Good Morning, you Casino Boat lovers!!  We are leaving the old paddle boats behind and wish them well as we go on our way to Tall Timbers in Peoria, IL.  Another 60 mile day today.  Clear and sunny.  65°F to start our day.  What a grand view from the marina this morning!  The wind is still brisk around 14mph with gusts up to 18mph.

Sunrise in Rome, IL

Mr. Hamm uses this tug to clear his harbor entrance every morning to keep the silt and sand from building up.  We had plenty of water under our keel of just under 5 feet this morning.  What a great start to our day.

The last several days we have seen eagles, white and blue herons, and white pelicans dotting the landscape.  You can almost smell fall in the air.  HOWEVER, it is too soon for fall!

White Pelicans hanging out

We stopped at IVY for fuel and a pump out.  IVY stands for the Illinois Valley Yacht Club.  It is the last place to get diesel fuel going south along the Illinois River until you get to Grafton, IL about 170 miles south of here.  We slipped into their tiny basin.  Wayne turned the boat around almost on a dime and we carefully left the way we came in.  A bit shallow and we churned up some muddy waters but we didn’t get stuck.  We didn’t think we really needed the fuel to get all the way south, but it never hurts to fill up when you can.

IVY club house

Scenery along the Illinois River.  Commerce.  Industry.

This bridge looks pretty low to the water.  It is supposed to be 19.8′ tall but with the fluctuating water levels, we held our breath as we went under it.  There is no ruler on the side to let us know the bridge height.

Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad Drawbridge

Room to spare!  We held our breath.  We ducked down.  Maybe it helped that we added fuel just minutes before?!

We were told by the Peoria Lock that we would have to wait for lockage.  We did have permission to tie up to the wall outside and wait our turn.  I was able to snag a line over one bollard at the mid cleat pretty easily.  This one on our stern took 4 tries till I got around the bollard and under the bar so that Always Home could stay against the wall and not get blown about.  Not all locks will give you permission to tie to their outer wall.  Sometimes there are tows / barges in the way.  Sometimes there are tows/barges coming out of the lock that need the wall room to maneuver.  We were lucky today.

Peoria Lock wall bollard I was able to lasso

5 Looper boats were waiting to lock through.  The lock master drove his cart along the wall to let us know we could hover in the middle of the lock for the 8 feet discension if we wanted.  Because the wind was blowing pretty hard, we went to the starboard wall where the wind would blow us against the lock wall.  I put one of our mid cleat lines around a bollard and held us in place.  The other boats just hovered in the space.

Peoria Lock – going down 8 feet

No slime on this wall!!  See barges keep the walls pretty clean, don’t you think?

Peoria Lock wall clean of slime, mold, mildew

We made it to Tall Timbers in Havana, IL by 4 pm.  All 5 of us were going to the same marina.  Tall Timbers told me that we would be able to stay on their fuel dock since all the slips for full for the night.  We were happy to get a spot and being near the fuel dock meant we could leave first thing the next day without disrupting any other boats.  However, we were given a slip.   We were thrilled to be safe and secure, out of the wind and impending rain.