Thurs Oct 19: Joliet to Heritage Harbor Marina

Some personalities were quite excitable this morning, up and active on the radio well before the 6:30am that Flotilla Leader Rick had called for.  There was a mass rush to get off the wall and GET GOING, even though Rick had warned that we would likely have to wait at the Brandon Road Lock.

Heritage Harbor was the goal for the day. It’s a legendary loop sponsor/stop, with lots to enjoy.  Even though this is a long day, with 3 troublesome commercial locks, the previous 5 flotillas made it to HH by 4:30pm. So hopes were high…

Well… we did, indeed, wait. And wait. We had to float aimlessly for 1.5 hours while they locked a commercial tug down, and then filled the chamber and brought it back up for us.  Thank goodness there was zero wind.  Meantime, the sun came up and no one's nerves settled down.  Poor Rick - he had hardly slept, and people kept calling on the radio to ask stupid questions, and to offer suggestions for things that were not relevant. 

 

Waiting at the lock - drone shot from boat Liberty.  

The sun finally came up - so I got some good pix while we waited.  Early morning light is good for boats, just like it is for people.

Ariel view of the lock

 

BUT-once the lock opened, as Rick said, we were ‘poetry in motion’!  The lock master agreed to let us do our thing, and our lock plan was seamless.  Let me assure you that this is the only time today that will be the case.  What none of the previous flotillas had mentioned is that Every Single Lock is different, in terms of how and where you can tie up…so our careful plan worked in 1 of 6 locks.  

Here is the whole 20 of is, in a drone shot. We are in the second row, front-4th from the wall.  You should have seen me driving and Rick conducting this orchestra!

At the second lock, Dresden, we had to wait 1.5 hours, and then, AGAIN, the tie up in the lock was completely different-so Rick invented a new plan on the fly (short boats in the front and back to avoid the doors when they open in) and we executed it with some grace. We had come prepared with lots of bags of goodies for the lock people, to keep them happy with us Loopers.

The final lock was the last straw…. Despite all Rick’s efforts, they still put us on a 2-hour wait (after telling us we were a 'priority' - no goodies for them). The wind made holding hard, so we sought shelter on the big concrete tie-ups (mooring cells) the barges use.  This brought us some relief as it’s exhausting to hold on the water since you can never relax. Inexplicably, these cells are round…which, given the shape of a boat (or a barge) MAKES NO SENSE.  So they were an unnecessarily difficult challenge to tie to-especially in wind.  Finally we got tied up, and two other boats could raft off us. Some other boats tied to the 3 other cells; some anchored in the channel - since the lock master told us there would be no barge traffic out of the lock in our direction. 

Here is Rick heroically fighting the odds (basically a metaphor for the whole day) to get us tied up. Don’t try this at home.

 

Drone shot of us huddled next to our weird round concrete thingy.

This is what we were waiting on - the big barges have to be split up and locked down in sections.  At the bottom they are hauled out and reattached. At a glacial pace.

Detailed plan for the final lock-position of each boat!

FINALLY it was our turn (when a tug came out of the chamber and headed right for the people at anchor - remember how they told us this wouldn't happen?!). Rick had everyone put their running lights on, and into the lock we went.  By the time we locked out at the bottom, it was FULL dark. In all these years we have avoided running at night - it was time to experience something new.

Blue Horizon into the lock - we were all so exhausted by now it was a slow load.

Blue Horizon led out of the lock, and it was just as scary as anticipated to run in the dark.  Luckily we only had 2 miles to go. Unluckily it started to rain. Of COURSE it did...  We rounded the bend into Heritage Harbor  - poor guys, an onslaught of 20 exhausted boats needing to be IMMEDIATELY DOCKED.  In the dark.  In the rain.  In an unfamiliar marina.  But they have it down to a science, and had multiple volunteers on each dock waving glow sticks that corresponded to that particular dock.  Since we were in front (not an accident, trust me - I thought about this part, but I made it sound like we were leading the way to keep everyone else safe) we got right in and found our green dock, and lots of helpful hands to guide us into a super narrow slip.  It was 8pm by the time we tied up.  And we weren't done yet...

Rick checking us in at the office. I do NOT know how he is still smiling.  I would have bit anyone who came near me...

Then it was a sprint to get hooked up to power and find dinner, before the 'briefing' at 9:15pm.  The restaurant was playing music so loudly I lost my rag and took my dinner back to eat on the boat. Stick a fork in it - my brain was COOKED.  The Heritage Harbor briefing is a must-attend; an amazingly detailed mile-by-mile overview of the rest of the IL River, the OH River, and the Mississippi River down to where we exit it. But it had already been a 15-hour-day.... And it was AMAZINGLY DETAILED.  Several people just didn't attend, at least 3 feel asleep during it and I took notes, although it was like drinking from a fire hose, because Rick's brain was clearly exhausted. Harbormaster Jeremy said he shortened the briefing, but it was 11:15 by the time we were done, and Rick still had to write a flotilla report for the AGLCA.  I don't know what he was supposed to write that would help the next leaders.....' we had a dumpster fire of a day despite all the planning'?...

The best part of the whole day?  While we were at the briefing some harbor Pump-out Fairies took care of our black water.  AWESOME.  It was a shitty day, but at least there was no longer shit on the boat!

Rick finally hit the wall and said we weren't going to leave the marina until 9am.  A 7am group of people in a hurry formed and made their own plans, and we were left with 8 boats, plus us, that we really like.....

We were almost too tired to sleep... ZZZZZZZZZ....