It had rained in the night, as we had expected it might, and taken appropriate measures to cover up, upstairs.
Yet another early start, and the darkness at 6.15am was no help in the waking process. A cold wash cloth to the face can have a good effect, though:)
We have such a good routine for leaving, but I hate to be rushed in the execution of it. Haste Makes Waste...is the saying, and how true that is. This morning we ended up being rushed. Waz called the Lock to find out if we could go through early, and was told that there were two boats there and we could go through with them if we hurried up. We did. Got off the dock in ten minutes flat, and down river from Joliet...waiting for one of the lift bridges to open, before the morning rush hour. It was 7.15am when we got to the lock...the gates were closed. DAMN!
I had looked out the window just after 6.30 to see two black boats moving down towards the lock...we were familiar with these dark shapes....the two Galleon we had come down the Michigan Peninsula with, and which had been in Muskegon for the long weekend, on public display. We could see them at the park next door, from our marina berth.
I guess they had a schedule to keep, if they are doing public appearances, but we were a bit pissed that the lock hadn't radioed us to ask where we were, and how far away. We were literally 10 mins away. As a result we drifted with engines running for the next 50 mins. Nothing came back up, so we didn't have to wait for a tow to clear and for us to go in. Good thing too. Another boat from the wall joined us in the lock and we both went down.
The other boat joins us in the holding pattern, at the top side of the lock.
These locks are industrial sized and meant to transport the tows, so the only facility for any boats, are these bollards which go up and down with the water in the lock. They are widely spaced, and generally there is a staff member stationed at the one they want you to tie off onto. We don't tie off on the yellow bollards. They are stationery and we would have to let our rope out accordingly...up to forty something feet, in some locks. As you can see, there is plenty of room in the lock for just the two of us.
Looking downstream. We certainly see the Industrial side of the USA that most people never realize is on their doorsteps. This isn't so far out of Chicago, really. Lots of fertilizer works of various kinds, metal recycling plants, gravel and ground wood piles, all with their own docking facilities for the barges which carry the goods to the consumer...well, the middle man then the consumer, perhaps.
This is how he bollard works. We loop out rope around the top of this thing on the left...there are wheels on both sides of it that go up and down inside the chamber on the tracks you can see here. The first one was very musical...grinding and groaning as it went down.:) Not unpleasant, I have to say!
Enough??:)
and before we could exit the lock, we had to request a bridge opening. We might have squeezed under it, but I don't want to risk anything coming off the top of the radar arch at this stage of the journey, thanks.
We are coming upon yet another 'floating' casino. Not sure if there was originally a law prohibiting the construction of casinos on land? But this is the 3rd one we have seen.
Part of the casino is a water wheel boat, by the look of it....but it was rather hard to discern where the boat started and the onland portion of the building began and ended.
as you can see by this photo.
These early days are great for some things, but not others. One of the 'others' is that we get a long way (all going well) and feel like crap at the end of the journey around 3pm. Here we look like we are going overland, again. The profusion of yellow triangles in our future are tugs...mostly working, but often sitting...with barges attached. We cant tell from the chart photo.
It is lovely to see the wading birds again in greater numbers. They are on the Michigan Peninsula, but not a lot of them, that we saw. These great Egrets were plentiful today.
Lots of debris and this kind of 'stuff' in the water along the river's edge.
Industry and everything that goes along with it. That is a large tanker barge with the green on it in the foreground.
We have been fascinated watching how they fill the barges with liquids and grains/gravel etc. Also, they seem to start filling them at one end, which means that end is then hard on the water line, with the bow up in the air. Can you see that in this photo?
These barges are empty. All that lighter brown part is normally under water, and the darker brown is above the water in a fully laden barge. Some of them look like they could sink in a storm...and they do!
The air was hazy, first thing, but you can see the Fall colors in the trees.
Not sure what dry goods they were filling this barge with, but it wasn't perishable, as the barge is open.
We decided, on this deserted stretch of waterway, to open the throttle and give our girl a bit of a blatt to clear her head, as it were. We make less wake at 11.5 knots than we do at 8!
Just one of the tugs we had to by-pass today, on a skinny stretch of water. They were very active today, but always courteous and always let us know when and how we can pass them. Patience is a virtue in all circumstances on the water.
We are fascinated watching these behemoths work. The captains are very skilled, for the most part.
As soon as we passed, the captain poured on the porridge and away he went, as you can see by the smoke and the wake. Those wake are so 'pushy' if you aren't aware of them and prepared for them. It is a bit of a washing machine for a good while after you or they pass.
Much to our surprise, these white pelicans were in these parts! We don't know why, and anyone we have talked to since, cannot explain their presence here. They do say, though, that they appear twice a year.
A whole rookery of them!
Yes, those are sweat pants and sheepy slippers! Cooooold it was for a time...then we stripped everything off again, then we put it all back on again, and finally, off again. Sheesh! what is with this place, weather wise? We had been warned about the sudden drop in temperature, but we thought that was a few days away.
YEs, it is only 9.19am! The day is slowly going by, but so much to look at and we have to keep our wits about us. Lots of debris in the river...logs!
Pretty trees and the increasing bits of color:)
Hunter 'Blinds' were all along this stretch. I think they shoot the Canadian Geese, but I may be wrong.
Yes, it was raining again...to the point where I had to close the front window. The 'floating cottages' are rentals in a marina we passed.
