Currently a Landlubber

I haven't posted for many days, as we have temporarily moved off the boat to go back to Austin for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Rock Chalk is currently at Turner Marine in the Dog River off of Mobile Bay, Alabama. Turners is doing some work on the boat that Shelley and I wanted to complete. I do not normally like to have someone working on the boat when we are not on board, but in this case, Roger Turner is a very trustworthy guy. Hopefully we will have a good experience when we get back.

We are living in a small cottage in Austin that is a temporary solution to our living needs. It is small but convenient. I am trying to catch up with some work issues, which brings me back into my former world. I am missing the boat and the boat life in a big way. We are also missing all our friends we made along the Great Loop. Once again, we feel like Rock Chalk will be behind the gang as many are trying to cross the Gulf to western Florida before Christmas. We will not make the crossing until the first part of January. But we think we will catch everyone in the Keys.

In the meantime we are really glad to be able to see our children and grandchildren here in Austin, Kansas City, and LA. They are all growing so fast, so spending time with them is great. Next posting will be after Christmas. Have a great Holiday. Marc

Back to the Gulf

It's been quite an experience to travel down the rivers from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile. We have driven through Mobile on I-10 many times, but it looks quite different from the water. It is a very busy port, which was such a contrast from the river. These last few nights have been spent out in the middle of nowhere Alabama. Because of the few places to anchor and almost no marinas, the Loopers tend to end up at the same places.

Above right is a place called Bobby's Fish Camp, basically one 100 ft. dock. So when 11 boats show up, the only choice is to raft together. So we did, and it works fine. But it took 7 days to go from the Tennessee River at Pickwick Lake to the Gulf. It really was a beautiful trip. One of the tow captains asked us where we were headed when we were up in the Tennessee, and we told him over the radio we were headed down the Tenn-Tom. "Ah.. the Tombigbee," he said, "its crookeder than a politician" So true.

Now we are back in salt water, and warm temperatures. Put up the sweaters and blankets, and out comes the shorts. That is what I love about boating. Just keep moving until you find better weather. But first we need to come back to Austin for a Holiday break. So we are going to mothball Rock Chalk for a couple of months and leave her here in Mobile to fly home Wednesday. It has been quite a trip since April in Ft Myers, Florida, and we have another 660 miles to cross our wake there. But thus far we have run 4900 miles, 100 locks, 16 states, and two countries in the last 8 months. Whew, time for a breather. Marc

Some call it a Ditch

We have been on the Inland Rivers since Sept. 3rd, and have come 1500 miles, and this has been my favorite part. Many do not like the Tombigbee, but I think it has been beautiful. Most mornings start like this, really foggy. Radar and my Chartplotter let's us safely move in this stuff, but it is not my favorite thing to do. Most mornings we will wait until the fog lifts. After all we are not in a hurry. We have all the time in the world.....right.

Really the fall colors have been brilliant and the weather beautiful. We have had a few cold mornings, but all in all, its been nice. There are 14 locks that lower you from Joe Wheeler State Park at 650 ft. elevation to sea level at Mobile Bay, Alabama. The largest single drop was the Wilson lock at 104'. It drains like a bathtub in minutes. Quite the engineering feat. It's always fun to go to the front of the lock and look over the drop to the river below.

The Loopers are movin south. We have been traveling in packs, sometimes as many as 11 boats in a lock at a time. Naturally we meet at the same marinas each night and its time for cocktails!! Like I said, at the end of this trip, its AA and WeightWatchers.

The cliffs are the White Cliffs at Epes, Alabama. The Tombigbee has cut through these rocks and left miles of beautiful white cliffs exposed above the river. The trees in their fall colors make a beautiful contrast. We saw several pair of Bald Eagles working the river this morning. Breakfast time. They are pretty good at what they do, and beautiful to watch.

Tonight we are in the beautiful city of Demopolis, Alabama. I know....where? Well, if you are a driver of one of these big tows that work the river, you know this place. They stop here for fuel...like 6000 gal. at one stop. They are amazing boats. So this marina is a good place to buy fuel, since they move so much of it. We topped up today and got a pumpout of our black water holding tanks. Now we are ready to finish the trip down to Mobile. We plan to be there Monday. But on a boat, you never know. Remember, we have all the time in the world.......

