Day 144: Starved Rock to Peoria, Illinois
Day 144: Friday, September 9th: We needed to make good distance today, so were underway at 6:55am. We followed Unforgettable two miles to the first lock, Starved Rock Lock. Sadly, they were having electrical problems and we had to wait for them to fix it. Soon the gate opened and we went in:
It was sort of a misty morning, but no real fog. That's Starved Rock on the left:
We asked the lockmaster where the name came from. It seems there were two tribes of Indians in the early days that were warring with each other. One tribe took the high ground at the top of the rock to fend off the enemy. The smarter enemy simply surrounded the rock and cut off supplies of the high-ground tribe. Hence the name, Starved Rock. The lockmaster didn't know what tribes they were. There is a commemorative park at the top:
Leaving the lock, we had Unforgettable take the lead since they run slightly faster than we do:
We passed this sternwheeler, Spirit of Peoria. She was festooned nicely, and seemed to be waiting for a charter or group of some sort at a regular boat launch ramp. These boats seem to be a mix of tour boats, restaurants and gambling casinos. We saw this one again south of Peoria the next day:
The rivers are busy with tows. Here is what passing a 12-barge tow looks like. He is doing about four knots, and we are at about 7.3:
There is a slight release of tension once we are past the bows:
The Illinois in this area begins to widen into lake-like widths. In fact one area is called Peoria Lake:
Here is another towboat with his pilothouse in the up position. We realized that these boats work the upper part of the river. Below Peoria the bridges are all pretty high:
We met this big tow and realized it was the biggest we had passed. It was six barges long and three wide:
Here is Lake Peoria with one of its strange looking daymarks:
The shoreline in this area is pristine. We guessed that just behind the tree line was where civilization began. That's because the river often floods in spring and covers the near ground:
This was fun to watch. The seagulls had been following in our wake, hoping our propeller wash would stir up small fish. The birds hovered behind us by the dozen and would occasionally dive. We didn't see any fish caught, but it was a study in bird flight:
We soon pulled into the Eastport Marina in East Peoria, IL. It was a very nice marina with depths the same as our draft - four feet. Our fathometer often read "last reading 0.0 feet"). We were in the mud. However, as one local told it, the river just gets thicker and thicker near the bottom and soon it is mud. Very soft.
We got fuel and pumped out the holding tank. Then Scott from Unforgettable helped us put our mast back up. That should be the last time we have to step the mast.
We had supper on board and hit the sack.
One lock today for a trip total of 120.
Position tonight: N40 41.671 W089 32.821
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