Joliet to Ottawa, IL

Yesterday was a long, hot, challenging day, but we persevered and continued on our adventure. Our first “hurdle” was getting under the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway Bridge in Joliet, about 300 yards from where we spent the night. While preparing to get underway, we heard a siren and watched in surprise as the normally-open bridge descended to the closed position, which meant that a train was coming. With a posted vertical clearance of 9.5 feet and varying water levels, this was uncomfortably close to our air draft of 9 feet. Our options were either wait for the bridge to reopen or make ourselves shorter. We did the latter, by disconnecting and dropping our masthead light, and we cleared the closed bridge by about a foot. 

At the Joliet wall. RR bridge is up

Bridge is down, but we got under it

At the Brandon Road Lock, we had a half-hour wait to enter and then another half-hour to slowly drop the 34 feet. According to the Lockmaster, the Army Corps of Engineers is dredging the channel downstream and preparing to install more invasive aquatic species barriers, so they have to dump water extra slowly. The scenery is now quite beautiful, a welcome break from the bank-to-bank heavy industry closer to Chicago. There are still many commercial areas, but they are now scattered, with much of the river looking very natural. 

It was at the Dresden Island Lock, that the real fun began. Spoiler alert—there were no catastrophes, but we did arrive at the same time as the Michael J. Grainger, a nine-barge tow, which had priority over us as a commercial vessel. The Grainger was a “split” or “double,” in towboat lingo, which means that it’s too big to fit in the lock as one unit and has to break up into smaller parts to get through the lock. We motored in place for two hours while the barges were loaded in the lock chamber, the tug was disconnected and backed out, the barges locked down, then were winched out and secured to the guide-wall. Then the chamber was refilled and the tug went in the lock. Fortunately, the Lockmaster and tow captain agreed to let us lock through with the tug. This was a pleasant surprise and a first for us, since commercial and recreational vessels are typically locked separately. After another super slow drop of 20 feet, we had to wait for the tug to exit, reconnect to his barges and push out of the lock. The tow captain couldn’t have been nicer and more professional, and as soon as there was room, he stopped to let us pass before we both continued downriver. The whole process took three hours—a very long time, but at least we got to watch a show.

The Michael J. Grainger entering Dresden Island Lock

In the lock with the Grainger

Upriver lock doors and sill plate

The Grainger reconnected and pushing out.
We squeezed around him to the right!

There were 29 miles until the next lock, so we pushed Dragonfly hard to put as much distance as possible between us and the Grainger, so we wouldn’t have to wait for them again at the next lock. I hate stressing our outboard and burning gas unnecessarily, but it was yet another hot and humid day, with a high of 92F, it was getting later in the afternoon, and we didn’t want to be on the river after dark. We slowed only to reduce our wake when passing by marinas and anchored boats, and during a passing thunderstorm, which reduced our visibility. The soaking felt great, and washed at least some of the sweat off of us. 

We got to Marseilles Lock (pronounced “marsaylz” here) well ahead of the Grainger, but had to wait for another big tow (luckily not a “double”) to lock up and exit before we dropped 26 feet and were on our way. Two miles later, we docked at Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa, IL, tying up at 7:50 PM. We quickly put the boat to bed to get to the marina’s restaurant before its advertised closing time of 9:00 PM, but were deeply disappointed to learn that they hadn’t opened that day (“sorry for the inconvenience”). Kathleen whipped up a cold tuna salad, and we wolfed that down before taking long showers at the marina’s bathhouse. We returned to our still-stuffy boat as the sun was setting, played a quick game of cribbage and fell fast asleep. Map link: Heritage Harbor Marina

Ottawa, IL, was the site of the first of seven Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. Republican Abraham Lincoln was the challenger against Democratic incumbent Stephen Douglas for his U.S. Senate seat. The debates attracted thousands and were focused mainly on the issue of slavery. While Lincoln lost the 1858 Senate election (Fun fact: Senators back then were elected by state legislatures, not the public), the debates raised his national profile and helped propel him to victory in the 1860 presidential election, when he defeated John Breckinridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

Bonus Question: Which of the following fictional characters have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? (answer at end of post)

A. Godzilla

B. Mickey Mouse

C. Snow White

D. All of the above

Our cabin thermometer, and lucky green turtle  

Bonus Question Answer: D—all of the above. Kermit the Frog, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Lassie and Big Bird also have Hollywood stars.