TRAVELS of "CONDUCTANCE"

We started the day out a little later this morning. Up at 6:00 and out by 7:30 AM. Scott did some routine maintenance prior to us leaving. The boat is getting pretty dirty and it drives me crazy. No time to clean. Even though you sit and watch while you drive it is a constant watch for any debris so no clean up gets done. With our days of driving so long and then dinner and bed early there is no off time, so to speak.   We headed out with the next stop being Illinois Valley Yacht Marina for a last diesel fill up before heading through the flood areas. Some are still in the red zone but recreational boats are able to pass through. About 2 miles into our journey, going with the current, the starboard engine starts to heat up. Scott instantly knows what the problem is. Thank goodness he watches the gauges so often.   Scott had forgotten to open one of the stopcocks for the water to cool the starboard engine. He didn’t want all the crap water sitting in the bilge and so he closed all the stopcocks. Normally he uses the water to rinse but if you see and smell this water you would know why. We fried the impeller. So shutting off the starboard engine we head back to our overnight spot. The tough spot is that it is narrow being an old lock but the current here is pretty quick. Not sure the speed but its moving. On one engine he comes back to our wall. No problems but a lot of drama to get the 3 of us in position and ready to go. Scott has extra impellers so he worked on the engine for about an hour. I don’t know how people drive boats without knowing about them. There is always something. Then we were off again but with the time to drive back, change out the impeller and then get going again we lost about 2 ½ hours of driving time.

We start to head down the river to IVY with no more issues. We pass a lot of barges and their tows. It has become common place for us now to pass these monstrous walls of metal and power. We have seen several asian carp jumping behind the boat. One very large one jumped about the height of the dingy. It’s very amusing to watch but knowing what they are doing to the waters here it is also a sad reminder of how careless us humans have become. The folks here are constantly fishing them out, killing them and trying to help with their population numbers. I think it is a never ending battle that us humans will lose. Sitting in Henry we saw thousands of baby minnow ones jumping constantly in the shallow waters.

Getting to IVY to diesel up for the next trek, not needing much but it is security, we realize it has become mid afternoon. The decision to press on to do another 60 miles quickly passes. By the time we gas up and move on it would be too late in the day to find an anchor spot and rain is forecasted. We decide to make it a work day. Catch up on overdue laundry, grocery items, and fix our master head. I forgot to mention that the master head stopped working about a week ago so we used the other head.

IVY is a beautiful facility in the middle of nowhere. A reprieve for Loopers (people who decide to do this portion of our trip then continue to Florida, up the Atlantic Ocean coast to New York City, up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal to Lake Erie and then around the Great Lakes). In fact, it is considered a Looper Refuge during the journey south. IVY has all the amenities like showers, laundry, gas and diesel, and a bonus of a swimming pool. It is very interesting to see how the folks along the Illinois River deal with continuous flooding. Their docks are attached to a barge with finger docks coming out and holding boats. The entire unit floats up and down as the water levels change. This last flood went up at least 14 feet and they didn’t loose a boat.

Just before dinner while the laundry was being done and the toilet fixed, we went for a swim. It felt so good after pressing on for so many days just to get to a spot and then prepare for the next part of the journey.

This will be our last stop on the way to St. Louis area as there are limited areas for boats of this size and depth. Tomorrow we anchor out but we aren’t sure where just yet. Our plan is to make it to Beardstown, IL where several choices await us.

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Today was a highlight of our journey. Taking the Illinois River through Chicago, around the massive buildings, planes, trains, automobiles and people. We went through around 9:00 am when the water taxis and tourist boats were not in full force. First we had to go through a lock. With westerly winds that were absolutely one of the worst winds we’ve seen yet, we headed out to the lock. Only about 600 feet off shore and Scott was using about 50% rudder to control against the wind. Conductance has never had to work so hard for so little. We had to wait for the lock to lock up 2 boats. It was a hard pull to keep her settled while waiting. Upon entering the lock the winds were still in full force and with rollers from the winds making it very difficult to get positioned. This first lock is only a lock through for a few feet down. It is mainly there to stop the Illinois River from free flowing into Lake Michigan with its pollutants.

After locking through we were met by the millennium fountain that sprays out into the river. We missed the spray but did see what looked similar to a firehose spraying out water. The traversing through the city took us past the Trump Tower, the Sears Building and many more that I have no idea what their significance is. The interesting fact is that we passed under approx 45 bridges in a 5 mile stretch. The river is very narrow where barges tie up, Shuttles of tourists are abundant and water taxis too. It is a very busy river. I’m glad it was a Sunday and at 9:00 AM. It must be insane traffic later.

