Gordon's Great Loop Adventure

Saturday, August 31 2019 Day 22 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) After a late start I drove to the West Marine in St. Charles to pick up some lines for the two additional round fenders I had purchased after experiences in the locks taught me that I needed more protection for Sunny Tug!    While I was there I also picked up a smaller anchor that I am going to try as a stern anchor, when one of those is called for when anchoring out.   The shopping center was great in that a Bass Pro Shop was just opposite West Marine and there was a Duluth Trading across the way, and a Firemans' Sub shop for lunch!    I had a $25 gift certificate to Bass Pro Shop and used that to help buy three shirts, which I will need for my upcoming trip to Britain.  Funny to think that "dressing up" now consists of putting on a button up shirt.   I have also ordered some slacks and black shoes online to complete the outfits. I drove back and parked the car at Alton and then walked to  The

Wednesday, August 28 2019 Day 19 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) This morning I received a call from Jim at Bloch Marine that the six batteries I had ordered had arrived and that he and his assistant John could come over and install them.   The timing was good and they arrived at 9:15 and set right to work. When I had the boat surveyed I should have noted the year the batteries were installed (2011 as I later learned) and might have been able to negotiate a decrease in price since batteries in the marine environment typically only have a life of five years, or less. By boat standards the batteries, are relatively accessible, but there is a spaghetti of wires coming off them, and two are tucked away under the deck. Each battery weighs 67.5 lbs; definitely a task for a younger back! They did a a nice job cleaning up the contacts and installing the batteries, which was not an easy job.  Batteries before the new install - quite a bit of corrosion in the back Jim insta

Thursday - Friday, August 29 - 30 2019 Day 20 - 21 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) Fairly quiet for the last couple of days.  Jim came back on Thursday morning after we both realized that I had asked about a problem I was having with the steering and then we had both forgotten about it.   It was a simple fix of having some hydraulic fluid added.   I should say it is simple for Jim to fix, since he has a rig put together to easily feed the fluid into the small hole where the wheel is mounted.  If I had tried I would likely have had a large mess! I talked with my dad and made the decision that I should go back to visit with him in Britain.   It wasn't anything specific about the phone call, but it makes sense since I will be in one place for a few weeks, and am relatively close to a major airport, to do this now.  I will be flying out on Thursday, September 5 and returning on Friday, September 13.  This will still give me time to get ready for Kathleen's arrival and our

Tuesday, August 27 2019 Day 18 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) Got to meet more Loopers today.  It is nice to have other Loopers now coming into the marina.  Gerrit and Janna are on board a 26' Nordic Tug (very similar to my boat) and I met them briefly on the dock. I look forward to seeing their boat, Green Eyes .  I also met Gary Stephan who is solo aboard his Monk 36 Mary Lisa .  He asked me to come over to his boat since he was having a strange issue where he tried to leave the dock and then came to a grinding halt, as if he still had a line tied to the shore.  There was no line, and we later found out that there is a  beam underwater that stops the end of the dock from moving, and he was running into that.   He got his boat moved to a better dock and then came aboard my boat and gave me some hints on operating solo.  I also went aboard his boat, which is considerably larger, and has walk around decks, so he has some advantages when dealing with locks.  All boats are

Tuesday, August 27 2019 Day 17 on the Loop – Alton, IL (3.69 miles) On Tuesday morning I woke up to find the fire boat gone from its berth across from me.   I vaguely thought I had heard some noise around 5:30 am but was not really awake and the noise from the air conditioning fan had masked it.    I later learned that someone had jumped from the nearby bridge, just outside the marina, that joins Alton to Missouri.   So far, they have not located the person. Alton Bridge, as seen from Sunny Tug I spent some of the morning trying to reset the Webasto heater, using the instructions provided by Kenny at the Ranger Tug factory.   N othing is working and it still flashes a code that the diesel is not igniting.   This is something I really want to get sorted out.   I have also reached out to Webasto to see if there is a technician in the area. I have written a checklist for departing and arriving and tested that out by getting underway.   I found a few things to be up

