Gordon's Great Loop Adventure

Tuesday, September 17 2019 Day 32 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) It was great to have Kathleen arrived last night.  I lulled her into a false sense of security by suggesting a nice restaurant for dinner.  Look at that smile..... She has no idea what she is in for!  ;)  - Cue evil laugh!! When we arrived at the boat I provided her with a toothbrush so she could start cleaning the decks.   :) 😳😁 Kathleen is fitting right in!  :)

Monday, September 16 2019 Day 30 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) This was a quiet day.  I started off by making a reservation for the rental car I will pick up at Green Turtle Bay Marina so I can take Kathleen to Nashville and then go on to visit my friends Matt and June in Louisville.  I also called the boat works at Green Turtle Bay to arrange for an oil and fuel filter change as well as some other work on the boat.  The forward air conditioning unit (the one in my cabin) continues to be noisy and I hope they can find a solution. I also drove across the river to St. Charles to find a UPS store so I could return the clothes that I bought for England, but had never used since they arrived after I left!  I also went to the local hardware store to have a propane tank filled.  My two small tanks are not a standard size, so it took some research by the hardware store staff to discover that the tanks can hold five gallons, and the tank itself weighs nine pou...

Sunday, September 15 2019 Day 29 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) As I come to the end of my time in Illinois I thought I should go to some of the sites associated with President Lincoln.   The final Douglas/Lincoln debate was held in Alton on October 15, 1858 pitting the pro-slavery Douglas against the Republican/Anti-slavery Lincoln.  This  was a prelude for the 1858 Congressional elections, in which both men were candidates.   Alton - Lincoln Douglas Debate Location Although Lincoln did not get the seat, he developed a higher profile nationally, which led to his being elected as President in 1860. I went to the Lincoln home in Springfield, IL.   Lincoln lived in Springfield from 1837 until he left for Washington in 1861.    Arriving on a Sunday morning, with a light rain and past the main tourist season, was a good thing.  I was able to get on to a 10:45 tour with a very knowledgeable ranger who met the group of...

Friday and Saturday, September 13 and 14 2019 Day 27 and 28 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) After a trip to Britain to see my dad and visit friends I returned to Sunny Tug on Friday evening, September 13.   It was a long trip back, leaving the hotel at 9:00 pm (US Central Time) on Thursday and finally arriving at Sunny Tug at 9:30 pm on Friday evening.  The flights were: London to Oslo, Oslo to Newark, NJ, and Newark to St. Louis and then about a 1/2 hour Uber ride to Alton Marina. I was very relieved to see my checked bag appear on the luggage carousel.  On the way to Britain my bag had been delayed by a baggage handlers strike in Copenhagen, and I had not seen it for five days, leading me to think that it might have been lost forever! As we came in to land at St. Louis we had a nice view up the Mississippi River and I could see the chain of Rocks Canal that we will be going down in a few days.  This is a bypass to a part of the Mississippi that has ...

Tuesday - Wednesday, September 3-5 2019 Days 25 and 26 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) Tuesday, September 3 I decided to have a quiet day indoors today.  The temperature was forecast to be 90 degrees, but with the humidity it would feel much hotter.  As of 3:45 pm it was 87 degrees, but the weather web site said that it felt like 97. I'm very appreciative of my air conditioning.  The coolest it will get tonight (actually, around 5:00 am tomorrow) is 73 degrees :(.    I got caught up on my credit card entries and also entered my flights (all six of them) for my trip to and from Britain on to my calendar.   I also contacted several friends to set up dinners and get-togethers over there.  They have all been very kind to work me in, as this trip is quite last minute. I also made a reservation for  Green Turtle Bay Resort/Marina  which looks very nice.   My plan is to arrive there on Thursday, September 24 and spend 14 ...

Monday, September 2 2019 (Labor Day) Day 24 on the Loop – Alton, IL (24.82 miles) A friend, Steve, came down to the boat today and we took a leisurely cruise up the Mississippi to Grafton and back.   On the way we radioed a tug that we needed to overtake and they advised us to take them "on the two" so we turned to port.  Good to understand what that means... but I have put a sticky note by the helm station to help remind me of it! It was a really nice day out on the river and it was fun to spend time talking and learning more about the area from someone who knows the area.  The windless day also made docking easy, which is always appreciated! Steve Perry at the helm! After returning to the dock I decided to check out the Great River Road, that is a national scenic byway that runs north from Alton, through Grafton and onwards.  I also wanted to check out the Pere Marquette State Park Lodge, that John had mentioned he had been to as part of a parks ...

Sunday, September 1 2019 Day 23 on the Loop – Alton, IL (0 miles) I had seen a poster for the "Pompeii Experience" at the St. Louis Science Center and decided to check it out.  It is a pretty incredible place, but I really should have gone on any day except Labor Day weekend!  The place was packed.  However, I enjoyed the Pompeii Exhibit and had also bought a ticket that included a virtual reality tour, a planetarium show, and a ride in a fighter jet simulator.  The flight simulator includes the ability to have you hanging upside down as you do 360 loops, etc.   An excellent Science Center Where did they this picture of me before I have had coffee? Amazing how people were struck down during the Pompeii eruption The space exploration section was especially good!

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 underwa...

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 ...

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 . ...

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 ...

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).       R...

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) an...

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 expediti...