong. With no wires or chains hanging I clear with ease. Another bridge appears and I use the same tactic. Then a drawbridge left opened and was under extensive repair with scaffolding all around it. I see a wall and a Memorial Park sign, then another posted sign: No Mooring. Could the guidebook be wrong? Where is that mooring wall?
The daylight is fading and making it difficult to read these signs. Another drawbridge ahead, I slide under it. There on my starboard two boats tied to the wall. I made it. Look for a section large enough for my meek 22-footer plus a couple of feet long for the mast.
That’s me! That little sailboat in front of the big red-hulled boat.
It looks pretty shabby. The crumbling concrete wall is about 4 feet to the top. If I stand on top of the cabin I can climb over to the top of the wall. I grab onto the large chain that swings between the concrete posts along the wall. A boater comes out to help with my dock lines. Says he needs room for a friend who is on his way. He tied my bow line to a large steel cleat. The dock line is rubbing on the jagged concrete edge. Not good. My lines would get chaffed to shreds in hours. Another boater grabs my stern line and wraps to another cleat. Same problem. I look at my options. I have onboard half-inch tubing. I cut off a foot of tubing. Thread my dock line thru it. Now it will rub on the tube, not the line. I have another idea. Tie off on the higher chain link. The lines run directly to my boat cleats and avoid touching the concrete wall. I run below for another dock line. I tie off the port bow, a clear run to the chain. All lines are off the wall.
A fellow boater direct my attention to a larger concrete post with decorated metal doors in front that the large chains are connected to. Behind the doors are 30 amp power outlets the city provided for us. I plug in my cockpit outlet then run the power cord up over the wall and plug it in. My light in the cabin goes on. The microwave beeps. I have power. The boats I left behind are now making it to the wall sending large wakes my way. The boat rocks angrily against the concrete. Need another fender. 3 fenders are now taking the brunt of the wall. Good. With the boat protected I open Mickey a can of tuna which he devours. With darkness all around me, it's time for my dinner. It's salad and microwaved potato with the fixings tonight. Fast, easy, and delicious. Now for a good night's sleep and explore this town in the morning. Fair winds and gentle seas...
Mickey gets his early evening dockside visit.
Comments from 2016:
Dan Whitmore Another wonderful narrative. Thanks for another adventure, Henry!