On the Wall September 30, 2008

Joliet has made us feel very welcome. There is a cement wall lining the Des Plaines River with tie ups and electrical hook ups provided FREE to all transient boats. Water is available. The Chamber of Commerce is located at the head of the wall just below the bridge. What more could you want when you are "On the Wall"? Across the River are the Government Buldings, Police Station, Bus Station and Casino. Stores are not as close but the city has provided buses to most places we wish to travel.

We started the day with five boats On the Wall. After dinner three more boats arrived. We had another 5 p.m. "meeting" to coordinate our departure tomorrow morning. There is a bridge within a few hundred feet that needs raising and a lock in two miles. The group decided to leave at 7 a.m. so that we are not stopped by the bridge that cannot be raised between 7:30 and 8:30.

Bob and Peggy from Denver are in the lead boat "Baby Grand," you guessed it - a Grand Banks.

They will call the bridge and lock.

Next in line are Madison and Marlene from Fort Myers FL in Joy @ Sea, a Grand Banks.

Jack and Linda from Holland MI were with us at Benton Harbor MI. They are traveling in a 34 foot Marine Trader called Cynthia Faye.

In front of us are Rose and Gary from Portland OR in Rose's Pick, a 44 foot Carver Boat.

Last but not least (but definitely lowest) our very own Catrina!

It is very easy to get to know one another as everyone is interested in making friends with similar lifestyles. It does not seem to matter that we are in a sailboat or using gasoline rather then diesel. We are all "loopers" today located On the Wall together!

Rain, Rain Go Away September 29, 2008

Catrina said goodbye to Mark this drippy morning. He has been so helpful and a great teacher that we hated to see him head for the train station for the next leg of his trip. Please note his creativity and cheerful disposition.

Before we leave Joliet we must retrieve Tom's mail from the Postal Service. This may sound like a simple chore but it isn't. After a number of phone calls this morning Tom found out he had to follow the rules of the PO no matter what. First, he had to go to a different PO to pick up his mail than the one he had selected close the Des Plaines River because the PO would only hold general delivery mail at the main branch. Second, only he could pick up his mail. Debbie could not retrieve his mail and let him stay off his painful knee. You guessed it. He is riding a bus in the direction of this PO and then hiking in the rain!

Yesterday was our initial experience with Barges.

This roomy live aboard tug is only pushing two barges up the river. Captains like to be addressed as "pushers." If you refer to them as tug boat captains, they won't answer.

From the Left Above there is a barge at the river side, one in the middle passing (look carefully and you can just see it) and on the right one coming up the river. Under the Red Flag on our mast is the hole open to us. We waited behind!

Now the hole is beginning to open up and we can pass along but only with permission of the barg captains. Tug boats push barges, not pull, and there can be anywhere from one to fifteen barges (1200 feet long). Communication with the barg captain is over VHF channel 13. Verbal communication is best but sometimes whistle signals are used, i.e.: "one whistle" or "on the one" means to pass on the left side; "two whistles" or "on the two" means to pass on the right side. Don't forget that! ALWAYS confirm with the pusher this passing agreement.

As we looked down the river it was completely block by a tug pushing barges filled with coal. Tom put the boat in reverse and waited. The tug pushed the barges to the side and then joined them. Then we got the okay to pass.

Same group from the rear or downriver. This is a relatively small Tug and he was pushing three barges.

To bring you up to date. Tom did not get his mail. They gave it to someone else who returned it. Then it was sent back to Carol the day before we arrived! Hopefully the disc will arrive tomorrow and he can get it before it is returned.

At 5 p.m. we had a Captain's Meeting on the walk by our boats. First mates also came some supplying nuts and dip. Tonight we have five boats: Ken and Barb on Barbara, Linda and Jack on Cynthia Faye, Peggy and Bob on Baby Grand, Rose and Gary on Rose's Pick and us.

Good News - All locks are now open. The barges will go first followed by all the boats that have been waiting some up to two weeks. We are happy to be at the end of this group and out of the crowd!

On the River September 28, 2008

It was a clouding day when we motored out of DuSable Marina and headed for the Chicago Lock at the head of our Rivers Trip South. Mark helped Debbie learn how to grab a rope on the side of the lock and hold on tight while holding the boat off the wall. We learned not to do anything until instructed by the lock keeper. As soon as we passed through this first lock, we traveled 39 miles to Joliet with a bridge in sight in front of us or behind. We never realized from land just how many bridges there are!








Tom liked to sit up on the roof while driving and steer with his feet--a Great View!








Our first bridge was Lake Shore Drive. In the Chicago area there is a street name on every bridge.