Memphis

Well, we are still sitting for this weekend. Yuk. All our friends left the rendezvous for places afar, but we are still stuck here in Iuka, Mississippi while we get the final fix for our starboard drive shaft. This is the same issue we have had for months, but now we think it is finally fixed. But part of the fix is that after being in the sling while they installed a new shaft on Friday, they have to drop you back into the water to let the boat settle and rest before they can do a proper alignment. So here we sit for the weekend.

Have a car and an open weekend, and what do you do? Hmm, how does Memphis sound? That makes the trifecta of Tennessee complete with prior visits to Chattanooga and Nashville. It is a two hour drive straight west down the Mississippi/Tennessee state line to Memphis. Shelley uses her i-phone to guide us down to Beale Street in downtown. Once again, the sound of music from a block long area of bars greets us, just like Broadway in Nashville, or 6th street in Austin. But this is the capital of BB King and the Blues, and Gibson guitars. It was pretty quiet today, but crowds were gathering at the FedX arena for a Taylor Swift concert. We understand it was a sellout. She travels the country in a very luxurious Motor Coach, along with 15 semi-trailers full of equipment. Unbelievable.

We had fun listening to some blues music and a few beers. Shelley does love her Guinness beer. Then her i-phone takes us to the best barbecue in Memphis. Yelp tells her the highest rated barbecue is out in Germantown, at a place called The Chandlery. Off we go, again following her mapping on the i-Phone. We found it, and conquered their ribs. Ummm. It is different than Texas or KC barbeque, drier with a peppery taste, but really good. We left with very full stomachs for our drive back to the boat.

Tomorrow after our final fix, we should be off by noon and head south down the Tenn-Tom. If all goes as planned, we should be in Mobile by the 7th. Since rarely anything on a boat goes as planned, I will keep the blogs up to date with our progress. Marc

You don't see these colors in Texas!

Red Sky at Morning...Sailor take warning. This was this morning's sky as we prepared to leave Joe Wheeler State Park and the Looper Rendezvous. After 4 days, we were ready to move on. The trees have really popped out in color in the last few days, and it is beautiful in Northern Alabama. We had a 7 hour run today to get us back west to the beginning of the Tenn-Tom Waterway. That is the waterway that will take us south to the Gulf.

We passed back through the Wilson Lock on the Tennessee River where we dropped 94 feet. That is the largest drop east of the Continental Divide of any lock. We traveled with 11 other Looper boats through both the Wheeler and Wilson locks. Everyone is headed out today to new destinations. Some are headed up river to Chattanooga, and many are headed (like us) down river to the Tenn-Tom, with the goal of getting back to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile, AL.

It is raining this evening, and really cold. Not the best weather, so that is why we are going south. One of the Loopers told me his barometer for where they took their boat. He prefers to live in a T-shirt and shorts. If it is too cold for that, then go 100 miles south. If it is still too cold, keep going another 100 miles south. Then reverse the process in the spring. Keep going north to stay in the comfortable low 80's. Sounds good to me. Marc

Joe Wheeler State Park

Our Looper Rendezvous ends today so there will be a mass migration of boats leaving this state park and headed all directions. There are 57 boats here for the event. Some will stay a few more days, and some will head up river toward Chattanooga. I am guessing most will be like us, and start our way back to the Tenn-Tom Waterway, and head south to the Gulf. That makes a lot of buddy boats to share marinas and anchorages which is mostly a good thing. Could be interesting trying to stuff 10-12 boats into a lock at the same time.

It has been a fun event. It is always fun to meet so many other couples (and a few single-handed boaters) who enjoy boating and have the same mission as we do. Remember that boaters love Happy Hour. It is ironic that they put this largest gathering of Loopers in a location that is a dry county here in Alabama. Good thing everyone stocked up ahead of time.

Half of us are close to our finish, while there are many who are just getting started. I am personally really looking forward to getting the boat to Florida and the Keys. That is a wonderful cruising ground, and both Shelley and I are anxious to explore it.

So we will leave in the morning for the two week journey to Mobile, where we will dock the boat for a couple of months while we go back to Austin for the Holidays. I cannot believe we are going to move from a 44' boat to a 28' RV at the La Hacienda RV resort on Lake Travis. Am I crazy? Yea, I know.

But we are looking forward to catching up with the Wurth family, Erin, Mark and Gayle, and all our friends in Austin. Plus everyone is coming to Austin for Christmas. That will be a great week. But there is some high adventure still ahead before we get to Mobile, and that is the Tenn-Tom.

