Grafton-Alton-Kimmswick

Sunday, September 18

Fireworks in Grafton last night were good, made better because we saw them from the fly bridge of a fellow Looper's boat that was in an ideal viewing spot.  Thanks to Rich and Carol of Salt and Sand.  Also met Wayne and Francine from MY Way.  John and Mary from Passport were there, too.  I tried to get pictures of the pyrotechnics but none of them turned out  :(

We decided to layover in Grafton ... I did laundry and Kerm changed oil in the injector unit.  It was a nice marina and Sunday is a day of rest so we goofed off for the remainder of the day!

The pirate ship came and went all day long giving kids rides.  This all happened right across from where we were docked so we had a great view 

 

Captain Jim, the chief pirate

Grafton Harbor -  The bar over the ship's store was really noisy...but fun

Monday, September 19

Left Grafton Harbor at 7:52am and at 8:09am we made an important turn.  We decided to go south on the Mississippi and head to Florida, rather than going north to Minnesota for the winter.  Fighting a 4-6 mph current for over 600 miles was just too much for us to undertake.  We will have to bring 'The Belle' to the St. Croix River at another time.  This year it is south for us...I want to explore the Florida Keys and, hopefully, the Bahamas.

This is the split in the River...the barge is going north...we are not...bye,bye

The topography has changed to include some pretty bluffs and interesting rock formations.  A nice diversion from the Illinois waterway which we found a little boring.

A look back at Grafton

Misty cliffs

A little further along we passed a local landmark on the shore called Piasa Caves and Painting.  Indigenous people painted a huge picture on a cliff face as a warning sign and it has been restored.  The caves were special to them as well.

Piasa Caves and Painting

By 10am we arrived at Alton Harbor and pulled in for the day...short day and only 16 miles but it works out better for hitting locks and marinas for the next couple of days.  Beautiful marina and super shower suites, good temp and pressure.  Also, they provided herbal body wash, shampoo and conditioner.  See how important the creature comforts become???

There were flowers everywhere

Can you find Warren?

I washed the boat and scrubbed the bumpers which were very schmutzy from being in the water so long when we were in Minnesota.  During the day, more and more Loopers arrived.  There is a big Looper Rendezvous in Alabama in late October so boats are bunching up now and heading south.  It is fun to see old friends and to get to meet new Loopers and share stories.

Went to dinner at Fast Eddie's where you can get half-pound hamburgers for 99 cents.   It was a bizarre place but lots of fun because Mary and John from Passport joined us.  They come from Rolling Meadows, outside of Chicago, which is right next door to Arlington Heights, were I grew up before we went to England.  Small world.  Nice people.

There's a sense of excitement in the air because there are so many loopers about and a somewhat limited supply of marina spots coming up.  We plan to wake up early and dash for the Lock and Dam.


Tuesday, September 20

Woke up early, ready to go but there was dense fog outside.  Back to bed for a while.  Then Mary and John were kind enough to take me to the grocery store in their rental car so I could get some more supplies for the upcoming gnarly stretch of the journey.  After that, we took on fuel and water and got pumped out. We also adjusted the upper throttle station for a lower idle speed.  All is ready!!  Just want to have good weather tomorrow so we can get to Hoppie's Marina in Kimmswick..last marina stop for three days.

Fellow Looper, Sonata, in the background.

 Wednesday, September 21


Left Alton Marina at 6:11 with Sonata and Passport after hearing that the Lee Price Lock would be opening at 6:30 for us.  We joked with the lock tenders and I ending up giving them the bag of candy I had gathered from the Grafton town parade. By 7:02 we had locked through.  A great start.

Mary on board Passport

 

Leaving Lee Price Lock

The Mississippi runs much faster than the Illinois and we were 'flying' along at 10-11 mph, 3 mph faster than normal. It is a working river and we pass many barges, tows and industry along the way.

The tow boats look like wedding cakes

Easy way to lose money

Lock #27

Sonata in the lock

Lock gate going up

and out we go!!

After clearing Lock #27 at 8:55am we were headed into St. Louis.  But, before you get there you see this...

Biggest wing dam I've ever seen...aptly noted on the charts as "Mother of all Wing Dams"

The Gateway Arch was taller, shinier and much more impressive than I had expected.  It was very cool to see it from the river.

