August 4 & 5, 2011; Thursday and Friday

Thursday, Kenosha, WI to Hammond, IN:  After sitting for 5 days in Kenosha we finally left early this morning at 06:00.  Lake Michigan was pretty rough with 4 foot large rollers hitting us on our port side and we were prepared for a long day.  Luckily about 09:00 the lake calmed down to 2 to 3 foot rollers but  we were still glad to get to our marina.  That evening we went out to the casino for dinner and had a very good buffet.  We had a good day; good food, reasonable fuel price, and less than 1/2 the price of dockage of marina's in the Chicago area.

N41 41.783
W87 30.362

CO's comments:  If you have never been to Chicago and you would like to see it by all means stop there but you are going to pay the State of Illinois and Chicago's City taxes.  The taxes and the price of fuel and dockage are higher in Chicago than they were in New York City.  As we were going by Miegs Field; which use to be an excellent airport but Mayor Daley destroyed it in the middle of the night, a tear came to my eye.  I really liked to fly in and out of there.

Hammond, IN, marina on 8-4-2011

Hazy Chicago from the bay on 8-4-2011

Friday, Hammond, IN, to Joliet, IL:  We started our last phase of our journey today; Illinois Waterway.  It was a very hot and humid day; by 07:00 it was 84 degrees and by 09:00 it was up to 94 degrees all ready.  We had tons of bridges to go under today and early on there was a bridge every block.  We had a total of 52 bridges but only had to have 8 of them opened.  One bridge had a 18' clearance and we needed about 20' so the bridge tender only lifted it about 2 feet and told us to go through; that was weird, the first time that ever happened.  Later this afternoon we went through the area where the fish barrier was and we had to call the Coast Guard and answer a bunch of questions before we could go through.  We entered the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal there was a lot of barges on both sides of the channel and left a very narrow and interesting path for us to travel.  We also went through 2 locks today.  About mile 312 the water was very smooth and there was nothing in sight and we heard a loud thump and immediately stopped.  We don't know what we hit but whatever it was it was completely under water.  No vibrations so far; we are keeping our fingers crossed.

N41 51.429
W88 05.237

CO's comments: From Mile Markers 300 to 290 it is very slow going.  If you happen to meet a north bound barge/tow you either have to find a spot between parked barges to get out of his way or make 180 degree turn until you can find room to let him by.  There is no room for a north bound and a south bound boat to pass.  We were lucky and only met one north bound and found plenty of room between parked barges to get out of his way.  We are now in dirty water and our air conditioner strainers are plugging up while we are sitting here.  On the big lakes we had to deal with winds and 4 foot waves and now on the rivers we are dealing with crap in the water but no high waves.  We can't win.

One of the many man-made waterfalls
on the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal

Many bridges and very close together
on the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal

Tight squeeze; narrow passage
on the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal

Fixed 19.1 bridge at Mile 300.5; you
call and they give you a formula to figure
actual clearance; today it was 20 feet
(we had about 3" to spare)

Warning Sign informing you
of the electrical fish barriers ahead

Danger Sign informing you of
the electrical fish barriers

Free tie up at Joliet, IL
Bicentennial Park on 8-5-2011

Bicentennial Park in Joliet, IL