This project completed in the late 1960's, moved more earth than the Panama Canal. It is quite a tribute to human engineering, and I am excited to navigate our way through it. So my next post will be from somewhere in Mississippi or Alabama as we wind our way south to the ocean. YeeHaa!!

Fall on the Tennessee

I have neglected to update our blog for a week because we have been off the boat touring Tennessee by rental car. Since we moved south out of Lake Kentucky we entered the next beautiful lake on the Tennessee River, Lake Pickwick. We locked up through a 60' lock into the lake, and spent several days at Aqua Yacht Harbor. There we had some service work done to the boat, plus used their courtesy car to tour Shiloh National Battlefield. 24,000 lives were lost over a two day battle in the trees and open fields of southern Tennessee near the Shiloh Church. The Tennessee River actually played a major role in this battle as the Union army was routed the first day by the Confederates. But Union reserves arrived by boat at Pittsburg Landing near the battlefield, and overwhelmed the Confederate army on day 2. We took Rock Chalk right down the river past Pittsburg Landing. It is hard to imagine the carnage that took place in those two days, with soldiers shooting at each other from 100 ft. away from each other. If you get a chance, you should visit these Civil War battlefields. Very humbling.

Just a few miles past the dam that makes Pickwick Lake, the river becomes the border between Alabama and Mississippi. It then turns east and starts a 100 mile trek across northern Alabama before it turns northeast and crosses back into Tennessee. That is where we are now. We have the boat at Joe Wheeler State Park and Marina where there will be a Looper Rendezvous starting tomorrow. But last Monday we rented a car and took a 4 day loop through places in Tennessee that we had not yet seen by boat. We spent an afternoon at the Rocket and Space Museum in Huntsville, Al. This is the place that Werner Von Braun built the first rockets that took man to the moon in the 50's and 60's. The Saturn V rocket lies on its side inside this museum and one can only be in awe of its massive size, and what it took to lift the Apollo capsule to the Moon. All the US rockets that have been developed over the last 50 years were built at this facility.

From there we drove over to Chattanooga for several days. It is a beautiful town on the banks of the Tennessee River. We could have taken Rock Chalk up the river 150 miles, and through two more locks and lakes, but we ran out of enough time to get there and then back to this park for the Rendezvous. There is an aquarium on the banks of the river which is as good as any facility we have seen up or down the country. Chattanooga has done a very nice job with its revitalized downtown and river bank. From there it is just a two hour drive up to Nashville. Shelley and I spent a rainy day bar hopping from one live music bar to the next on Broadway in downtown Nashville. We listened to some great music with some very talented artists that have not quite made it to the Grand Ole Oprey. But they are good. We spent the evening at a Blues bar for a nice change from country. All in all Nashville is a great place to spend some time and enjoy the music.

The nights are cold now, with temperatures down in the high 30's. There is a freeze warning tonight for northern Alabama. The trees are in full colors, and each morning there is a beautiful fog/mist as the water is so much warmer than the air. The air is very dry so the star gazing is crystal clear at night. We have been using our heater each night but it still gets pretty cool inside the boat. Good sleeping.

After the Rendezvous we will head back west to the Tombigbee Waterway which starts in Lake Pickwick and head south to warmer water and air in Mobile, Alabama. That will take 6-8 days and another 13 locks to reach sea level. We are currently at 650 ft. above sea level so we have a long ways to go downhill. We are 75% through the Loop and this next section(From the Tennessee to Mobile Bay, then across to Florida) ought to be very interesting. More later. Marc

Pickwick Lake

It's fall in Alabama. The trees are just starting to turn, its in the 40's at night, but low 80's in the day. It really is very nice. We are still on the Tennessee River. We left the first major lake, Lake Kentucky, after 205 miles from the Ohio traveling south. We are now in Pickwick Lake which is smaller, only about 40 miles. Think of Table Rock Lake, but straighter. These lakes come from the Tennessee River which flows much straighter here than the crooked switchbacks of the Ozarks. So the lake is pretty, but you still have to stay in the navigable channel.

The above shot shows how the river has worn through many million of years of limestone. There are some beautiful spots that we have traveled through. The other photo is Shelley on the front of the boat as we entered Pickwick Lock and Dam. This lock took us up 66 ft. Note the big truck/trailer on the bridge just above the lock. That gives you an idea of how deep a canyon the lock is and how huge they are.

The marina we have been at for the last several days (Aqua Yacht Harbor in Iuka, Mississippi) is at the junction of three states....Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. We are now on a line nearly equal to the Red River border between Texas and Oklahoma. That is a long way south from our days in Canada. But we have traveled south with the good weather, which has been wonderful so far. Knock on wood.

