FOG

September 11, 2011  Dateline: Peoria, IL USA

I woke up early this morning to thick dense fog.  I knew I had 80 miles to go and really wanted to get going, but the fog was so dense that I had to stay put.

I had only one lock to go through today and I was lucky.  As I got close to the lock Rich called the lock master and was told that he would start filling the lock for MY WAY and me.  The lucky part was that as we got to the lock an Army Corp of Engineers tow called and said he would like to pass through the lock in about 30 minutes.  US Government vessels always get first priority. As we left the lock another tow was approaching up bound, he would have been given second priority.  Arriving 30 minutes later would have cost us 2 ½ hours as both vessels would have had priority over me and MY WAY.

Along the way I saw some different formations of trees.  The first picture shows how the river has eroded away the soil from around the roots of the trees.  The second picture is a pretty area of the Illinois River where the river has not eroded the bank away.

Last year Rich installed an Automatic Identification System (AIS) on me.  It is a transponder and broadcasts information about me and also receives information from other boats that are equipped with the same system.  One of the bits of information that is transmitted is the boat name.  Rich can call ahead to tows like Gladiator in this picture and arrange the place where it is best to pass him.  The tow captains seem to appreciate that they are called by name and of course they know my name as well.

I passed the entrance to Hamm’s Holiday Harbor along the way. It advertises deep water, but no fuel or transient dockage.  It looks to me like there were so many boats there that they were parked on the ground.  I guess they sailed up on the edge when the river flooded and then when it receded they just stayed there.  I could not tell if any of them were for sale.  Hamm’s is really a yard for wrecked boats, I don’t want to go there.

Rich and Carol started the day by watching the 9-11 ceremonies in New York and Washington on television.  The day ended with red roses floating in the Illinois Valley Yacht Club marina in memory of those who died on this day 10 years ago.  I was only 9 months old but I also remember the day all too well.

Tomorrow, another 80 mile day to tie on to a barge at Beardstown, IL.