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It's a Beautiful Morning!

Oct 3, 2024

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An early riser, I awoke yesterday well before any daylight. As I was making coffee, one of the most powerful lights I'd ever seen lighted the boat and blinded me as I peered upstream to see what it was. Train? Car? Comet? Asteroid? You guessed it, the Lizzie Lane Peus and her 8 barge push whom we'd played hopscotch with the day before had rounded the bend and was headed slowly down toward our docked vessel. I already knew it was a chilly morning and was running our heat pumps in "heat" mode for the first time. Lizzie confirmed it by illuminating the thick fog on the river. We would pass her again mid-morning; her captain acknowledging us like an old friend.


We had planned a 50 mile day with no locks which enabled us to have a more leisurely morning than other travel days have allowed. By the time we started, the sun allowed shorts, t-shirts and a light jacket.


Now well south of Chicago, industrial facilities are better kept and far fewer in number. Riverbanks still hosted trains of tied up barges waiting for their next load and a tug to push them but natural areas were much more frequent.





We saw literally thousands of white pelicans and Canadian geese, along with the morning fog all sending us the message we'd better south. Dozens of great blue herons and egrets stood beside the river waiting for breakfast to swim by. Several bald eagles flew overhead in their heavily laden way. Eager hunters had refurbished their blinds in anticipation that ducks would soon arrive on their way south too.


We encountered a number of barge trains going in both directions. Their captains, friendly, helpful, and incredibly skilled, always wish us a safe trip after we pass.


It turns out that with no locks and only one or two no wake zones, it doesn't take very long to navigate 50 miles. We arrived at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club (the IVY Club) around 12:30. With a very narrow entrance and a marina basin crowded with docks and tight turns, it grabbed our attention. But we soon arrived at our designated slip, number 8, backed in and tied down.




Unlike the night before when we felt super exposed and poorly docked, the IVY Club offers a very protected facility with great docks.





And, this private club generously opens its restaurant to transient boaters. We headed over for a late lunch and stood respectfully and probably looking lost for a few minutes waiting for a host or hostess. Eventually, a very kind older woman, one of three at the table nearest the entrance, left her meal and came to greet us. She suggested that we choose a table and that the waitress would eventually see us. So kind! And the waitress deeply impressed me. The only non-kitchen staff member for the restaurant, bar, and special event room, she handled the large group (two dozen at least) and a half dozen other tables with grace and made every diner feel attended to. She took orders, delivered food and beverages, provided bills, and cashed out diners--all with a smile and never appearing the least frazzled. Many would have been overwhelmed. She thrived.


Katahdin's horn, replaced this summer by M.E. Yacht Restoration, sounds like a nearly dead duck. In response to my text, they suggested it might be water in the horn or compressed air hose. On investigation, it became apparent very quickly that whoever installed it had crimped the air hose at the point where the horn is attached to the mast. I spent the afternoon on top of the cabin, first removing the radar dome to get at the horn, then removing the horn and reinstalling it. No joy. Either the turn for the hose onto the horn is just to tight or the already crimped hose is now too limp to make a smooth curve but I did not succeed in solving the problem. I did manage to get everything reinstalled with no tools, nuts, bolts or washers rolling overboard. Thank God for small favors! Back to the horn another day.




The Admiral has deemed today a "rest day". That means we'll explore Peoria, go to Walmart and a grocery store, do laundry, and maybe find a marine store. Tomorrow we'll head downstream again. 'Til then.

Oct 3, 2024

3 min read

2

56

0

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