I want to travel east on the Tennessee River through northern Alabama as far as we can get over the next 10 days. We Have a Looper Rendezvous in late October on Lake Wheeler, so we want to see as much of the river and lakes as possible. After that we head south. Time to start thinking about running from winter and get to the Gulf.

Bob and Jean got back to Austin, safe and sound. But Bob was really tired from all the big fishing we did on Lake Kentucky. I know...its exhausting catching all those fish. Somehow we survived.

Shelley continues to read about how the world is falling apart as we tour the Great Loop. So one of my next missions will be to fill the keel of the boat with gold. I know, we only have three bedrooms and two heads on the boat, so it may get cozy if you all want/need to come live with us after the economy collapses. But bring your guns and fishing rods. We'll be fine. Marc

Other Photos of the Tennessee

Each time I blog the internet connection determines how many photos I can post along with our current update. Typically I can only download 3-4 and even then it takes 10-15 minutes for those to go through. So here are a few more I thought you all would like to see.

Upper right photo is a tow and barge setup that is very typical on the rivers. This one was 5 deep and 5 wide being pushed by one of these massive tows. We just passed him on the "two". When two vessels are going the same direction, a "two" pass is my starboard to his port. You call the tow captain to ask which side he wants to see you on, and they are very accommodating.

Bob and I did have fun. I actually caught a pretty nice bass, but we turned him back. So messy to clean one fish. It was great to have Bob and Jean meet us in "Paris".

It is Sunday morning, and KU posted another monumental loss, as did Texas. It is a sad time in Mudville. We are moving on today to Pickwick Dam and Lock at mile 205 on the Tennessee River. This is supposed to be one of the prettiest lakes in the country. I believe the lock takes us up about 60'. We are staying for a few days at Aqua Yacht Harbor, in Yellow Creek on the lake. Yellow creek is actually the beginning of the Tombigbee Canal, but we are not headed down that canal yet. We can't. My insurance will not let me go south of 31 degrees until Nov. 1. Plus we are attending the Loopers Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler Lake (two more Locks and Dams east up the river) on Oct. 23-26. Then we will head south to Mobile.

The trees are turning and its just beautiful. Hope you are all well. Marc

The Tennessee River and Lake Kentucky

Bob and Jean Speckman, Shelley's folks for those of you who do not know them, drove their RV to Paris, Tennessee to meet us at Paris Landing State Park on Lake Kentucky. It was great to see them and spend 3 days with them. There is a RV park next to the marina, so it worked out as a great place to meet.

Finally, I got a chance to go fishing. Bob brought his fishing gear and we went in search of some big bass. Well, we had fun anyway, and Shelley told us that if we caught any she would not eat them anyway. But that did not stop us from having a great time floating around in the tender to Rock Chalk and trying to catch something.

Then we played golf the next day on a very nice course at the state park. Shelley and I had not played since Dec. 31st at Flintrock, but we still had a great time. Bob will typically shoot his age (and 83 or 84) and I was something more than that. Shelley loves to play with her Daddy, and beat him on the front nine, but I think Bob won the back. I hope that when I am 83, I am driving a boat or an RV around the country and shooting my age in golf. Pretty Impressive.

Bob could not do it without Jean however. She is his navigator, and stays on him like a duck on a june bug when they are driving. She knows how to set up that RV. What a perfect match.

I apologize for not doing one of my blogs earlier, but we have found good internet connections very rare on the Tennessee. Both phone and internet have been spotty which makes downloading photos almost impossible. But we are in Clifton, TN tonight, and this marina is right in town, with good connections. Voila!

It is Saturday, and KU is behind OSU 56-7 at half. Oh be still my heart, we are terrible. Texas lost big to OU, and Florida is losing big to LSU. That is about as bad as it gets. However, my Mother, bless her little heart, is smiling in Heaven, as K-State is beating the hell out of Missouri, and is 5-0 on the year. She is so proud. That alone (Missouri losing) makes my day.

