Illinois River – Day 2

The challenge for us moving down the Illinois River is that two locks are closed during the day from 6AM to 6PM. We were trying to decide what strategy to use to pass through them. The locks had one lock through for pleasure boats at 6:00 PM and one at 5:30 AM. We do not like to travel in the night so we thought maybe we should plan on the 5:30 AM but we were worried that we could get turned away for the day if they were running behind. We found a marina within 2 miles of one lock and another one that was 10 miles from the second lock. We decided to try to lock through the locks at 6PM – one per day.

It was going to be rainy day, but the winds were not going to too bad.  We called the next lock, Brandon Road, to see when we should leave the wall. They said they would be ready for us in 45 minutes, so we and 5 other boats took off to get through the lock together.  When we arrived, we had to wait for the lock to fill which took 55 more minutes so we could have gotten a later start, but we were ready when the lock was. 

We then had to travel approx. 10 miles to the next lock – Dresden Island. When we arrived, there was a barge in the lock dropping off three of his 5 barges.  The process took longer because the tug pushes in the three by two barges then backs out.  The lock tenders hook cables to the barges and once the lock is filled then they pull them out to a staging area.  The staging area was just in front of the lock.  Instead of having to wait for the other two barges to come up.  The lockmaster and the tug captain allowed us to lock down in between the two loads.  This was very helpful for us because we had already waited 1.5 hours.  It was a bit tricky to get into the lock because we had a narrow area to pass between the staged barges and the lock.  We all made it in, and all was good.  

The next lock was Marseilles.  It is 27 miles from Dresden Island.  This lock is under repair and is one of the ones closed from 6AM to 6PM.  We called the lockmaster and he advised that we could be locked through at 5:30 – 6:00PM.  We and two other boats decided to go ahead and make this lock through.  We had already called and made reservations at a marina just two miles south so we could get there before dark.

As we traveled south we began to notice river markers for the first time. We also began to see grain silos which is big business up here.

We found another Boondocks – they were playing music and then we saw this guy down on the bank of the river. Not sure if he is practicing or getting ready for the next show at Boondocks!

The wait was tedious.  They took their time getting the workers off the lock and prepping the lock but just before 6:00 we were allowed to enter the lock to go down.  We were out of the lock by 6:30 and at the Heritage Harbor Marina by 6:55PM.   We have one more lock that is under the same restrictions to pass through.  We will see how tomorrow goes.