Monday, August 26 2019 Day 16 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) On Monday I had not one, but two tours!    In the morning I went to Alton Fire Station at the kind invitation of Capt. Steve Perry, who I had met on the dock when they were doing a check on their fire boat, and then when I called 911 later in the evening because of smoke coming from a nearby boat. It was a fun tour and great to learn about how other jurisdictions do things.    After that I stopped off at Mac’s Downtown for a relaxed lunch, before going on to the Melvin Price Lock and Dam/Great Rivers Museum for a tour of their facility.      Melvin Price Lock and Dam They have a very nice visitor center and the volunteer, Joe, was very enthusiastic about the facility.  I was the only person on the 3:00 pm tour, and so could ask questions to my heart’s content and had a very nice conversation with him. Above the main lock at the Melvin Price Lock and Dam Tour Guide Joe points out ho

Saturday and Sunday, August 24 - 25, 2019 Day 14 -15 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) On Friday evening it was cool enough for me to try out my Webasto heater.   Not that it was chilly, but I wanted to try it out in conditions where at least I might feel the heat.   The heater started up and was producing a nice amount of heat, for about five minutes.  Then it turned off and was flashing an error code.   More on this in a bit...... I went shopping and got sheets and blankets for the quarter berth, after feedback from Caroline and John about what would be more comfortable than the sleeping bag arrangement I had started with. On the way back to the boat I stopped off at the Alton Visitors' Center to pick up some literature about things to see and do in the area.  Alton was the home of the world's tallest man.  Robert Pershing Wadlow, named the " Gentle Giant," he was born, educated and buried in  Alton ,  Illinois . His height of 8' 11.1" qual

Friday, August 23 2019 Day 13 on the Loop – Alton, IL (~1 mile) Got some great news this morning that a good friend might be able to join me from Alton to Green Turtle Bay Marina, which is in Grand Rivers, KY.  That will be a seven day segment, going down the Mississippi, then up the Ohio, then down the Cumberland. Having my friend contact me encouraged me to plan out this next leg of the trip.   Terry, the Training Captain, had given me some suggestions for the portion down the Mississippi and I also looked Quimbys, a very helpful guide suggested by other Loopers as well as "The Loopers Companion Guide."   While looking at those I was also referencing the Corps of Engineers chart that I have on my laptop.   The screenshot below shows what it looks like near to Alton Marina.  The lock that we will go through shortly after leaving is shown on the right hand side of the picture.   This is the one I went through with Terry. In the afternoon I plucked up my courage a

Thursday, August 22 2019 Day 12 on the Loop – Alton, IL (O miles) Started the day with a wonderful sleep-in!   I am retired, and have no immediate rush to get things done.  Once up I spent the morning and early afternoon reading up on the Rose Point navigation software that I have bought.   A quick background here.... The boat came with a Garmin 5215 GPS Chartplotter.  I went to a boat show in San Francisco, and the Garmin representative said I would be fine with that model, though he recommended that I buy new charts, that come on an SD card. I bought both the chip for the ocean portions (NOAA Charts) as well as the chip for the inland waterways.   (Corps of Engineers)  Once I got on board I learned that the new chips/charts are not completely compatible with an older chartplotter.  They show the basics, but not all of the additional features that are included on the chip (and which I had paid for).       Rather than investing a couple of thousand dollars in a new chartplott

Wednesday, August 21 2019 Days 9-11 on the Loop – Alton, IL (O miles) I've settled into Alton Marina, which is a very nice  place!  There is a bathroom/shower building three berths away and I am on E-dock, which is nice and quiet.   A very nice couple, Rick and Keyon live on the end of this dock, and they have a lovely dog (Marley).  The staff are very friendly and helpful. Alton Marina at Sunset.  The bridge in the background spans the Mississippi, but we don't get any traffic noise from it.  My slip in covered, which is nice during the frequent rainstorms. I had two days of lessons with Terry Kruse, a local Training Captain.   On the first morning it was pouring rain and there was an impressive thunderstorm, but that gave us the chance to focus on learning more about the boat's systems.  Terry identified a couple of issues that I need to look into, such as low coolant level (hopefully just a top off of the anti-freeze) and also a leak in a raw water pump.   

