Sunday 10/05/08

We need to go 48 more miles on the Mississippi and we will be heading up the Ohio River. We should be at Green Turtle Bay on the Tennessee River Tuesday. Then we can take a day off. We will be anchoring for the next 2 days so this will be short.

Our first and second days back on the trail

On our first day back we traveled 80 miles and went through 2 locks. We were in travel for 10 hours and very tired when we got tied up for the night. Today we did 80 miles and went over the top of 1 lock as it is still flooded and they had the wicket down so it was level. No big deal and no waiting. We are on the town dock in Beardstown, IL tonight and went to the market and then to dinner. Tomorrow we will push on to Grafton, IL and the following day to Alton, IL. Sunday we will tackle the Mississippi river. The boat is running better than ever and we have been going faster than usual because of the rivers push. Most places are still at or above flood stage but are slowly falling. Some places we saw corn and bean fields that were flooded. My guess is that the crops will be moldy. We have been seeing eagles with regularity and today I saw a coyote along the levee. I am on battery power tonight so will close.

Ready to Roll Again

Today we got all the parts needed and we are ready to head south at last. We have been running hotter than normal for at least a year and have not been able to figure out why. Finally things advance that we had to really start tearing into the cooling system and found that the intercooler had clogged to a point that the water flow had decreased and now the exhaust hose colapsed and we over heated even at 2000 rpms. We boiled out the intercooler with acid and then we replaced the exhaust hose with fiberglass pipe and silicone rubber flex joints and while we were at it we totally replaced the raw water pump so we know that we are getting al the flow we should. Lois and I ran up river today and ran at 2500 and did not overheat and we checked the exhaust hose with point and shoot temp probe and only got 129 deg f. This should be where it should be.
We hope to do about 80 miles tomorrow. The time lost at the locks will be the determining factor. Will blog again in a day or two.

Still in IL...

This is Barb posting for Bob. Dad's internet service is down right now, he's having air card problems, so I am posting for him.

The picture above is from 9/7/08 when we all got together when Mom and Dad were home. From Left to Right: Becky, Bob, Lois, Barb.

Mom and Dad are still in IL, at the same marina as the last post. The flood waters from Ike have gone down in their area, but are still causing problems downstream. A few locks close to them are open, but farther downstream are still closed. They are staying put until possibly Tuesday next week.

They were going to leave Thursday, didn't get too far and had engine overheating problems. They went back to the marina they'd just left. They've replaced the water pump, cleaned out the water lines, replaced exhaust hose - the exhaust is so hot it melted the hose and it was hanging down closing things up. They are waiting on replacement exhaust hose to fix the problem. Hopefully, when it is all back together, the exhaust hose will be correct and they will be able to leave on Tuesday.

They are doing well, have rented a car for this weekend as they are getting cabin fever. They are enjoying the corn festivals in the area. Today they were in Morris, IL. Tomorrow they will be headed south to explore a little.

They are doing well and are hoping to get going on Tuesday.

Flood week 9/13 to 9/20

Lois looking at the high water


A visit by Katydid



Sandbagging the main building

Cleaning up afterwards
Washing the parking lot
Sweeping
Getting the big stuff
Water at its highest level, note the sandbags

We arrived back at the boat on Sat. evening after driving in the rain all day. Some times it rained so hard that traffic was down to 30 mph. We would have pulled off the highway if there would have been a good place. On Sun. we replenished the boat since we had been gone 17 days. It was still raining and the water was coming up fast. The marina was moving everything they could to higher ground and I ask where would be ag ood place to park my rental car. They showed me and even told me about an escape route if the main drive flooded. Monday 9/15 the water was covering the parking lot and all the emmployees were here and sandbagging the main building. I helped fill sand bags part of the day. The river continued to rise and after midnight the battle to keep the water out of the main building failed. The water had exceeded the level of earlier years and they ran out of sand and bags. They had been pumping the water out from behind the bags all day. They ended up with 18 inches in the offices and the carpets were a mess. They had piled every thing up off the floors and in the desks on top off the desks and counters. The river crested around 10:00 am on Tue. 9/16 and by Noon it had started to drop very slowly. A couple of the marina crew are here checking on things , but the rest of the crew is home resting.

On Wed 9/17 The crew was here in full force and the clean up began as the water receded. The Shop was the first to drop and they hosed out the mud and sprayed to stop the mildew. Then the main building drained and the crew started there to hose out and get back to normal. The parking lots still had 2 -3 ft of water so the fork lift was busy moving people and materials. They started to remove the sand bags and pumps. By the time the parking lot was bare they had the sand bags done and they used a truck with snow plow to get ride of the first layer of debris. Then the bobcat with the brush and finally the fire hose to get the last of the mud. This marina has plenty of equipment and lots of men to operate it. Every body seems to have a plan and they are devoted to the work. We have been confined to the boat and the floating docks for several days except when we would take the dinghy and row from the docks to high ground. On Tuesday we returned the rental car and got a few supplies. On Wed and Thur we worked on the boat and I got my new radar mounted on the mast and got it hooked up. Next project is to learn to use it.