Nice iron work

Pretty arches on an old bridge

Army Corp of Engineers HQ

After saying goodbye to St. Louis we were glad to pull into Hoppie's Marina at 11:35.  We made great time. 

Hoppie's is not the nice white house. It's that rusty barge thingy to the left

Hoppie's Marina is physically no more than a couple of old barges anchored to the cliff by the side of the river in Kimmswick, Mo.  However, it is a very important stop for Loopers.  It's the last stop before three days of difficult river conditions with no services (marinas and fuel) and very few places to anchor safely.  Hoppie (the old man) is the last living River Lamplighter from when men actually had to light lamps before electricity.  His wife, Fern, gives a daily seminar on how to get through the next three days safely.  A stopover at Hoppie's is a quintessential part of The Loop.

The Belle tied up to the barge/dock

 Hoppie talking to Kerm

Fern holding court and providing very good information to Loopers on the upcoming river conditions

The town of Kimmswick is very cute with lots of old houses that are on the National Registry of Historic Places.  The Blue Owl Restaurant is excellent and we enjoyed lunch there with Mary and John.  There are lots of little gift shops, too.

After Fern's talk, the crews of Passport and Southern Belle got together to talk about our plan as 'buddy boats'.  We will all sleep better tonight knowing we have a plan for tomorrow.

Don't be surprised if there are no updates for a few days...we go where few wise people have gone before. Just some melodramatic humor there folks!!

Christie

Thursday, September 15

Warren and I

After a good sleep, we departed Tall Timbers Marina at 8am.  We were parked in a very squeezed  section of the marina so when it came time to leave we did some very fancy 'warping' to get The Belle out safely.  Kerm did a good job. 

Weather was so cold that Kerm piloted from the lower helm station rather than the fly bridge (which has no curtains) for a long time today.  For breakfast I had nice hot coffee going and Kerm requested chicken noodle soup.  I'm the ship's cook so I don't comment on the captain's unusual dietary/culinary demands.

Breakfast on The Belle

 

On this section of the Illinois and Upper Mississippi Rivers, marinas and fuel stops are few and far between.  In addition to this, there are many locks which give preference to the large tow boats and their long barges.   Consequently, the Loopers are sometimes forced to stay at whatever safe harbors are available...that's what our plan is for tonight.  We are tied up to a barge at the Logsdon Tug Service in Beardstown...no electricity, no potty, no nothing.  

This is the closest to a barge that I've ever been

It was slippery, so the rule was no stepping outside the cabin without a life jacket

You can see one of the tug boats in this picture

 When I clambered over the barges to the office to pay for our overnight stay I asked what the combination to the hot tub/fitness area was....causing very subdued merriment.

Tomorrow we want to make it to Grafton which will be a long day...so it's early to be.  After all there is no free cable TV here at Logsdon Tug Service to keep us up.


Friday, September 16


Despite being rocked around somewhat by tows going back and forth during the night, we both slept well. We were up at 5:45 anxious to get going.  Our 'barge partners' on Passport called the lock and were told that if we hurried we would probably get through.  So we both warmed up the diesel motors and took off.  When we got to the lock were were told that it would be an hour and a half wait due to a bid tow that had come in.  BUMMER.
 
I made a big fried egg and potato skillet breakfast to fill the time.  It was good.

After a 2 hour wait we finally got into the lock.  This delay blew our plan to reach Grafton so we had to re-adjust.  We made it to Hardin at almost 6pm and we were exhausted.  It was a 68.1 mile day but it seemed longer.  Hardin was another 'no services' tie up place but there was a restaurant so I went over and got us each a piece of pie...turned out to be the best pie ever!!!

We went to bed after watching a big tow boat almost slam into the Hardin Railroad Bridge.  Those guys are amazing.

Saturday, Sept. 17

Woke up and Kerm was ready to go...no pictures of  Mel's Illinois River Restaurant or our humble tie-up.  It was panic stations to get out in the river in front of a tow/barge.  After a hasty but successful departure we merged in front of the tow and I could settle down to a cup of coffee and wake up properly.

Headed for Alton today.

Hold on...change of plans.  The city of Grafton is having its 175th birthday and we decide to pull in to  Grafton Marina instead of pushing on to Alton.

