September 17 - Metropolis, IL to Grand Rivers, KY

We had a great night and were not bothered by the many passing tows. After breakfast, we continued our trip to the Cumberland River. We passed the historic rivertown of Paducah, KY. Like Cape Girardeau, Paducah has built a wall around its down town area to protect it from the springtime floods. The openings in the wall are closed off by hydraulic doors, whose tops are even with the pavement.

The shortest distance from Paducah to Grand Rivers, our destination, would have been via the Kentucky Locks. However this lock is very busy with commercial traffic and waits up to 3 or more hours are possible. The last time we went through, we ended up waiting until 3:00 a.m. In view of this, we continued some miles to the Cumberland River. Len and Carrie had a greaty time spotting many different birds.

When we arrived at the Cumberland Lock, the doors were just closing. We had to wait for about 30 minutes before it was our turn. Once having locked through, we had just a mile to go to Green Turtle Bay Marina. The Marco Polo II will be docked  here for a month. On October 17 we will be back onboard for the next stretch of our Great Loop trip - this one will last one month. Therefore do not expect additional information until October 18.

September 16 - Cape Girardeau, MO to Metropolis, IL

Little River Diversion Channel, just south of Cape Girardeau, is an excellent anchorage. We were not bothered by river traffic or wave action from the tow boats.

After cruising some 50 miles, we turned on to the Ohio River. Instead of going down - stream, we were now going upstream.

We passed the Olmsted Lock. Six years ago they were working on this dam and now the completion date has been moved to "indefinite".

We continued to Fort Massac Boat Ramp and Dock, a few miles east of Metropolis, IL. Six years ago the dock could accommodate at least three boats, now barely one. 

After having secured our boat for the night, we took a walk to Fort Massac. Several forts representing claims by Spanish, French and British have stood at the spot now occupied by Fort Massac. The explorer Meriwether Lewis stopped here to   re-provision while on his trip to the west. The fort we see today is much like the way it looked during Lewis and Clark's time

September 15 - Kimmswick to Cape Girardeau, MO

It was quite windy, but it was dry and the sun was shining. We left Hoppie's and continued our southward trip. The limestone cliffs and some interesting homes were the hilites of the morning. 

We passed a number of tow boats - one was pushing 36 barges.  Near Mile Marker 80 we saw a limestone formation called Tower Rock.

Everyone needs a nap after seeing so

many interesting sights.

At Mile Post 52 we came to Cape Girardeau, MO. Like a number of other river towns, this city has a flood wall. The section seen here was decorated.

Soon afterwards we came to the creek where we dropped anchor for the night.

September 14 - Alton, IL to Kimmswick, MO

No pictures - the weather was lousy. We had rain from the time we departed Alton, IL until our arrival at Hoppies Marina in Kimmswick, MO. Lucky for us, the trip was just 40 miles. Hilites were the Melvin E. Price Lock & Dam - with a drop of 23 feet, Lock & Dam 27 with a drop of 27 feet and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO.  

In the late afternoon we were visited by Dick and Ankie Lodge. Dick is the Honorary Netherlands Consul in St. Louis and was my colleague when I was the Honorary Netherlands Consul for West Michigan. Afterwards we walked to the village of Kimmswick. It was a bit disappointing since the restaurants were all closed.

September 13 - Alton, IL

Sheli, Steve and Henk spent the entire morning cleaning the boat. Sheli and Steve took care of the outside and Henk took the responsibility of cleaning the inside. We also used the marina laundromat, changed bed linnens, dusted and washed the windows. I can assure you that the boat looked like new.

At 1:00 p.m. Herman, Carrie and Len arrived. After a number of photos, we said good bye to Sheli and Steve. They were planning to make the return to Grand Rapids, MI by early evening.

After our new crew got settled in, we made a list of what was needed for the coming days. A small neighborhood store picked up the new crew and brought them back to the marina. The total cost for food and drink was just over $50. Dinner that evening was at a nearby restaurant.

September 12 Hardin to Alton, IL

This morning we had 20 miles to cover before entering the Mississippi. Enroute we again passed a number of cottages built on stilts, allowing them to stay dry during the spring floods.

The two rivers come together at a number of different spots, one of which is seen to the right.

At this spot, the banks of the Mississippi are quite stunning. If there were some castles on its hill tops and a few small villages, one could easily think it to be the Rhine Valley.

Sheli and Steve are enjoying their last day onboard - tomorrow they will be returning to Grand Rapids, MI.
Herman Witte and Carrie and Len Blauwkamp will be joining me for the onward trip to Grand Rivers.