Late Thur. we were finally able to walk off the docks and walk through the parking lot without using the dinghy to get there. On Fri. we replaced the Exhaust hose on the boat. Washed the boat and did laundry. The restaurant over the office is open again and we went out to eat. The marina is looking very good considering what has happened in the last week. People are here checking on their boats and can't believe the river has gone down 7' 2" and is still 2 - 3 feet higher than normal. The locks south of here are still closed and we hope they will be ready to use early next week. We will be ready to get under way and will have to pickup the pace to get to the rendezvous in Alabama by Oct. 17th. Here are some pictures of the mess.

Flooding in Joliet , IL

A quick note to let you know that Bob and Lois are A OK. They are on the boat, in a great marina. The flood waters are 10-12 feet above normal. They are tied to a floating dock. The dock has at least 3 feet more of piling. The river is expected to crest in the next 12-24 hours. The water is expected to be below flood stage by Weds afternoon. They will stay put where they are for probably a week or so. The locks and gas docks need time to get up and running again. And the junk floating in the river they hope will be south of them or washed up on the river banks. They will be checking email and adding more to the blog as time permits. Dad has been helping fill sandbags to try to keep the marina office and showroom dry. They say the marina has a great crew of staff (20 or so), and everyone is very friendly and helpful. There is one other looper boat in the same marina. Approximately 8 more looper boats are 8-10 miles south of them in the next marina. They have been communcating by cell phone. Everyone they have talked with is doing OK.

Their daughter, Becky

Luddington, MI to Seneca, IL

Bob with visitors Mike and Louie Shaefer

Chicago's Marina City Condos


Chicago's Sculpture "The Bean"

Grand Island Light House

Coal Fired Car Ferry the "SS Badger"

Special Leland drink the "Chubby Mary"

After four days in Ludington, we finally got a good day for traveling on Lake Michigan. Despite the attractions of Ludington (going to the House of Flavors in the evening for ice cream, watching the SS Badger come into the harbor every night, and seeing all the successful fishermen with their catches), we were glad to be underway again. On Aug. 19, we spent the night in Grand Haven, MI, a nice harbor town which had an enjoyable sound and light show in the evening. Aug. 20 we were in St. Joseph, MI. All of the marinas on the east coast of Lake Michigan where we stayed (and a number of additional ones) have been municipal ones, funded in part by the state of Michigan and were inexpensive and well-run.
On Aug. 21 we crossed Lake Michigan to Chicago, 54 miles of battling the waves. It was such a relief to come into Burnham Park Marina, one of several city-owned marinas along the lakeshore. Behind us was Soldier Field, where the Chicago Bears play. There was a game in the evening, and people, cars, and busses were everywhere. Glory Be II, another Looper boat, pulled in about 7:30 PM. They had a worse time than we did crossing the lake and were beat.
Chicago has a free trolley in summertime to accommodate visitors and on Friday, Aug. 22, we took advantage of it, going from Soldier Field toward downtown Chicago in the morning. We visited the tourist information center and shopped for groceries. The marina was not convenient to stores and attractions. In the evening, when we, along with Barb and Marty from Glory Be II, went in search of Chicago deep dish pizza, we traveled by city bus (free trolleys don’t run after 6 PM) to Pizanos, a restaurant well-known for pizza. We enjoyed our meal, but weren’t really impressed by their pizza.
Barb, Marty, Bob and I went on a guided cruise of the lakeshore and Chicago River through downtown on Saturday. We wanted to see the sights and, in addition, figure out the route to leave Chicago in the morning via the Chicago River. We ate lunch at Giordano’s, ordering sandwiches or spaghetti. The deep dish pizza there looked genuinely deep dish, as we watched it being served at other tables. Oh, well........ Later, Bob and I walked through the parks lining the lakeshore and looked at the sculptures, fountains, and flowers.
Sunday morning at 7 AM, we hit the waterways again, along with Glory Be II. First we went through downtown Chicago’s canyons of tall buildings, and under two or three dozen bridges. Then came big scrap yards, concrete plants, petroleum and chemical tanks. In many places, big barges were tied along the waterway, sometimes occupying almost half the channel. Thankfully few of the barges were moving, since it was Sunday.
When we arrived in Joliet, IL, we tied up at the city dock, joining Lil’ David and Gilraker, who were spending their second night there. Someone suggested walking to Harrah’s Casino, across the bridge on the opposite shore, for the buffet dinner, which worked out well.
Four Looper boats started out from Joliet on Monday, Aug. 25, passing under a few bridges and through two locks. At the first lock, we had to wait a short time for them to re-fill the lock with water, as they had just locked another vessel through going downstream. In the Illinois Waterway, southbound, all of our locking will be downward. At the second lock, a tow (multiple barges pushed by one tug) was locking through, half of the tow at a time, since it was ten barges and therefore, too large for the lock. We waited for about an hour for this to be completed and we’ve been told to expect long waits at all locks from now on. Commercial traffic always has priority over pleasure boats. Locks are 110 ft. wide by 600 ft. long, much larger than those we encountered in Canada. As we traveled, the countryside became more rural than it was the previous day, although there were still industrial sites. In mid-afternoon, all four of us stopped at Spring Brook Marina near Seneca, IL. Lois (on Lil’ David) and Judy (on Gilraker) decided to cook for everyone - grilled salmon, ham and green beans, mac and cheese, salads, and for dessert, the best blueberry cobbler ever. We had a great evening.
The other three boats continued their trip the next morning. We remained here and will rent a car and drive home for a few days, leaving Going There in this marina till we come back in mid-September. We won’t add to our blog until then.