Water Weaver reaches the Mississippi River Catchment
September 21, 2023
My truck portage was successful! On September 6, WW was moved from Hammond Port Authority Marina (IN) where I had taken refuge from Chicago to Heritage Harbor Marina, Ottawa, IL. Many conversations with many boat haulers connected me with Great Lakes Boat Haulers out of eastern Michigan. They came the day before and we loaded a Ranger Tug, Fern captained by Bob and taking the same trip. WW’s ride went smoothly with a nervous captain following behind in a U-Haul truck carrying my Zodiac tender. You don’t pay attention to those highway bridge height signs until your boat is just clearing them. A last word for folks needing a bigger boat hauler. You may get some silly low-ball estimates, and the correct adjective is silly. These are would-be haulers or mass brokers and both have no real understanding of boat hauling. You will know when you have a reputable hauler after lengthy conversations about your boat, its dimensions and hull shape, and you get a legitimate copy of their insurance and a contract with all the legalize clearly laid out. Take your time.
Captain Bob and Fern were the first of the “Great Loopers” I met. Each year about 300 boats head out of the eastern USA and a few from Canada on a circle of the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River or Tennessee-Tombigee Waterway, across the Gulf of Mexico to Florida, and then back north to their homes. They are well-connected and mostly part of the America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association that provides good looping information and a chat forum. These boats seem to run in packs as they meet up along the route. This year with the three locks closed downstream of Chicago, there are about 275 boats stacked up in Lake Michigan waiting and hoping for the promised October 1 lock opening. Back in the spring I had asked if anyone was interested in a collective truck portage, but I got shunned as a “non-looper” if I did that – I was never much of a clique guy anyway. However, I did eventually get messages about my portage and a few others chose this option. I’m happy to be ahead of the pack for now.
Ottawa gave me a few days to put WW back together for the beginning of her river adventures. Heritage Harbor is a very nice facility run by Jeremy and Christy. The highlight was the Asian carp shows, first as a state fisheries team electro-fished behind my dock igniting a carp dance, and then when certain boats passed and the carp leapt onto my dock – they react and jump to specific vibrations in the water. I saw the dance again motoring downriver when they jumped behind me or other passing boats. I got carped a couple of times as they bounced off the boat. Another highlight was reconnecting after many years with my aunt and uncle who live in LaSalle just downriver, and I got the renowned home-cooked Sunday dinner. To get there, I used the marina’s loaner car (who knew!) which I truly appreciated although I couldn’t plug my phone into the cassette deck in the vintage Suburban.
With WW primed, I set off down the Illinois River on September 10. I traversed my first solo lock at Starved Rock State Park which was straightforward because it was just WW and no tie-up to the wall. Starved Rock was named from the First People's stories about a battle that put one tribe on top of the cliff where they were staved until surrender, or perhaps they took the plunge versus what they knew to be their fate if captured. I docked in Peoria, IL that first night at the lovely Ivy Club - Illinois Valley Yacht and Canoe Club. I caught the Sunday football crowd at the clubhouse and again heard many really interesting stories of lives on the water. I enjoy stories that are more lore combined with embellished uncertainty – good storytelling really. That day I heard about the introduction of alligators to the river, “or maybe that is an alligator fish?” that was eating down the invading Asian carp. It is true that the endangered Alligator gar is a fish and is being reintroduced by the State, although not to eat carp, that is just a side benefit. Many of the stories repeated the frustration with the lack of water in the system which I can see in the shorelines. Indeed, this is an issue for me to keep exploring.
I also met Captain Kevin and Admiral Leslie of the Tenley Anna out of St. Pete’s, FL. Leslie shouted my name across the football noise when she saw WW at the dock. We had been texting in Lake Michigan about truck portages. They chose to portage and I had caught up to them. It was great to connect because we then travelled in our own pack in what the Great Loopers call go-fast boats. Most Loopers run at 8-10 knots, we travel at about 18 knots which isn’t very looper-like, oh well. Over the next week or so we traversed down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, then up the Ohio and Cumberland rivers into Lake Barkley where we are docked at Green Turtle Bay Marina. We anchored-out and docked together, and we will part ways when I head to Nashville this week and they head home to complete their Loop which began in May.
I saw many interesting things along these rivers which you can read about in my next offering.
Until next time,
Allen
Grand Rivers, KY