I went into town and enjoyed the small town parade (good but not as good as Afton's).  All kinds of activity, patriotic boat parade, softball, speeches, a re-enactments of the opening of the river road, car show, bands and...

A pirate ship

and a shark boat

There are going to be fireworks tonight.  I'll try to get pictures

 Signing off for now.
Will post again soon...love to all

Christie

 

Back on the Journey
September 13

We were anxious to leave - note the moon still out in the morning

The lock house at Starved Rock Lock

Tuesday, September 13

We left the marina at 6:20 am and were joined in the Starved Rock Lock by two other Loopers, Harem and Wilhemina.   After the lock they left us in the dust as we are much slower.

Beautiful Krogan Express from Michigan

 We found the scenery on this section of the Illinois River a little boring but I did see a bald eagle.  We traveled 59 miles and docked at EastPort Marina in Peoria.  We got stuck in the mud getting into the marina but the folk from Harem, who had already docked, helped us to warp in. (use lines). Here is Kerm in the glow of the sunset...   

My Captain

Wednesday, September 14

Slept well and enjoyed a WONDERFUL shower at the marina's new facility.  Got back to the Belle and Kerm was ready to get going right away because he had heard that the lock in Peoria was going to be opening and we wanted to make that opening.

Quick snap of EastPort Marina

Capt. Al and Julie from Harem

Peoria's waterfront

More Peoria Waterfront

Single-hander heading down to Florida for the winter

We didn't make it to the lock in time because a big tow boat came along and commercial traffic gets priority.  We were held up for about two hours and cleared the lock at 10:09.  Delays like this can happen on busy rivers... we have been pretty lucky so far...no complaints but it did shorten our travel day.   

Harem blasting by us after we cleared the lock

At 10:59am I was in the cabin and Kerm was driving upstairs on the fly bridge.  I heard loud noises and thought he had fallen or something.  Concerned, I blasted out of the rear cabin door to go up and check him out.  I was shocked to almost step on a big asian carp flopping around in the rear deck.  I admit I screamed!!  That's what all the noise was.  This fish jumped out of the river and into the Belle. The carp problem is really bad here and I had seen some jumping the day before but this was too close for comfort.  Here are some pictures of him before I poked a boat hook through his mouth and tossed him out through the transon door.

He was slimey and he bled all over the boat...ick

After that excitement we settled down and put on a good 41.3 miles and docked at Tall Timbers Marina. along with Passport, Old Glory and our friends from Harem.  We got in early 3:03pm so I walked into the town, Havana.  It was a cute little town and I bought some supplies at the Dollar General store. 

Tall Timbers Marina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're back home again on the Southern Belle

Hello, everybody!!

We are back on the Southern Belle after a wonderful time in Minnesota visiting family and friends.  We had a great time but we are also glad to be back on board.

To catch you up on some of our 'missing time'...

What I did on my summer vacation...

We drove to Minnesota from Ottawa, Illinois, leaving Warren in charge of the Southern Belle.

 We stayed with sister, Linda, and enjoyed the St. Croix River, which is our favorite chunk of water in the world

Sunrise on the St Croix from Linda's back yard!!

St. Croix Morning

While at Linda's we did some jobs around the house...my favorite was the gardening.  We ripped out some straggly plants from the front island and brought in some black dirt, grass seed and a new light post with her house name. 

My beautiful big sister

Front lightpost and new grass growing

New entry lights

 

Artsy view of Linda's new light in the side garden

Kerm's birthday was celebrated in July and I bought him what every man needs...

'The Kerminator'

Also, Kerm and Graham (brother-in-law) were official photography boat for the St. Croix Sailing Club's Labor Day regatta.  Look at these guys having a great day...

One day was really windy and they got wet!

Patrick and Katie running the Committee Boat

Dan came up from St. Petersburg and we had a chance to meet his girlfriend, Carrie. That's her in the green jacket.

Sailing Regatta from Linda's house

Hot action at the mark

Shenanigans' Crew at the awards banquet- good job!!

Fast Lane's crew at the awards banquet- Congrats, Mary!!

Kerm's Dad has a cabin up by the Canadian border.  Kerm took his Dad up there for a week.  Pelican Lake is beautiful in a rugged, northern way.

Eagle

My 'other' boat is there...

