16 SEP – 27 SEP 2001
Illinois Waterway
Chicago
was interesting from the water, but it was time to move on, so we've traversed
the "Illinois Waterway" which consisted of the rest of the Chicago
River, the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, the Des Planes River, and mostly
the Illinois River.
We
did most of the 'sanitary' canal at night, I don't think it's as gross as it
sounds, but there sure is PLENTY of commercial boats and docks and barges . . .
& llamas! night
sailing.JPG
llama4.JPG
Going
down the Illinois with the mast down reminded me of when we did the entire
Wisconsin River in our canoe. bow wake.jpg We
stayed in Seneca for a couple days of biking and we stayed in Ottawa for a few
days of biking & great hospitality. windigo
along ottawa dock.JPG windigo ottawa
dock.JPG mountain bikin'
moultons.JPG Here we passed under
the last bridge that is less than 50' above the water - the clearance we need
to put our mast up. Peoria was the next town with facilities to step the mast,
but there wasn't enough water depth for us to access the dock. We had a tug
service in Beardstown step it with their working barge. Good thing Rick taught
me well at Yacht Works; I had to tell 3 towboat drivers how to get the mast up.
windigo on mast stepping barge.jpg
mast stepping, barge style.jpg
We've
found libraries along the way to do email and read the latest news. We have met
several cruising couples and other sailors from Germany & Florida, but MOST
everybody we meet has connections to Wisconsin, Door County & Milwaukee.
One couple is from Sturgeon Bay, another guy used to run the maintenance at
PJ's there. We heard word of a friend from Milwaukee that keeps his boat in
Sister Bay, but didn't see him [yet] - he left the boat in Peoria and flew
home, but will come back and continue along our route. Two guys from Germany
are doing the US tour thing in their old steel boat. A Canadian is
single-handing around the eastern US.
All
in all a wonderful experience, but we are still waiting for a boring day. There
is always a small adjustment to make, a run to Radio Shack or some other
specialty store for a part or tidbit. Depth sounding with the keel is always
exciting! And now with the mast up, we have sailing to occupy the less busy
moments.
We
stayed at only the best marinas along the way, as long as they were free. very nice marina.jpg O.K., so it isn't
really a marina, it's just an old barge. And we had to walk the plank and scale
the wall. good thing i
brought this plank.jpg nice ladder.jpg KL nice ladder.jpg But it was free!
We've
passed through lots of locks so far, always something different to find there. leave dresden lock.JPG We found out where
the "Illinois Waterway Visitor Center" is, but could not access it
from the water. So we had to ride our bikes from a town upstream. IL waterway visitor center.JPG safety first.JPG
There
have been wonderful bike trails everywhere. But still not enough for me - I
gotta take the 'shortcut' through the cornfield and cake 2 pounds of mud on my
bike. KL on I&M trail.jpg moulton view I&M trail.jpg
Oh
yeah, the eagles – we found quite a few! Got close enough for these pics:
simon eagle.jpg eddie
eagle.jpg eddie eagle 2.jpg sammy eagle.jpg sammy
eagle 2.jpg sammy eagle 3.jpg sammy eagle outa here.jpg soaring eagle.jpg 2 eagles & a friend.jpg
So
now it's on to the mighty Mississippi-
KL
& KJ Hughes
S/V
WindigoIII
Just
barely stayin' ahead of the weather . . .
p.s.
I must be from WAY up north - everyone south of Aurora has a southern accent!!
?
