September 16 -17
This river is also very commercial, just full of barges, and in some
places the river is quite narrow, which makes it tricky to pass them,
especially when they’re bunched up. This lock in Joliet was
interesting, marking the first time we got to see the joining back
together of the barges and the tug from this close. If the barges
are too big, like this one, they must be separated and locked through
first while the tug waits for the next locking. The barges sit at
the other end of the lock to wait till the tug locks through and they
can be rejoined. We happened to be in the lock with one tug for which
the barges were waiting and one that was alone. We didn’t know
at the time that in a short while we were going to have more contact
with the tug HARVEY C. Just south of the lock we saw these two big
gambling ships, and then the First Mate went down to the forward head
to wash her hands. What she heard while there sounded like the whole
bottom of the boat being ripped off. She ran up to the bridge to see
that we were hard aground. With the sun in his eyes and the navigator
down below, the Captain missed the marker in the center of the river.
In this river the channel weaves all over the place. Now, what to
do? Well, along came the HARVEY C, that tug that we had passed after
leaving the lock. We were able to toss them a line to try to pull
us off, but all the tugging that tug did couldn’t budge us.
What it did do was tilt the boat to starboard, making walking through
the salon an interesting experience, but not one that we care to have
again. By now it was nearly dark and we started phoning for help.
After many calls we arranged for a TowBoat US rescue boat to be trailored
from Chicago to come to our aid. Remember our SeaTow insurance? Well,
they don’t cover this area, but they have a reciprocal agreement
with TowBoat US. We have found in our travels that specific areas
use one or the other, but not both. In general it seems the South
leans toward SeaTow and the North uses TowBoat US, which is a division
of Boat US. Anyway, they were ready to come that night, but it seemed
foolish to us since it was dark, so they would come the next morning.
In the meantime the Coast Guard, who we had also contacted, insisted
on calling us at prearranged intervals all night until help arrived,
just to be sure we were safe. They wanted to call every half hour,
but we said every two hours would be fine. And they did. Every two
hours on the minute someone called to check on us. We always have
plenty of food on board, so that was no problem. The only thing we
were short of was beer, of all things! Next problem might be sleep,
whether or not we would get any. There was no water coming in now
that could be seen and the bilge pumps were not running, but who knew
what the night would bring. First Mate decided to sleep on the salon
sofa, which is on the starboard side, in this case the low side, so
she wouldn’t have to worry about rolling off. No way was she
sleeping in the master stateroom aft, the lower part of which is below
the water line! Captain decided he would rather not sleep aft either,
and opted for the forward berth. Needless to say, it was a long night,
and, finally, about 10:30 the next morning our help arrived in the
form of four men in a small towboat with dual 250 hp motors. We were
very skeptical, and looking at their faces, so were they. They spent
some time assessing the situation and said they would be back in 45
minutes. Two hours later they back and ready to go to work. They first
attempted to put a big sling around the whole boat with huge inflatable
pillows underneath. They pulled and pulled and pulled, but to no avail.
Again, she did not budge. Alternating between scratching their heads
and shaking their heads, they decided on the next course of action.
Using the curreny created by their props they would dig a trench to
create deeper water, through which they would pull us out stern first.
So back and forth they drove their boat for what seemed like, and
probably was, hours. Finally, at sunset, with us looking on skeptically,
they pulled, and pulled again. We started to move slowly, slowly,
off that nasty flagstone into their trench and then into deeper water.
We were free and able to resume south down the Illinois River. Only
now it was dark, really dark. The vow never to travel in the dark,
especially in unfamiliar territory, was about to be broken again.
So off we went, following our new friends. This part was easy since
they were guiding us. Luckily, there didn’t appear to be any
discernable damage, such as, the feel of serious vibration or the
sound of bilge pumps running. But when we got to the small marina
where they had parked their truck, we found it was too shallow and
the slips too narrow to accommodate our boat. So off we went again,
only this time alone, with the guys promising to follow after unloading
some equipment and probably getting some much needed food in their
bellies. This was a very dark, hairy night, but we were managing quite
well until just before arriving at our intended marina, when rounding
a sharp bend in a narrow channel we encountered a large barge coming
toward us. He handled the situation with expertise as he shined his
big, bright spotlight in front of us showing us the channel and the
shoreline as he passed close to us. These tug captains really know
their business; we’ve found them to be friendly and helpful
all through our journey. Since we had called ahead for a slip assignment
and, luckily, had a picture of Harborside Marina, we knew just which
dock was ours, right on the end with easy access. We got tied up,
hooked up the water and power, and sat down to have a beer, knowing
we only had two left. But our new friends came to our rescue again
when they came to check on us. After assuring them we were fine, they
headed back up the river to their truck, and we had a good night’s
sleep in our level boat.