We passsed the small town of Portage des Sioux, MO. There are a number of marine facilities, a yacht club and a marina. The town is especially known for Our Lady of
the Rivers Shrine. Just a few miles downstream is the town
of Alton, IL. The marina is located under the bridge which
connects Illinois with Missouri

September 11 - Havana to Hardin

 Another great day! We left Havana around 9:00 a.m. We had not yet decided how far to go and agreed to play it by ear. We passed Beardstown where I had tied up for the night a number of years ago. The town dock is no longer, it was destroyed by one of the annual floods.

We passed a number of tow boats which are really "pushers". When passing or overtaking a tow boat, you are requested to radio the tow with your plans. If passing on port side, you are passing on one whistle, or in short "on the one", and when passing on starboard it is two whistles or in short "on the two".

Many of the houses and cottages are built up high so that they are protected during high water.

Towards the southern part of the Illinois, we passed the old paddle wheel boat. It is said that this boat is being restored. We could however see no sign of restoration and the paddle wheeler looked no different from the last time we passed. 

Since there is no marina between Havanna and Grafton, we planned to anchor for the night. In checking a number of other options, we found that Mel's Illinois Riverdock Restaurant had a floating dock for his restaurant customers. The restaurant was located near mile marker 21 - some 99 miles south of Havanna. We arrived ar 7:00 p.m., tied up and enjoyed a greast dinner. I had the special - a 2 inch smoked porkchop.

September 10 - Hennepin to Havana

After breakfast we cast off and continued our trip southward. It was overcast with some drizzle. After about one hour on the Illinois, we ran into dense fog. The radar helped in keeping us on course and allowed us to spot tows before we could spot them with our own eyes. We passed "My Jumbo" and exchanged greetings. Every so often they would hail us with some river traffic updates. Near mile marker 178 we passed Hamm's Holiday Harbor, the home for a number of old large boats, including a floating casino. Just before noon, we came to Peoria, the city where "My Jumbo" and her German crew were spending the night.

One of the familiar views of Peoria is its paddle wheeler. The last time we did the loop, we saw this boat cruising on the Illinois - quite a sight. About 6 miles south, we cleared the Peoria Lock. Since the drop was just 11 ft., we did not need to tie up and could float in the lock chamber.

Every so often, we would see Asian carps jumping, but not into our boat. A couple times they jumped against our boat.

Our destination for the night was the Town of Havana, IL. That night we were docked in the Tall Timbers Marina, a small marina with just enough depth for our boat. Since they have lots of flooding, the marina docks and buidings all float. Note the steep steps to the bathroom facilities. These are not used now, but will be used when the water level is much higher. Other stairs, that cannot be seen on this picture, are used during low water levels.

The town of Havana was celebrating Oktoberfest - food, beer, rides, art and crafts, live music and more. Our supper was a pork sandwhich which tasted quite fine. Sheli and Steve enjoyed a few beers and I supported Napa Valley.

September 9 - Ottawa to Hennepin

We stayed in port to have the bow thruster fixed. Arrangements were made for a 10:00 a.m. service call. Steve, our onboard mechanic and second in command, decided to first investigate for himself. He soon saw that the problem was with the solenoid. By the time the serviceman arrived, Steve was at a point of disassembling a spare thruster. The serviceman agreed with Steve's prognosis and before long Steve had the system operating. As one can well imagine, I gave Steve a promotion - he can now eat windmill cookies with coffee or beer.

Around noon time we were enroute once again. Our looper friends decided to spend the rest of the day in port. Most likely we will meet up with them at a later time. At mile marker 231 we came to Starved Rock Lock. Due to servicing of the lock doors, we had a 45 minute wait. At this lock we were not able to use the bollard and had to hold on to lines. Of course, it started to rain. The last boat to come in the lock was a rather strange looking vessel. It turned out to be 'My Jumbo" from Germany. The boat was designed in Scandinavia and built in Poland. Fred and Sigrid Freiwald from Korschenbroich (near Cologne) had this boat shipped to Florida. Already they spent time exploring some of the Caribbean Islands and are now on their loop. Since the boat travels much faster, it soon zipped past us and we did not see it again until Hennepin.

Our leisurely cruise took us southward via the twin towns of La Salle/Peru to Hennepin. Some of this afternoon's hilites included a number of majestic eagles with their great wing span. At Hennepin we were able to have complimentary dockage at the Visitors Dock. Sheli and Steve took a walk through this small town and Henk cleaned the boat. About the time Steve and Sheli returned, we had quite a downpour. When the rain subsided, we grilled brats. That along with Amish potato salad and rasberry ice cream for desert made it into a great meal. As we finished, Fred and Sigrid Freiwald stopped by. Since they needed to return to their boat for dinner, we did not have a great amount of time to talk.