Well, we are only 50 miles from the Alabama border. Can you believe that? We will spend the next month fooling around Pickwick Lake, Wilson Lake, and Wheeler Lake, all of which are dams on the Tennessee River. There are some tropical storms and potential hurricanes still lurking around the Gulf of Mexico, so we are not getting any closer to the Gulf for a month. The trees are turning here and it is just beautiful in this chain of lakes along the Tennessee. Who knows, we might even make it to Chattanooga, before we come back to Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama for the Looper Rendezvous at the end of October. Rock Chalk is fast so we can see alot of river if we want. And we want. Marc

Ready to Go

It has been a great week at Green Turtle Bay Marina in Grand Rivers, KY. We really needed a chance to catch our breath after the rivers. This is a very relaxing place and the trees are just starting to turn colors here. Shelley and I cleaned the boat from top to bottom, and I had some repair work done here as well. They have courtesy cars available, so we could drive into Paducah, Ky to Wal-Mart and do our grocery shopping.

But mostly we just relaxed and re-grouped. Lots of stories being told about the rivers among the 25 or so other Looper boats that are here. It was high adventure, but still the worse part of the trip for me.

We are leaving today to head south down Kentucky Lake, which is the Tennessee River. Actually we are headed up the river, as it is one of the few rivers in the US that flows north. Lake Kentucky is 200 miles long stretching across this western edge of Kentucky, across Tennessee, and into Alabama. There it turns east as you go upriver, back into Tennessee toward the Appalachain Mountains on the Virginia border.

Our plan is to get as far upriver as we can before we attend a Looper rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park in Alabama on October 23. Bob and Jean are headed this way in their RV to meet us at Paris Landing State Park for a few days of fishing and golf. It is definitely fall here, with cool nights in the 40's and daytime highs in the 60's and low 70's. Come see us. We are just a few hours east of Memphis. Marc

We Made It

It was a whole chapter in itself, and a difficult one at that. It was also not our favorite part of the Loop, but yet it was fascinating because of that difference. The Rivers: Illinois starting in Chicago, The Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, and now the Tennessee at the beginning of Lake Kentucky.....these were the rivers that challenged us.

Part of the issue is that most of these rivers were shallow if you wonder outside the main "sailing" channel. They were all muddy water, and fast currents. The Mississippi was really fast after the Missouri joined it north of St. Louis. The Ohio was also running fast still draining this summers rains from the northeast and that was current right on our nose. So in the Mississippi we cruised at 12-13 mph, and in the Ohio we only went around 7.5 mph.

Another fun sport on the rivers is staying out of the way of the big tows. These are massive collections of barges (each one being 50 ft. X 300 ft.) being pushed by a huge tug boat they call tows. The barges are full of the things we need in this world that can be filled into big tanks, or dumped into the barge itself. Many tows on the Mississippi and the Ohio were 6 wide and 6 deep. They are really fun to see coming down the river at you out of the mist or rain. Yikes.

But we made it through the Barkley Lock on the Cumberland River here in western Kentucky. This dam and one even bigger a mile to the west on the Tennessee River were TVA projects from the 30's and they are massive structures. The lock to elevate us from the river up to the lake, was 57'.

Now we are in what is called "The Land Between the Lakes" in western Kentucky and Tennessee. Kentucky Lake (the Tennessee) and Lake Barkley (the Cumberland) run parallel to each other for 60 miles to the south and form a state park that is beautiful. Both lakes remind me of the Ozarks, with lots of coves and creeks off the main branch, but maybe not as curvy as the Ozarks. Lake Kentucky is where we will spend the next month and its pretty much a straight shot south for 200 miles to the next dam. Then there are a series of dams, each with a lock that makes the Tennessee navigable up to Chattanooga and Knoxville, some 600 miles from here. Whew!!!

We have been decompressing from the rivers here at a very nice marina called Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, KY, cleaning the boat, doing service work, and in general collecting our wits for the next session. Since we traveled the rivers in packs of Looper boats, there are quite a few here doing the same thing...resting and preparing for the next leg. So natuarally at 5:00, break out the lawn chairs and grab a beer or wine, because we all have to get together, drink, and tell stories of how we survived the perils of "The Rivers".

Oh MY- The Big Muddy

It's raining in Missouri/Illinois/Kentucky. I know I will not get much sympathy from our friends in Texas, where it is still 100 degrees plus in late September. But it is wet on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Grand rivers they are. These limestone cliffs tower above the Mississippi near Alton, Illinois just before the Missouri meets the Mississippi. Look how calm the water is.

Well a spring and summer of record rains and last winter snows have flooded the Missouri and when we met it just above St. Louis, hang on. The Mississippi took on another whole different and uglier character, with lots of debris, whirlpools, 4+ knot currents, and muddy, muddy water. It has been quite a ride for 4 days down the river, and at noon today we met the Ohio and turned left.