1964 Lund 'Resorter'  

It's heavy duty, pre-dented and well used.  It came complete with a coffee-can cement anchor!  The side of the boat has a worn out, barely legible, hand-painted sign from Cabin O Pines Resort, an old fashioned resort on the other side of the lake.

On Labor Day there was a family gathering at Mary and Graham's house.  It was wonderful to see everyone again.  As sometimes happens when I'm the having the most fun,  I forget to take pictures.  This explains why there are no pix. Sorry!

Starved Rock Marina
On September 9th we said good-bye to Minnesota and headed back to the "Belle". When we opened the door we were welcomed home with a flower arrangement from Linda...so nice.

Daisies are my favorite

Warren did not do a good job of taking care of the boat...the outside was covered in spider webs and spider 'schmutz' when we got here.  But a good washing and spray down with the pressure washer brought her right back to beautiful.

Kerm has done lots of maintenance and refitting.

1. Installed a search light on the mast
2. Rewiring
3. Installed new lee cloths on the fly bridge
4. Replaced a big starter battery
5. Lots of other miscellaneous stuff

On Saturday night were were invited to a Lobster boil and Steak grilling extravaganza here at the marina by a fellow boater, Bonnie.  We had good food, dancing and a chance to meet some really nice people.  Bonnie won the raffle so there was excitement at our table. We also met Laura and Jack from CarolLee who spend almost every weekend on their boat and who want to do the Loop some day.  Hope to see you out there!!!

We are leaving tomorrow morning ...Tuesday, Sept. 13th.

Capt is anxious to get going and the boat is ready...

 

 

On hold but the work continues

We're in Minnesota for awhile but I'm still working the list.  The books say that  getting stuck out at night on the Mississippi is a possibility due to waiting times  at the locks so we've decided to add a good spotlight.  I did make a nice aluminum bracket for the bow pulpit but have changed my mind and will put it on a platform on the mast.  I figure that the height should help to cut down glare and will give a better view out the sides and even aft which wouldn't be possible with a front mount light.  The new light comes with a FM remote that will reduce the wiring bundle which would be a real bugger threading it through the boat. 

The rear door has a small teak strip to open and close the door from the outside which is a real PIA so I went to my teak collection at the warehouse and found a nice grab rail that I will install on the out side of the door.  Of course the rail was too long and I had to modify but hey,  it didn't cost me a nickel.  This will also be nice as we are a little light on something to grab onto in the back of the boat. 

We pulled the lee cloths off of the boat to bring to the cities for laundering.  They cleaned up just OK but quite a bit of the stitching came out and after looking at them they probably are on their last legs due to wear and fading.  Torment du jour I think Chris would say.

I'm going to Greg's race shop today and see if I can't find a new screw on filter nipple for the Lehman as the old one is a bit worse for wear.  It's a standard 3/4-16 as used on allot of British cars so if there is one in MN chances are we have one.  Also,  I've got some o-ring washers stashed somewhere that I can use to stop the oil leaks on the fuel injection unit.  

I did bring a fuel sample back to the cities and will have someone look at it as the black flecks are driving me nuts.  Also, there seems to be a aqua layer of something on the top when after the sample sets for awhile.  Go figure.

Coming back to the Cities has also been great for replacing our stock of maintenance consumables such as electrical connectors, lubricants, batteries, bulbs, etc.  If there is one thing that I would tell people that are considering the loop it would be, don't count on hardware stores or marine supply places anywhere.  Plan like you are circumnavigating the globe nonstop.  

We have also purchased new electronic charts for one of the Garmin chart plotters.  Snagged a great deal on e-bay and saved about 60% off of the list price.  We're also looking for paper charts for the next stage down to the Gulf.  The paper is better for planning as you can see the big picture and some of them show all the anchorages and have notations for all the must see areas. There is a stretch coming up called Pickwick Lakes that is supposed to be one of the best parts of the loop so we don't want to miss a thing.

Just because we're not at the 'Belle' doesn't mean that we are away from water.  We are staying with Chris's sister on the beautiful St. Croix and have managed to get some boating time in.   These are our home waters and is my personal comfort place.  I wouldn't be a bit surprised if  we also managed to get a couple of sailboat races in before the month is out.  Either that or help on the sailing club committee boat that is commanded by our nephew Patrick O'.