Gemini Loop: The Illinois River

Hello all! Who knew that the Illinois River would be a remote place with sporadic phone and wifi? We have anchored a fair amount and have a few adventures to tell you about...

The night after leaving Ottawa we anchored at the end of Lower Henry Island. We have been traveling with The Cooper and anchored together. The scenery has been sometimes beautiful and remote, sometimes very industrial. There are very few towns along the river, although there are cottages well up on piers. You can see where the flooding has washed out around tree roots. Right now, the river seems to be down just a bit.

Where there are marinas, the depth is sometimes not sufficient for us to get in. The night after Henry Island, we went to the Illinois Valley Yacht Club (IVY) near Peoria. We draw 4 ft and there was supposed to be enough water, but we hit bottom. We got off and got to the dock, but we were a little nervous. We stayed there two nights and had a fabulous lobster dinner there. There were other loopers there, and we had cocktails on board Sonata one night. I got some wonderful ideas from them - they have a boat just like ours, but an older model. They have done some cabinetry, installed blinds and replaced the countertop and sink. I now have a "honey-do" list.

During our stay there, we realized that our ice maker was not working. Steve pulled it out and called Chris Donnelly - they identified the problem, and the part required. We had to order the part, which means figuring out where to have it shipped. Our next marina was to be Grafton, where we are now. (We got the part today, so we have ice!!!!!) Leaving IVY was interesting because we touched again, but with the help of the dock hands we got out.

Anchoring on the river is somewhat daunting. You have to be careful to choose a spot with enough water, but you have to be VERY careful not to be near the channel. Barges come by all hours of the day and night. Our guidebooks give us suggestions, which may or may not work depending on the water level. Since the river is down a little, some of the places that are supposed to have enough water are a little too shallow.

The day we left IVY, we were headed for an anchorage near a coal dock up a little creek. The Cooper went along with us. We anchored, had dinner and were settling down for the night. Then we heard a loud speaker announcement from the coal dock. Twenty barges were inbound to our location and we had to leave!!! It was already getting dark, and rain was on the way. When I say it was getting dark, that doesn't begin to describe how dark it was. We had our GPS and the AIS that tells us if another vessel is coming (IF it also has AIS) but we were more concerned with running aground. We have a long range floodlight, but they use so much juice that they can give out if you use them too much. At home, there is ambient light and most of the markers have lights, so you don't have to use it that often. Here, it was pitch black. And, of course, it started to rain. Two hours later, we found a place to anchor and fell into bed.

The next morning, we had to get going early to make the lock before a barge that was on the way. Commercial traffic has priority at the locks over pleasure craft. When I talk about barges, it is usually more than one and as many as fifteen being pushed by a tow. Those are too big for the locks, so they have to take it through in pieces. If you get there at the wrong time, you can wait for hours to get to lock through. SO, we got going around 7 and made it to the lock in time to go on through. After going for several hours, we tried the first anchorage we were hoping for. Too shallow. So we went to the next one - also too shallow. The third one was a charm, but we didn't get there until around 5:00pm. No one had trouble sleeping that night!

The morning dawned with thick fog. That was OK with us, because we could have a leisurely breakfast and wait for it to burn off. Thankfully, it was a short run to Grafton. It is good to be at a marina! We did laundry - lots of it - went to the grocery store, got our part for the ice maker and got to sleep knowing that we were tied up at a dock and wouldn't have to go anywhere.

The river is beautiful here. There are lots of herons, egrets, bald eagles and turtles. We have seen an occasional white pelican. Remember the electric fence that keeps the asian carp out of Lake Michigan? We have seen lots of them. When the water is stirred up around them, they jump. I've been trying to get some photos of them jumping, and I've gotten a few. Mostly I get the splash after they land. We did have one jump into the boat. We didn't find it until the next morning. We have also had mayflies - at least we think that's what they are. They look like little dragons. They just showed up all over the boat one morning.

We are just at the point where the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers meet. This is a little north of St. Louis. We are going to Alton to a marina in the morning (Thursday). We will be there one or two nights. I'm hoping that we will have internet again... it's hard to catch up after several days.