The Ohio is no slacker itself and it is bringing a ton of water down from the Appalachians, right on our nose. So what we liked about running down with the current on the Mississippi, we hated as we fought our way up the Ohio into a 2-3 kt. current. The rain started yesterday afternoon, all last night, and really hard all day today. Lots of lightning and thunder to make our journey interesting on the Ohio.

These rivers are not really for our kind of boat, ie the "pleasure craft". That is what the Tow captains call us, "pleasure craft". There are no marinas, and damn few good places to anchor for the night, safely out of the current and these huge barges. One of these photos is 10 Looper boats (pleasure craft) tied to a lock wall just off the Mississippi. We travel in packs for safety and because we all have to stop at the same places. Like I said, there are not alot of choices.

So as we traveled through, and could not stop in St. Louis, because there is no place to stop, I am talking to the Tow boat captains who are pushing these massive groups of barges. My goal: simply let them know where I am and ask them where do they want me to go as I get near them. "Northbound Tow, this is a southbound pleasure craft at Hanging Dog Bluff. Where would you like me to pass, Captain? Then you listen closely as a good ole boy from Louisiana, with marbles in his mouth, tells you, " Yea, I see you... I'll see you on the two." I answer, "Ok Captain, thank you, and we'll see you on the two."

That is river jargon telling me that he wants me to pass him on his starboard, and my starboard. Now I know how to stay out of his way and pass by this huge tow pushing 36 barges, 6 wide and 6 deep, full of some material instrumental to our country's need. They call it a tow, but its actually pushing these barges up or down the river with unbelievable skill. These guys are good in handling these massive loads, in fast currents. The tow boat itself is 150 ft long, with two sets of crew so they can run 24/7 and two to three massive diesel engines generating over 6000 horsepower. Watching these guys push and manage a load up river is quite a site.

So in a typical 10 hour run like today, we passed maybe 20 tows, and managed to safely dodge them all. Tomorrow we will finish another 20 miles on the Ohio, and run up the Cumberland River into Lake Barkley. It is connected right by the dam to Lake Kentucky which is actually the Tennessee River. These two rivers have been damned at their junction with the Ohio to form these two beautiful lakes in western Kentucky. And the land between the two lakes is...wait for it....The Land Between the Lakes State Park, which is truly one of the prettiest parks in the country. The leaves are turning and hopefully the weather will turn nice, once it stops raining. So we will spend a month exploring The Land Between the Lakes. Marc

The Mighty Mississippi

Grafton Illinois is at the junction of the Illinois River and the Mississippi, just 25 miles straight north of St. Louis, MO. It is dawn and we are about to take Rock Chalk out into the Mississippi for the first time. Just wanted to post some great photos of our last night on the Illinois. Fall is here, as we have had some lows in the 30's and you can see that in some of the trees.

Huge flocks of geese, white pelicans, blue herons, egrets, and even a few bald eagles, are all forming up in big V's to head south. So are the boaters. There were 12 Looper boats here in Grafton yesterday who all headed down the River. I know of 5 that are leaving along with us this morning. Kentucky here we come.

Back on the Water

The above is the ugliest nastiest fish I have ever seen. The Asian Carp has invaded the Upland River system, and its a wonder how? They are really a dumb fish. Boat motors drive them to a frenzy where they jump at or onto the boat. This guy above jumped 4 feet into the air and scored a direct landing in our dinghy. There he proceeded to flop around for close to an hour. Their skin immediately starts to bleed so that splatters blood all over, along with their scales and really offensive odor. All in all a very yucky fish.

We are back on Rock Chalk and headed down the Illinois River to the Mississippi. We enjoyed our 13 day US tour of kids and grandkids in Austin, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. Plus we had a chance to catch up with family in Austin, while avoiding the wildfires. But both Shelley and I were ready to get back on the boat and continue our adventure.

The Illinois runs southwest from Lake Michigan until it flows into the Mississippi just above St. Louis. Most of the waterway for the last 50 miles have been protected migratory waters for hundreds of bird species. The above photo is one group of white pelicans. There were thousands of these guys, and they were all grouping up to head south. Birds and Boaters, we are all headed south. It was 37 two nights ago, and some of the trees are just starting to show some color.

