Blue Moon made one more little trip on Lake Michigan and yes it was still a bumpy ride to the lighthouse entrance of the Chicago River.
Lighthouse entrance.
But it was worth it once we got inside, went through the one lock and this was our reward!
There are endless bridges to go under.
Better duck!
It seemed that we got through the city really fast. Being early Monday morning there were no tour boats operating and we were the only "pleasure craft" for miles. It was pretty cool having the Chicago River all to ourselves.
Soon enough the dazzling skyscraper landscape turned into the nitty-gritty waterfront work yards of America. It looks like America is really busy. We passed huge working boat yards, power plants, water treatment plants, scrap iron works, giant piles of salt? Not the scenery you see on touristy boat cruises.
Soon the barges and tow boats showed up and the challenge to coexist with them on the river. When they are coming at you it hardly looks like they are moving.
This was a real nail biter! Tight fit. The barge on the right was moving fast.
We are following the Skipper Bob Chicago to Mobile Handbook. It is extremely helpful. It tells you what to expect at every turn, all bridge heights and VHF channels the bridgemasters use and when heavy barge traffic is likely. Today we went under 59 bridges and through 2 locks. Only one was a lift bridge.
At mile 296.7 to 296.1 a permanent electric barrier designed to prevent and slow the spread of Asian Carp through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in to Lake Michigan (and eventually Lake Ontario!) is operational 24 hours a day. In other words they are trying to fry the little suckers before they spread.
Apparently in a few miles down river we can look forward to these crazy fish jumping into our boat and making a bloody mess. We were talking to some fellow Loopers this evening and this is no joke. The vibration of the boats make the fish nuts and they start jumping all around and land in your boat, thrash around and make a suicidal mess. Hope they spare us but with our large swim platform we are probably prime victims. Dave says its my job to smack them with a bat. I think not. Keep you posted.
We are now tied up to city park wall in Joliet, Illinois. Free electric, free dockage, free Wi-Fi but alas, some shady looking homeless guys in the park who have been a little too friendly. This is the first time personal security has really been a concern. Dave loaded his little friend for the first time. Enough said.
We are tied up here with three other looper boats. We had docktails earlier and said we would have each others backs if necessary. The city police station is directly across the river. Would rather it was on our side. There was really no where else to spend the night so here we are.
Tomorrow we are going to leave with the Georgian Bay Loopers we met today. They are heading to the Bahamas so we might be on the river with them for awhile. I like that. Kinda looking out for each other. We plan on making it to Ottawa, Illinois tomorrow. It's only 40 something miles. Another free city wall tie-up with free electric. What planet is this?
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