Sunday September 27- Monday September 28, 2015
It was only about 15 miles down to Peoria. We wanted to stop at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club for diesel, but the harbor master thought the water levels were too low for us to get in. We did the math and confirmed that we had enough fuel to make it to the Mississippi, 165 miles away. We continued south to the Peoria town dock. Cocomo had tied up there by the time we arrived. Signs warn that no overnight docking is allowed, and that payment must be made by the hour for day use, but the payment machine was broken. We had read on Active Captain that other loopers had spent the night there. Prefect location. Across the street from the Riverfornt Museum and the Caterpillar factory tour. There was an art fair going on, and there were several restaurants within walking distance.
We really enjoyed the Riverfront museum. They have an IMAX theatre, and we saw two shows. We also went to the planetarium and exhibit on dinosaurs in motion. The art fair was great, and we had dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack. Great day!
In the middle of the night I heard some kids discussing our boat and Cocomo. I went back to sleep. In the morning, Vicki said that the kids boarded their boat at 3am. She appeared through the hatch and scared them off.
We hired a taxi at 8am, and headed off to do our laundry, and go to a grocery store, bakery, and bank. Then we toured the Caterpillar information center. They have an introductory movie in a theatre built into the bucket of one of their huge trucks that work the mines in South Africa. Very interesting.
I took the wheel, heading south while my mother and Jim sorted clean laundry and put away groceries. We were playing beat the dark. It was 42 miles to Tall Timbers Marina, and our top speed with the current is about 7 knots. There were no other options for anchoring or tiring up between Peoria and the marina at mile marker 120. Pulled up to the Peoria lock and dam, and we were told to wait off to the side of the river, under a highway bridge. They were not sure when they would lock us thru….. Maybe after the next tug and barge that was waiting to go down river. Finally, after about 45 minutes of hovering, I called the lock back. I was worried that we would not make it to a safe place to spend the night before dark. They responded that they would send us thru next.
We got thru the lock at 2:30, and revved the Yanmar up to 2700rpm. At that point we had 37 miles to go, and the sun would set around 6:40. Gulp! We were in touch with the marina and with Cocomo. They were waiting for us.
It was a beautiful evening as we raced south. I thought we might make it before it got really dark, but we met a upbound tug about 3 miles north of our destination. The safest thing to do was to pull way over away from the channel. I had my eye on the depth finder as we hovered near a farm. Fields are lighter than woods, so I could see better, and we watched the tug and barge go by.
Wayne called on his cell phone. He was standing by the tiny inlet to the marina with a flashlight. The mosquitoes were after him, would we please hurry up. We saw the flashlight. It was pitch black. The full moon would not rise enough to shed any light on us for some time. Jim sat on the deck in the bow, shining his flashlight into the dark. There was a long white plastic pole jammed into the river mud. About 20 feet from it was another white plastic pole that was broken off. Only the top 3 or 4 inches were above water. Wayne said that we should go up river of the plastic post and the sign where he was standing (which we could not see). What about the broken post? Mmmmmmm….. I headed upriver of both posts, then Jim and Wayne started yelling for me to turn to starboard. It was all black! I ran aground. I backed up and tried again. Ran aground again. This continued while I dialed the woman in charge of the marina that evening. No, she said, go downriver of both posts, then turn sharp to the right. So I did. I went between the two posts and the rock wall on shore. Had a few feet to spare as I crept in. Suddenly I could see the marina lights as I slowly, very slowly, slid into the marina. Yeah! We had quite a crowd waiting to tie us us. The crew from Cocomo, plus Jorge and Barbara, who we met on the Erie Canal. We tied up, I distributed cherry pie to everyone, and then at dove back on the boat. The mosquitoes and other bugs were chewing me up. We were very happy to be safely off the river!