There are lots of towboats and their massive barges on the Illinois. These guys rule the water, and its my job to stay out of their way. It's fun to talk to the tow captains on the radio as they all have deep southern accents. These tows push up to 15 barges (3 wide and 5 deep) at a time from the Gulf of Mexico to Chicago. They run 24/7 with two sets of crew on each tow, so they alternate 6 hours on and 6 off. The biggest problem is that these guys have priority in the locks. So if one is in front of you, you anchor and wait. Today we waited 4 hours at the Peoria Lock before we could finally lock down.

But who is in a hurry right? Right.

Austin Wild Fires

It's this dry in Austin. Its drier than a Popcorn _____. Well, you know. Shelley and I left Rock Chalk in Ottawa, Illinois last Saturday and flew into Austin to surprise my brother in law, Mark Rolland, for his 60th birthday party. It worked. He was very surprised when we walked into the party. We had a great time with Mark and Gayle and all their friends, which is exactly how Mark wanted to celebrate the big 60. Yikes we are getting old.

Then the wildfires started in Austin and many of our friends and family had to evacuate their homes because of them. Luckily no one we know lost their house, but close to 500 homes were burned in the greater Austin area. Very sad for those folks. Even Gov. Parry came back from the campaign trail to make sure he was in charge. Did I mention that it is dry?

Shelley and I are taking a break from the boat to see her folks, the kids and the grandkids in Austin, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. One of the negatives of doing the Great Loop is that you miss family and friends over the year or so it takes to complete the Loop. So this was a needed break. Thanks to great fall fares on American, we can do a whirlwind tour of the three cities, then fly back to Chicago in mid September to carry on down the Illinois.

So if you do not see a blog update, that is why. Kids/Grandkids vs. blog. Kids/Grandkids win. Love to all of them.

Marc

Photos of Chicago

Had to add these photos to the last blog.

Chicago-the End of one Adventure and the start of another

I really like Chicago....in the summer, I might add. Probably not in winter. We had perfect weather which makes it nice. We left yesterday and are southwest down the Illinois River 50 miles inland, and it is 20 degrees warmer in the daytime than on Lake Michigan. It is 10 degrees warmer for the overnight low. Yikes, are we getting close to that 105 degrees of Texas? I think we better slow down, and let fall catch us.

Shelley and I had 5 days in Chicago and enjoyed it all. We got a chance to see my old friend Lauren Hogan, his wife Joyce, and son Brett. That was really fun to see them all and catch up. Lauren and I were roommates in law school and for several years afterward in Wichita, but life took him to Chicago. Snap forward 24 years, he and Joyce have two children, Brett (24) and Sammie (21), plus his folks now live in Chicago. It was really a great time seeing them.

I cannot say enough how much we enjoyed walking the waterfront of Chicago with its 15 mile long bike and walking path along the lakeshore. We went to the Field Museum of Natural History, which is world renowed. Shelley set a land speed record for touring it. We also saw the Shedd Aquarium, the Planetarium, top of the Willis (Sears) Tower, and took the architechual tour of downtown by boat. The latter was very interesting and anyone who visits Chicago, should not miss it. You travel by tour boat up and down the river through all of downtown, with a docent giving you the history and background of Chicago's buildings. Many of the greatest companies in this country started here and built edifices to their legacy. Fascinating.

Our marina was right off the Navy Pier, at the junction of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. It was helpful to have taken the boat tour of downtown, as that is the exact route that we took Rock Chalk through yesterday morning. We left early and locked through the first lock off Lake Michigan, and slowly worked our way through the Loop, avoiding the water taxis. Once we were out of the Loop it was all barge traffic. That part of Chicago and Illinois state is not so pretty. Doesn't smell very good either. Oil, Gas, hydrogen, flameable liquids, gravel, cement, asphalt, coal, grains of all types, and anything else that moves by barge is stored along the river. Smelly!! We aren't in Canada anymore, Toto.

I spent the day talking to tow boat captains as we avoided getting run down, and made it to just south of Joliet. The barges are 35 ft wide and 200 ft. long each. We have already seen two wide and three deep barge fleets being pushed by one massive towboat. These guys travel the rivers from the Gulf and they are good. Just stay out of their way and talk to them to let them know where you are.

It is the start of a whole new adventure. Marc

Crossing Lake Michigan to Chicago

We got lucky. After a week of high winds on Lake Michigan where we have been stuck in the same town for too long, we hit a beautiful day to cross. Just gorgeous. Our intention was to make a short jump down the coast to St. Joe, Michigan, so we did not get up early. But the weather report was perfect, and it was going to get horrible again, after today. So at 9:30 this morning we left South Haven, MI, and headed the 90 miles across the lake to Chicago.