Our guide book tells us the exact clearance of each. Just to be sure we knew the height of our demasted boat and the bridge clearance, Tom and Mark got out a measuring tape and began figuring. They measured how high the boat sat above the water and added the highest part of the horizonal mast (10 1/2 feet). Then they stood on top of the boat and measured up to a couple of passing bridges and compared our Waterway Guide Book's statistics. Some men never grow up - thank goodness - the book was right!




Tour boats lined parts of the Chicago River waiting for tourists.


The silver colored building (above) on the right is being build by Don Trumpy. There is another building near the Navy Pier that it is rumored Oprah Winfrey owns two whole floors! Further inland is another building where the architect slanted each glass panel so that the buildings around it formed designs on that building. Next time you are in Chicago take a river boat tour!


















This is what it looks like from the underside of a low bridge! Someone should count all the stories in Chicago.


A few flowers along a balcony or walkway added color to this deep in waterway. Sometimes boats in front of condo buildings told us about the residents.








To soon we left the high rise buildings behind and enter the Sanitary and Ship Canal. This is a canal that was man built from the Chicago River to the Des Plaines River and runs through petroleum storage, building materials (sand and gravel) and even sewage and landfill areas. Let's just say it was industrial.





One bridge we could not pass under was the 10.5 foot Amtrak Bridge about 10 miles into our day. Mark called the bridge on the VHF radio a couple times with no results. He said sometimes they hear us but don't answer. We never heard from the bridge keeper the whole 45 miles Tom back-motored Catrina as we waited for the bridge to go up! However, we did see a number of trains pass over the bridge so maybe our wait was justified.




Barges and Locks were another learning experience and we were so happy to Mark guide us. We will cover those subjects another day.

We also had to stop about 10 minutes for clearance from the Corp of Engineers who were we think using an electric barrier to stop Asian Carp from entering Lake Michigan.



Just before we reach Joliet we passed through the Lockport Lock and entered the Des Plaines River.

After passing under three bridges in Joliet we reached the Tie-Up Wall just below the Bicentennial Park. We discovered four boats already tied up and when we pulled in they appeared and grabbed our anchor lines. After introductions we accepted a dinner invitation to join everyone at Harrah's smorgasboard--Ellen and Woody, Marge and Larry, Barb and Ken and of course the three of us - Tom, Mark and Debbie. Linda and Jack (we met in St. Joseph) were also here but they were out on the town already.

Windy City September 27, 2008

As we cast off from the Hammond Marina Dock, we count 8 large Cigarette boats on our dock . Do you suppose Catrina joined a new class of watercraft? I hope not. They are very noisy

Catrina reaches DuSable Marina in downtown Chicago about 9:30 a.m. We see her previous owner Mark sitting on the breakwater waiting for us. We are given slip G 37 which works just perfectly. It is on the very end of a pier, with plenty of beam and length and a great view of the City. This Marina has about 500 boats and is tucked right up to the skyscrappers!

Mark will be joining us for a couple days on the Rivers when his wife Pat and 7 other female family members enjoy Chicago's shows and shops! Tom and Mark decide to take advantage of a car to do some last minute shopping. Tom gets a new generator which is big enough to give us plenty of power if we are at anchor for a few nights. He also purchases two new gas containers adding 10 gallons to our inboat supply. Instead of a new cartridge for our horn, he gets a manual horn for signaling bridges and close encounters. Debbie stocks plenty of canned goods and paper products for our trip. Since markets may not be close to docks, it is easier use the Marina cart to carry supplies to Catrina today then lug them a few miles in a backpack.

Back at Catrina the men work on the VHF radio and transfer an antenna from the mast top (located a few yards in front of our boat and about 10 feet off the water. No, neither Tom nor Mark can walk on water or fly. They turned the boat perpendicular to the dock. It is always nice to have the previous owner available and Tom and Mark are becoming good friends.


Later Pat and her daughter-in-law Brook and friend Bee arrive at Catrina. Kevin and Dawn who also own a PDQ arrive. They live in Chicago overlooking the Marina. After lots of talk and tours of Catrina, we pose for pictures. After Pat, Brook and Bee return to their group, we join Kevin and Dawn on their boat. It is parked at the land end of a pier, not at the far end as we are. It is interesting to compare some of the things they have done with their boat and talk sailing strategies.

While with Kevin and Dawn, who do you think walks up our dock? Ted from Crystal Lake and Texas. It was a surprise to see him and it took a while for Debbie and Tom to put two and two together. He had arrived at the same Marina on his trawler after going down the west side of Lake Michigan and was planning to start the Rivers tomorrow! What a coincidence.

After dinner on the Navy Pier and a walk along the shore, we enjoyed a fireworks show over the water and the lights of the Windy City.