It rained all through the second locking when we were joined by the Pinta and Nina..those two replicas of the real thing. They are pretty crude, but then I guess the originals were too! Not big boats to be sailing the world. They have their masts down to get under all the low bridges.
You can see the Nina and Pinta in the background after we passed them coming out of the 2nd lock. The river was wide enough for all of us, on the water.
Oh dear...a glitch in the system that is our chart plotter. Just as well we don't rely only on this piece of equipment. Fortunately the AIS system was still working and we could see ahead for traffic.
These two tows are the ones ahead, and the two at the bottom of the screen above are the Nina and Pinta, actually about 2 nautical miles behind us at this point. The tow captain told us to wait for him to clear the bridge, then we could come around him on the two whistle...meaning his starb'd side.
With the chartplotter not doing it's thing, we had to get our course from somewhere other than the paper chart (for quick glancing), so we fired up the Samsung tablet which has navigation software also. This is our backup system. We think the chart supplier has left something out of this section of the river. Not sure when we will get the rest back!
Another boat that used to be a restaurant and possibly a Casino as well. It is no longer either of those things. We are thinking this too will be left to rot on the side of the river, like so many others.
I was quite taken with this little hut beside an industrial site that fills barges. Pretty cute, don't you think?:)
Waz was excited to see this Potash site in Marseille (pronounced locally as Marsails). As an Industrial Chemist, formerly in a Fertilizer Works, he gets excited about these things. The company he worked for in NZ used to buy these chemicals from the USA.
The dam above the 3rd Lock of the day. This is off to our right, and we took a 2 mile channel down the left side of the dam race to the lock itself.
Past the town of Marseille (Marsails!)
When we came towards the 3rd lock, the barges at right were inside the lock. There was another looper boat waiting, anchored. They told us they had been there 2 1/2 hrs, waiting for the barges to come out of the lock. The lock called us on the radio and told us to remain on the port side of the lock. We did, but the other boat didn't. They were pulling their anchor when we approached and went into the middle of the channel, curiously. We learned that they didn't have their radio on the required channel, so they could hear the lock instructions.
With some gesturing on our part and some long distance yelling, they finally got on the radio on channel 16 and we were able to pass the information on to them. Poor things having to wait so long. It can be very tedious, all this waiting.
This was the first time we had actually seen barges without the tug at their head. They had been winched out of the lock with a small tractor and the use of ropes. The small gap into the lock that you see in the middle of the photo, is all the space we had to get through. We were all instructed to go through that little gap and into the lock. The thing in the middle at the back of the lock is the top of the tug, in the river down below. It has other barges ready to come up in the lock to complete it's load.
The gap was about 25 feet...plenty for us to go through, but what was more challenging was the current and the wind, which had come up. Carefully Waz took us through there. We were followed by the other looper boat, and they were about to close the gates when they opened them again...we had heard the Nina and Pinta calling ahead to keep the lock open for them.
A discussion ensued as to the width of the gap, and would they get through it? They are 18 ft wide, so it took some skill for them to get through there, but they did it and the gates closed.
Yes, on the far right, that is another tow that is waiting to go down. He will be there a while, we think.
Here they come! the Galleons.
Looking down on the river below, the rest of the tow is waiting to come up to join the others sitting at the end of the lock wall.
The waiting barges.
The Nina coming through the gap...
She made it!!
as did the Pinta. Skilled captains, both of them.
I couldn't get out of the boat onto the lock to take a photo of the gap, unfortunately, lol.
Down, and now out of the lock. I forgot about the little speed boat! oops.
What we saw at the bottom of the lock, and we had to negotiate that to the right. Tow was all ready to enter the lock and the tug was fired up....meaning wash at the back. That coupled with the water coming out of the Dam race, made for slightly tricky negotiations.
Fortunately the gap at the bottom was larger than the one at the top:)
Little boxes on the hillside...that all look the same!
Good to see someone camping!
The town wall at Ottawa, all 110ft of it...Free...was taken. We had to keep going, though we thought it might be taken. Always good to have a second plan.
The river leading into Ottawa town.
The park opposite the town...lovely.
Gorgeous old homes on the hillside above the park.
..and I found it curious that this sign was on the side of the canal, as there was nowhere to get off and see the cemetery, or Dead Center, as Waz calls it.
This is the statue in question...sorry for the fuzzy pic!
More barge traffic to negotiate before we found somewhere to stay the night. We had planned to anchor behind Sheehan Island, but with bad weather approaching, we thought it prudent to find dockage somewhere. There was a marina up ahead (one of only a few) but we had to phone and make sure we could be accommodated. The draft in the marina was only 3ft, so they couldn't accommodate us inside the marina. They only place available was the Fuel dock. Being close to 4pm, when the dock stops selling fuel, they invited us to take advantage of that. The dock is almost as long as we are!
The marina just before the one we docked at. The entry is very shallow and skinny!
and this is the Fuel Dock, just in front of the restaurant.
We shut down the engines at 3.26pm.
See...we take up the whole dock! lol. It is also ON the river, so we are very exposed. At least if the dock floats away, we will go with it:)
We ate leftovers for dinner..I made some brown rice for Waz to eat with the Butter Chicken, which was a bit 'hot' for me. I ate scrambled eggs! Love them.:)
We watched two movies on Netflix and went to bed at 10pm.
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