As you can see it was smooth. We had a hitchhiker join us. We noticed several small birds, smaller than a sparrow, but orange, landing on the back of the boat. Carla Smith would know what they were. All I know is that they were very tired out in the middle of the lake as they were headed south. So we had birds fly into the boat, and basically ride with us the rest of the way into Chicago. Glad to help.

Shelley made a picnic lunch and we enjoyed it on the front deck while the autopilot steered us on our course. We cleaned the boat, and I took the opportunity to polish half of the chrome. We have a lot of chrome, so I only got half of it done. 8.5 hours of cruising at 10 mph , burning 24 gallons of fuel, and we had a spectacular approach into Chicago. It was a fabulous day...one that will stand out in a trip of spectacular days, and one that Shelley and I will remember forever.

Shelley saw it first. We were still 46 miles out, and you could just make out the Sears Tower and the Hancock Tower over the horizon. Slowly the entire skyline filled in, and an impressive skyline it is. We are staying at the Burnham Park Harbor in the shadow of Soldier Stadium. The Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Natural History Museum are all within a block of the yacht harbor. So we will have lots to entertain ourselves over the next 4 days. The Bears are not in town, but hopefully we can see a Cubs game.

My roommate from law school, Lauren Hogan, lives here in Chicago. We are going to have dinner with he and his wife Joyce, while we are in town. This will be a great transition from spending the last month and a half in Canada and the pristine waters of northern Michigan, into the inland river system of the US. The Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Black Warrior will take us from Chicago to Mobile Alabama. Wow.

Sand Dunes and Big Waves

Well the theme for Lake Michigan is Big Waves, Beautiful Sand Dunes, and really nice villages along the shoreline. We just spent 4 nights in Grand Haven, Michigan, which was 2-3 nights longer than we wanted (are you surprised by that?). The wind was howling out on the Lake, creating waves of 8+ ft. We had no desire or business to go out in that kind of stuff, so we sat. Yesterday, we rented a car and drove to several of the places that we had not been able to take the boat to as we came down the lake.

Several of these photos are Silver Lake which resides along the shores of Lake Michigan, separated by these 200-300 ft. sand dunes. Silver Lake continues to get smaller and shallower each year as the consistent wind off Lake Michigan moves the sand into the little lake, and fills it up. This is especially true in the winter. The lake freezes over and gets covered by a ft. or more of sand over the course of the winter. Springtime comes and all the sand sinks to the bottom filling the lake. Several people have built houses close to the dunes, which of course were soon covered with sand up to the rafters, just like snow. Their choice was to abandon the home, or move it. Several haved moved them. We toured the dunes in this bright red Ford 250 custom made to handle the sand.

I have to give these Michigan'ers credit....they love their summers. It is cold up here at night, and the days are nice, but not hot by any standard. Maybe it is in the mid 70's. I know my family and friends are suffering through a record setting summer of 70+ days of over 100 degrees, but up here it is cool at best. Yet these folks are in their shorts and T-shirts and swimming in Lake Michigan like it was the Caribbean. Every town celebrates summer along the lake, with band shells, live music, water shows, farmer's markets, sailboat races, and half the population on the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan. It is cold, but you would never know it with these folks dressed like it was a 100 degrees. Oh well, it is what you are used to, and it is a short summer, so they live it to the max.

Today, after sitting for 4 days, we watched the weather then decided to head out and down the Lake. The wind had moderated to 15 kts. but the waves were still in the 6-8 ft. range. Every one else stayed in, but we thought we could make hay with these waves, especially with a following wind. Rock Chalk does well going downwind, so we made a 46 mile trip in a little over 2.5 hours. I had the boat up on plain, which is a normal cruise of 16 mph. But we could get her to surf down some of these 8 footers, and easily get to over 22 mph. It was fun. Shelley went up to the bow, and had a wild ride. I wish Max and Leo, could have been here for this part of the ride. At times, there was 8 to 10 feet of the bow out of the water as we crested these waves. Surfing Lake Michigan. Cool.

We are now in South Haven Michigan, and ready to cross the lake to Chicago. We will watch the weather and find a good window, with winds less than 10 and waves of less than 2 ft. Right. We plan on spending several days in Chicago and see my old friend from law school, Lauren Hogan and his wife Joyce. So the next blog will probably show the skyline of Chicago from Lake Michigan. I can't wait. Marc