After the beautiful sights of the skyline from the interior we headed up through the industrial area of the river. Barges everywhere, huge barges. Huge tugs and tows. Again we were thanking our lucky stars it was a Sunday but tomorrow will not be. Scott had to move around barges coming towards us with really not much squeeze room. The wind had not died down either. It was gusting at over 50 km/hr. There were whitecaps on the river. I was just about done by this point.

Next we had to putter a lot. There was tons of debris with the odd recreational boater too. No speed limit from what we could find so once we could we picked up the pace. After the excitement of the city this canal is even worse than the Erie Canal. It is narrow, with working huge barge traffic, recreational boaters and industry on every bank. We passed over the underwater electrical guard for invasive fish to stay out of the Great Lakes. The pipe going over the top of it is merely a high pressure pipe and has nothing to do with the electrical barrier.

Our next lock is the Lockport Lock. At 40 ft it is a challenging lock but we have done close to 200 locks by now so this didn’t seem a problem. Sure! I said to Scott that if this wind continues I am not doing any locks. I almost lost the boat in the lock due to the wind. I had it cleated but that didn’t stop it from being pushed. Scott said the Welland Canal locks were worse. I can’t imagine. Between the high winds, the shuttle and barge traffic, the lock, we are done for the day.

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Waking up at dawn has its advantages.  We did get to see a blue moon that will not be back for several years.  A second full moon in the month of July.

Scott and I decided that a dawn departure was in order to beat those pesky SSW and W winds.  At 5:00 am today we got up and were on our way, first south to get around the peninsula, and then west.  Our first encounter with Lake Michigan was brisk westerlies that met us as soon as we left the secure harbour of Round Lake in Charlevois.  We continued along a southwest path and past South Fox Island and North Manitou Island where 300 foot sand dunes were.  No way were we stopping with 8-10 ft waves.  Instead of driving at 28 mph we were down to 12 mph or lower.  The waves were doable but coming from the west and then SW and then NW created what I refer to as the soup bowl.  You know when you stir your soup one way and then the other and back again and then put in the cracker.  Well, the cracker was us.  Just trying to find our way to the other side.  The trip across would be a little over an hour in good weather.  It took us 6 hours.  6 hours of pounding in and around and then around again.  The weather stations, at least 3 we listened to, had different outcomes for the day.  If we put them all together they were still wrong.  They should have called us when they said they had 2 -4 foot waves at the buoy.  More like 8-10 ft waves.  Aiden slept through it all.

We listened to the weather the entire way over hoping that we would hear better news.  The weather was changing as much as we were rocking. By the time we were on the west side in Wisconsin there was a small craft warning.  We didn’t care cause the waves were nothing compared to what we just did for 6 hours.  We pushed Conductance up to 25 and headed south.  Our goal was Sturgeon Bay, WI , which didn’t sit comfortably with me being we lost both props in Sturgeon Cove north of Little Current Ontario.  Anyway, we got there on half a tank of gas so we continued at 25 mph to Manitowoc, WI where we got the diesel fill up.  We were thinking of staying but with Sheboygan, WI only an hour away and it was just after 3:00.

We hit a time zone bump in the middle of Lake Michigan and gained an hour because of it.  So we pushed on.  After getting in for the night in Sheboygan, WI with a 12 hour day under our belt we decided that dinner out was in order.  So we were off in Low Voltage to a “canal” off the harbour where the city has done a fantastic job of making the waterfront gorgeous.  Shopping, restaurants, anything you want is there.  We didn’t make it into the city but that is a short block away.  Scott and Aiden took a walk after dinner and I’m here too tired to care.  This marina offers everything, even a pool for those wishing to soak for awhile or spend a couple days here.  One of the nicest marinas we have seen on this trip.

It is our goal to make it just west of Chicago tomorrow so that we can spend a bit of Saturday there and part of Sunday cruising through the canals of Chicago on our first leg of the Illinois River heading south.

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Leaving Mackinac Island we saw what most people visiting the island only see from the ferry. The Grand Hotel sitting amongst the green trees and town to its base. The grandiosity of its time visually evident only by water. With the claim to fame as having the longest verandah in the world and pillars the size of ancient trees it is still an engineering marvel. With predicted 20 knot SSW winds we knew we were in for a bit of a rock. The next engineering endeavour that we see is the Mackinac Bridge.  Approximately  miles of steel and concrete she is quite the vision from the open water.  It was a short time after marveling at the bridge that the winds picked up and we had to slow from 28 mph to 15 mph. Our goal was Leland MI or Frankfort, MI but we only made it to Charlevois, MI. 4 hours later and only 70 miles under our belt.