DeMasted September 26, 2008

The sun just barely peaked over the trees into the Marina as we pulled out to head up Trail Creek to the next Marina inland. Laura, the bridge gate keeper, raised the bridge and we slide into the B&E slip. Martin, Beaver and Michael grabbed our mooring lines and for the next hour and a half helped Tom remove Catrina's mast. Debbie took the following pictures!

Catrina in slip-------------------------------------and the hoist with crane moves over boat

Beaver moves hoist with crane over mast.


Martin placed loop around mast.

Beaver raised loop up mast to the spreaders. The bottom of the loop can be seen just under the spreader.

Tom and Martin remove forestay which is also the furling jib.

Michael removes the two Side Stays. Now the mast stands on its own only held up by the cable loop

Tom disconnects the VHF, TV Antenna and the Mast Lights whose wires run up the inside of the mast.

Beaver raises the mast to clear the top of the cockpit and then lowers the lower end onto the stern mast holder.

Next the top of the mast is placed in the foward mast holder. This sounds very easy but it took a long, long time!

Then it is decided that we cannot place the furling jib under the mast in the mast holders. The jib is strapped on top of the mast.

Finally, everything is tied down tightly and we are ready to motor off to the Hammond City Marina. We find this Marina to be very big (750-950 boats) and very old. It is a country mile literally to hike to the Marina Office from our slip in Row "V". Also a large casino is being built on the east side of the Marina. We have reached the big City!!!

Motor Cables September 25, 2008

Looking out on the grey fog that descented over the Michigan City Coastline during the night, we wonder if the four motor cables would actually arrive today. We waited and waited to hear from Cindy, Tom's new telephone friend at B & E Marine. While we waited we made good use of the time by sorting our storage areas and rearranging many items. Since remembering the two areas under the beds, we were able to move inside items that would not be used frequently from our outside back storage.

Finally about noon the phone rang! Tom departed for B&E Marine up the river and Debbie took off in the other direction to the Lighthouse Outlet Malls. She wanted to get some flax oil at the Vitamin World but on the way she found a Liz Claiborne shirt and some corelle bowls for salads. Don't forget the Iris pattern of our Florida dishes--we now have six more plates and bowls! Debbie remarked it was so hard to shop at all those wonderful stores and realize she had to lug anything she bought all the way back to the boat! And the second sad thought was that she hadn't found the Lighthouse stores a few days earlier!

When Debbie returned, she found Tom on the cockpit floor between the two motors with many tools around him. He had already replaced the throttle and gear cables in the starboard motor (the one that broke).

First she saw him remove the old cables and mark each area. He then threaded the two bright red 14 foot new cables through the narrow channel on the starboard side from the shiftbox down to the starboard motor, then under the door to the mid section, over to the port side and around the battery to the port motor. It was imperative that he connect the gear cable at the shiftbox to the gear area in the motor. Mixing the two cables would leave us with a non-functioning motor!

All this may sound like a piece of cake but with all the many parts and the tight areas, it would be very easy to lose a small nut or screw or do something in the wrong order. Debbie was there to hold, find and not say a word (the hardest task).

When the cables were properly hooked up, the shift box was then put back together and slid back into its hole.

Lastly, we tested the motors and found the port motor worked but the starboard one needed some adjustments on the gear cable. Tom did something and after a while he had it working.

He cleaned the battery terminals with baking soda paste and put the covers back on. Finally he put the motor covers back on. All these things may have bored you but that is what we spent many hours doing today. Finally we hit the showers and treated ourselves to wine and beer!

Sails September 24, 2008

Michigan City's Washington Park Marina is going to see us for two more nights. It is a large, well run Marina and a great place for us to get ready for the Rivers. We are on dock 300 and the one directly across from us is 600. We wonder how many boats are really moored here. One thing we do know is that there is a lot of money floating near us.

Debbie went to the Marina Office to find out where the nearest market was located and the ladies found another boater who took her at least three miles to a market, waited while she shopped and brought her back! Now we are fulled stocked and have lots of "fresh" food!

While Debbie was shopping Tom removed the old GPS on the Nav Station and mounted the charger for the wench motor. When he opened the circuit breaker box, he was very complimentary of the engineering that went into this area. Take a look!

The laundry which was done last night was not fully dry so we hung it on mooring lines in the cockpit. We really do have a big cockpit!

We did not have to lock the door. Who would have tried to break in when they had to face a maze like this?

Now we have a question for you. What's missing?

Do you need a second hint?

If you guessed the sails and boom, you are correct. We spent the hot sun hours removing and folding sails and then storing them under our bed. We strapped the boom along the port side but may move it to along the mast when that is parallel to the water. We removed the battens and strapped them along the boom. We have four full sail battens. The lower ones would be too long to lay under our bed!

The four halyards and boom topping lift were attached to the mast. All sheets (main, spinnaker) except the jib lines were also placed under the bed. Our big hope is that we can put everything back together in about two months!