Traveling Down to Ottawa



Chicago in the fog (smog?)



Yes, we were that close!



Little "Lollygag"!





Entering the electrical barrier



Looper Happy Hour!



What Loopers will do to get free dockage!



Sept 10 - After our little adventure in Chicago, we decided we'd stay near the boat today. We did go into Wolf's Marine – a 50,000 sq. ft. building filled of boating supplies, etc. They run a shuttle back and forth to their store from the marina. Pretty smart!

It was such a beautiful evening that Mike and I rode our bikes around the area. We went out to the Lighthouse and watched the sunset. There was a young man fishing for bait fish using a net. We watched him for a while when we realized that he had caught something bigger than any bait fish. It was a 5-6 lb. flathead catfish! He was huge! The kid didn't really know what to do with it. I think he was rather scared of it.  He kept trying to give it to us. Mike explained to him over and over what a great meal that would be. He showed him how to clean it and cut it up. Finally, Mike convinced the kid that he should keep it. That was fun!

The next morning, (Sept 11) we left out early to cross over to Chicago. It's about a 60 mile trip from St Joseph. It was a perfect day to cross Lake Michigan. Hardly any waves at all. Ookpik crossed with us and we stopped in Hammond Marina (Indiana) for the evening. Hammond Marina is just about 3 miles from the Calumet River entrance or about 12 miles south of Chicago. This was a perfect location for us since we had to take the Calumet River rather than the Chicago River because of our height clearance. Also, right next door was the Horseshoe Casino. We decided to go in and check out the buffet, well I planned on gambling but if you know Mike, you know how much he loves gambling. LOL. Anyway, we did have a wonderful dinner and I did do some gambling on the slots. The crap tables were too full, besides they were $10 and $15 tables. My money went fast enough at the slots! Oh well……

We had met up with Docker's Inn and Spirit Dancer at the marina. So we all left early Monday morning to head on down the river system. As I mentioned before we had opted to take the Calumet River rather than the Chicago River. The Chicago River would have taken us right through downtown Chicago which would have been really cool but there are several bridges that we wouldn't clear. We would have had to be below 17 ft. and we didn't want to mess with taking down our radar, etc. So we opted for the Calumet River which most Loopers do. The Calumet River takes us to the Cal-Sag and then to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal where we meet up with those who opted to take the Chicago River route. Also, the Calumet is a lot more industrial and maybe not as scenic. However, it was very interesting to see the operations on the river. We had a lot of barge traffic but there were no problems.

One of the most interesting things on this river is the permanent electrical barrier designed to prevent the Asian Carp from entering Lake Michigan. There is an electrical charge in the water for about 1800 feet. You contact the Coast Guard before entering and only one boat can go through at one time. We had four boats traveling together at that time, so each of us had to wait on the other. Once the first boat made it through safely, we headed through. You just don't want to fall into the water!

We locked through our first of seven locks on the Illinois River System. It's much larger than the ones on the Erie Canal. These are more like what we were used to on the Arkansas and Tennessee Rivers.

Finally we made it to Joliet, Illinois. We stopped with five other Loopers on the free wall that is provided by the city. Mike and I hoped to run into Jake and Elwood while we were there but we didn't see them. I'm sure they were still on their mission from God!

The next morning we had to wait for a draw bridge to open around 8:30 so we got to sleep a little later! We also had picked up another boat during the night. It was a big Catamaran named "Awe Spray". It was a beautiful day but a little cool. There were several of us heading down the river. One of them was a cool little yellow boat named "Lollygag" heading up the rear of our boat convoy. We would have him there with us for a while; then lose him -  only to have him catch up with us at the Lock. Hence, the name "Lollygag"!

We had a little problem at the Dresden Lock. We had to wait about an hour so we were supposed to tie off at the walls. Well it was quite windy and we didn't get really secure so before we knew it we were in a pickle. Our bow came loose and we were pivoting around the concrete wall corner, plus our pulpit had become "stuck" in the iron rails. We were really afraid that we were going to damage poor NautiNell! However, she came through it without a scratch. Well, at least with no new ones this time! Hopefully we won't let that happen again!

At the Marseilles Lock we had to wait about an hour or so while they locked through this huge barge. This time Ookpik dropped a hook and we rafted to them. It was a pleasant wait unlike the one before. We watched this huge barge being locked up the river. The towboat was huge too. The barges had to be broken down before they could fit in the Lock. I don't see how those towboat captains keep all of those barges under control. Guess they know what they are doing. They also have to have a lot of patience, because nothing happens quickly.

Finally about 5:30 we made it to the free wall in the town of Ottawa. Confetti, Cooper and Gemini were already there. The free wall is only about 110 feet so there wasn't room for us. SO, they all agreed to let us raft up to them. How nice! Now that's how Loopers do things. Imagine this; we had just got there in time for Happy Hour! Yea! Oh and while we visited with each other we were entertained by the jumping Asian Carp! What a night!

Till next time!

Admiral "C"