Sunday, August 18 2019 Day 8 on the Loop – Alton, IL (O miles) Had a very restful night at the Hyatt Hotel in St. Louis, and loved the luxury of having a long shower in the morning where I did not have to think about how much water was left in the tank, though to be fair that has not been much of a worry on Sunny Tug, with its 70 gallon water tank. John and I went out for a walk before breakfast and enjoyed the peacefulness of early Sunday morning.    We saw snake on a ramp that looked like it did not have a way out, so reported it to an NPS Ranger who was patrolling the area.   We also got some nice views of the Arch with the sun glinting off it. The Arch in early morning light John’s flight had been delayed, so we had a chance to visit the old courthouse, a very grand building located opposite the Arch.   It was also an NPS facility, and they had more good information about the westward expansion and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The o

Saturday, August 17 2019 Day 8 on the Loop – Alton, IL (O miles) We go up early, since we had an hour’s drive to St. Louis, where we had 8:40 am tickets to go to the top of the Gateway Arch.   The rained poured, and there was thunder and lightning nearby, but this cleared just as we were ready to leave. The Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen in 1947; construction began on February 12, 1963 and was completed on October 28, 1965 at an overall cost of $13 million (equivalent to $80.6 million in 2018). The monument opened to the public on June 10, 1967.   It is quite the feat of construction!   We went directly to the small tram cars that take you to the top and had a four minute ride up (it only takes three minutes on the way down.   The attendant that gave us a quick overview of the process also shared that he had just had his ears pierced the day before. The tram loading area.  Each car holds five people The cars can hold up to fiv

Friday, August 16 2019 Day 7 on the Loop – Grafton to Alton (17 Miles) What a day!   We had a leisurely start to the day since we only had a short ride from Grafton to Alton.    We were making the transition from the Illinois River to the Mississippi River.    The transition took place about a thousand yards after we left Grafton, and it was a bit anticlimactic.   I had expected to find a huge amount of traffic, and fast flowing current, on the Mississippi and was relieved to find that it was very similar looking to the Illinois, just a bit bigger. We did pass a stern wheeler/cruise ship just above Alton.   Only six people were visible on the decks and balconies, but it was around lunch time so perhaps they were all inside. We think this was the American Empress, but all it had as the name was "America," but the profile fits pictures online. We arrived to a very nice welcome from Greg, Fran, and Kim to Alton Marina.  This is a favorite location among Loop

Thursday, August 15 2019 Day 6 on the Loop – Beardstown to Hardin, IL (68 Miles) + Hardin to Grafton (17 Miles) The night tied up to a barge at Logsdon Tug Service was somewhat restless as tows came and went during the night, but it was not too bad.   We decided not to run the generator all night, since it was quite cool during the evening.    A problem with the water heater/electrical system meant that we did not have hot water first thing in the morning for showers.   We got underway and went about seven miles to the La Grange Lock and Dam.   I tried calling them before we left but could not get an answer on the phone.   When we arrived at 8:15 am we were told that they were locking a northbound tow through, that had to split its load, and it would be a couple of hours.   We anchored north of the lock and watched as the locked through one set of barges and then a second set, which then had to be hooked up together so they could proceed north.  The skill involved is quite

Wednesday, August 14 2019 Day 5 on the Loop – Havana, IL to Beardstown (32 Miles) No great rush to get out of Tall Timbers Marina (Havana) today as we only had 32 miles to go to Beardstown, and no locks to negotiate.   We had a nice chat with Bob, who is featured in Tanya Binford’s book about doing the Great Loop Solo . Bob at Tall Timbers Bob gave us some hints about the journey south and, after navigating out through the protected entrance to Tall Timbers, we continued our journey down the Illinois River.    The day was pretty quiet.   We passed one tow (we’ve learned not to call them “tugs”) that was headed northbound, and he told us to take him on “The One” which means to take him on our port side. We were travelling with the current and doing about 6 knots and only burning about 2 gallons/hour.   The Garmin chart display said that at that rate we had a range of over 1,000 miles!  It was a mellow journey down.  Once I join the Ohio River (where I will be tr