September 8 -Joliet to Ottawa

 We were advised to call the lockmaster at 8:30 a.m. to find out when we could be locked through. Soon afterwards we left Joliet and cruised the short distance to the lock. The Brandon Road Lock allowed us to tie up to a bollard for the 34 ft drop. This requires one to tie up from the mid ship cleat to the bollard, eliminating the need of having two persons holding on to lines for the ride down. After cruising 15 miles, we came to the Dresden Island Lock and Dam - a drop of 22 ft. We next passed Morris, IL and continued to yet another lock at Marseilles, IL. This one took us down another 24 ft. Enroute we passed some floating cottages.

Sid Tilstra, the captain of "Something Special", had arranged for our mini-flotilla of three boats to be docked at Heritage Harbor Ottawa. This marina is part of a riverside housing development. As we came to the fuel dock, our bow thruster started to act up once again. With a rather strong cross wind, docking ended up being more difficult then what we had hoped for. We however made it. After having had the holding tank pumped out, we continued on to our assigned slip. Around 5:00 p.m. we got together on board "Something Special" for our coctail hour. Dinner that evening was at Tracy's Boat House. While waitng for our meal, Sheli and Evelyn burst out in song - singing "Oh Canada". I do not think we will send them on a concert tour.

September 7- Hammond to Joliet

We woke up to another sunny, but very windy, new day. After breakfast, Steve and Sheli went to find the dockmaster so that they could pay the dockage fee. He was not to be found. After a few attempts to call him on the radio, we left the marina and boated to the mouth of the Calumet River. The winds, around 30 miles per hour, were on our beam and it resulted in a lot of rock and rolling. Once on the river, it became very calm. A number of bridges were already open and some had clearance of more then 19.6 ft. We did have to call a few bridges with a request to open. This never resulted in long waits. After cruising through heavy industrial areas, we came to the first lock - the Thomas J. O'Brien Lock and Dam. Since the drop is less then a foot, we did not need to tie up.

We continued along the Cal-Sag Canal, through some very nice areas, to the junction with the Illinois River. The first 10 miles were through a narrow channel with lots of barges. We met two tow boats, both of which stopped so we could pass. Before reaching the Lemont Bridge, which cannot open and has a clearance of 19 ft., Steve climbed up on our mast to take down the anchor light and tv atenna. We cleared the bridge with inches to spare.  

We next came to the electric barrier that is to keep out the Asian Carps from invading Lake Michigan. We were requested to call the Coast Guard for last minute instructions - no swimming, etc. Notice that Henk was zapped.

Soon afterwards we cleared the Lockport Lock and Dam, a 39 ft drop which is also the largest drop in Illinois. From there it was a short trip to Joliet. We arrived around 4:30 p.m. and had to wait until 5:15 p.m. before the bridges could be opened. The city of Joliet provides free dockage space, but no water or electricity. Since we are self contained, this is not a problem. There were two other loopers tied up - Sweet Pea from Westport, MA with Jim and Dale McGovern onboard and Something Special from Ontario with Sid and Evelyn Tilstra onboard. The Tilstras and I have much in common, both of Dutch stock and both members of the Christian Reformed Church. Dinner that evening was in an Irish Pub - a good steak dinner with an Irish beer for just $13 per person.

September 6 - Our departure

The days leading up to our departure were a bit hectic. The exhaust tube, connecting the engine with the muffler unit, was replaced. A few fuel lines showed wear and new ones were installed. We also purchased a spare prop and few other back-up parts. Dan Gavinski, of Lakeshore Yacht service did a great job and got everything completed in time. My sons Henry and John helped in setting up the website and fellow boater Allen Rice helped solve some last minute glitches with the printer.

Since Thressa will not join the Great Loop trip until the end of the year, I have invited some friends to join me. Between Muskegon, MI and Alton, IL Sheli and Steve Sterk will be part of the crew. They arrived on Monday afternoon and before long we were off shopping for food and beverages. I am sure this we will need to do many more times. Before Thressa rerturned to our home in Ada, MI, we had pizza together at the well know Fricano,s pizza restaurant on the shores of Muskegon Lake.

After a night of tossing and turning, anticpating the big adventure, we woke up early and had our breakfast. Sheli made breakfast and based on her performance, I think I'll keep her on as crew for the coming week. At 7:40 a.m we left Lakeshore Yacht Harbour.

 At the Muskegon Lake Channel we dodged a large number of fisherman, all trying to catch the "big one". Out on Lake Michigan we set the course to Hammond, IN -a 12 hours trip. The winds were favourable - NNE. About the time we came to the southern tip of Lake Michigan, the wind started to pick-up and waves built up to 4 to 5 feet. We arrived at the Hammond Marina around 7:00 p.m. local time. The winds had become very strong, making docking the boat quite difficult.

During the trip, the vacuum pump for the rear "head" quit working. Here it really paid off to have Steve onboard. After dinner, Steve went to our engine room and pulled apart the pump. Withion one hour he had the system wirking. What a relief - my very own bathroom/shower.