Sept. 6, 2012. After our last holding tank pump-out till Grafton, we left the excellent Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa IL and motored to the lock 5-10 miles south. The only negative about Heritage Harbor was their fuel prices were $0.65/gal more than other marinas we would pass.
At the Starved Rock Lock and Dam MM 231, several tows and 5 pleasure boats, all Loopers who had stayed at Heritage Harbor the previous night. They were rafted to a mooring cell above the dam so we jointed them by putting our lines on the "Toucan", a DeFever trawler from Ft Lauderdale, FL. We were rafted up for nearly an hour (they had been there for well over an hour already).
The Lockmaster announced we would be locking through with a tow consisting of 4 barges and a "pusher" tow boat. We were instructed to stay on the mooring cell till the tow entered the lock and was securely tied off to the lock wall. Then the Loop boats were to enter the lock single file and with the aid of the tow deckhands, tie a line or two to the tow. We did this leaving around 80' for the tow to disconnect from his barges and slip into the gap behind the 6 pleasure boats. The locking was the best kind, expeditious and uneventful.
After leaving the lock, the gaggle of boats headed south. All were headed to the Peoria City wall quite a distance even without the 2+ hour lock delay so they were going at fast displacement speed, basically plowing water. SaSea Sally has a hybrid hull, both displacement and planeing, so we are efficient going slow (less than 10mph) or going faster on a plane (15-17mph) but not plowing at an in between speed. We passed all the Loopers and went fast for several hours with mate Tyson at the helm much of the way.
As we approached Hamm's Holiday Marina we saw a sandbar covered with white pelicans, probably migrating south for the winter. We entered Hamm's, an older, basic marina with old tows being dismantled, old casino boats, and other stuff. At least fuel prices are much better. Dick, the owner, told us via cell phone he was busy and couldn't fuel us as we entered. He sent us to one of the few docks with 50 amp power and water. After an hour or two he ambled down the dock to say high and let us know there wasn't much around the marina unless we wanted to walk 1.3+ miles up the road.
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| Entering the Starved Rock Lock with a tow. |
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| Secured to the barges |
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| Tow boat still attached to the barges |
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| Tow after entering the lock chamber behind the Loopers |
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| Hamm's Holiday Harbor from the river side |
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| The Interstate highway bridge between Rockford and Bloomington, IL |
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| White pelican's on a sand bar in the Peoria pool of the IL River |
We ate one of Sally's great marinated pork tenderloins that had been in the freezer. Also had it with eggs the next day.
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