Charlevois is a beautiful town with magnificant homes and boat garages to hold 70 ft yachts. We have never seen a garage that large for that size boat. The homes and surrounding buildings are reminiscent of the rich and famous . We stopped for diesel with high hopes of leaving in the morning. Instead of staying at the marina in town we decided to anchor out in the SSW corner of Lake Charlevois. Sitting in the open water still hasn’t left our blood. The view may be different but the beauty is there. More statuesque homes and very large yachts are here on the lake.

We stayed onboard the entire afternoon waiting for calmer waters. This little lake is feeling the charge from the high winds on Lake Michigan even though we are sheltered here. The anchor holds well in sand and the winds finally died down after dinner. We made our way into town in the dingy where we were told that Ward’s (our diesel stop) offers their gas dock for free after hours as long as you are gone by 7 AM. There were several boats waiting for the space when we arrived. There is a dingy dock available for shoppers who decide to stay on the hook. The town is a shoppers delight with stores for clothing, fudge, ice cream, restaurants, grocery store, and anything you heart desires available right near the marina.

We walked along the town docks and under the bridge that connects the lands around the inland passage to Round Lake which connects Lake Charlevois to have easy access to Lake Michigan. Walking along the “canal” of sorts we walked to the entrance to Lake Michigan. It was very breezy still with the cold front that has been predicted and causing those big winds just coming in and with it those westerly winds. Heading back to Conductance where we listened to the weather forecast with expected more winds overnight. We made the decision that it would be more advantageous to travel out in the late afternoon instead of morning when the winds were supposed to die down. Crossing our fingers for a last minute change but knowing that it would not happen.

We have to get to Chicago by Friday night so the next couple days are crucial for time. The Illinois River has been closed to recreational boaters for the last month or so due to high water. It has just opened but is presently a no wake zonedue to the high water and floating debris. Therefore the last 300 miles or so could take us awhile. We need any extra time to travel down the Illinois River, the Ohio River, The Mississippi River and finally the Cumberland River.

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We took our time this morning to enjoy our tea and breakfast before heading onto our next stop.  Listening to the weather forecast with winds 5 knots out of the west was a pleasant welcoming first thing in the morning.  Scott plotted our path to our next destination where there seemed to be a lot of small islands but deep water.  We are a little shy these days about getting into small close quarters with these North Channel straits close to land.

With the sun shining and temps hovering around 33 C, that’s 90 or so for our neighbours to the south, we headed out of Humdrum, er Meldrum Bay, to Drummond Island.  Our first American stop on the journey thus far.  We cruised in Potaganissing Bay where there is a well marked channel with lots of shoals on the other sides of the markers.  Scott planned a surprise for Aiden showing him LaPointe Island.  Lots of pictures were taken.  It is a meandering cruise around several islands, some inhabited and some not.  Lots of fishermen out with all those shoals.  Rich, you would love all this fishing!

We need some supplies, a top up of fuel, laundry done and a good swim after the 1 hour cruise in this heat.  We stopped at Drummond Island Yacht Haven.  We are the small boat here.  Lots of 60 and 70 ftrs to drool over.  After gassing up and settling in our slip for the night we dropped Low Voltage and headed over to a small cove where the water was warm and we could swim awhile.  Scott and Aiden headed out on a hike on Harbor Island Wildlife Reserve to find thousands of frogs, monarch butterflies, black snakes and giant dandelions….and some crazy local folks.  Pellet gun in hand and the 12 year old girl jumping around in an infused stupor shooting at a black snake in the water, coming close to the dingy with shots and her own dogs. Parents didn’t seem to mind and seemed to enjoy the sight.  I managed to get the laundry done but no groceries here.  You can rent a car for $12.00 but we won’t need grocery supplies for a couple days so we passed.  The marina doesn’t even have simple supplies like bread and milk.

Getting back from the dingy cruise we had what remains of our “Fish Store” find from Little Current.  Salmon and rainbow trout were on the menu.  After spending so much time in the sun today we are all a little tired.  We did find out that we are on the fringe of the EST time zone.  So in a couple days we will lose an hour as we pass into CST.  We are going to enjoy this last bit of dusk at 9:30-10:00 even if it means we have to stay up to do so.

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