One of the big boys
After leaving Little Diversion Canal, we traveled our last 47 miles on the Mississippi before turning off into the Ohio River. As we approached the junction of the two rivers we saw our largest tows, 4 barges wide by 6 or 7 long. Not too frightening if you meet them in a straight section of the river as it is plenty wide, but the two we met around a bend gave us a pause.
Mississippi rollers from a big tow pushing upstream.
At first sight the Ohio River was plenty impressive, nearly as large as the Mississippi at the junction and within a few miles we saw more concentrated tow staging than we had seen yet on the Upper Mississippi. We also headed upstream, significantly decreasing our speed over ground and the mileage we could expect to cover before having to look for an anchorage.
Beyond this we encountered our first lock of the day, the as yet uncompleted Olmstead Lock. As we approached we heard radio chatter much as you would expect when approaching a lock with the lockmaster gathering the particulars from the tows in front of us and granting several PC (pleasure craft) permission to pass down bound. When the three tows we had been following put in on shore and we couldn’t raise the lock master, the tow Magnolia kindly gave us the lay of the land. There was a tow coming through we were waiting on and he suggested we waiting between his stern and the red buoy, assuring us there was plenty of water and we’d be out of the way.
Traffic below Olmstead lock.
The Mule a tow carrying heavy equipment pushed up on shore waiting for a down bound tow to clear “Olmstead Lock”
Work will continue indefinitely on the lock which will replace both 52 and 53.
Ocean Breeze was able to contact the lock master and negotiate our passage with both Magnolia and the lockmaster so we let them take the lead. We soon had sailed over the dam again at Lock 53. Overall it was over an hour’s delay which put us out of range to get through Lock 52 which is known for its delays. We began looking for a suitable anchorage and identified one just above Metropolis (home of Superman, no, we didn’t see him) off Fort Massaic State Park.
Tow coming at first anchorage choice.
Arriving just as the sunset was beginning to color the sky, we nosed around, dropped anchor, watched a barge come out of the lock and down the channel straight toward us. Neither captain was too comfortable with the green marker being enough to keep us safe, so Paula from Ocean Breeze called Lock 52 for permission to anchor below the lock. They had done this on their last loop and were comfortable with it. So, up came the anchor and off we went. The sun had set and dinner was overdue by the time we were happy. Again we awoke in the same spot, so it was a good night.
Leaving first anchorage to head a mile upstream to re-anchor.
I wasn’t as concerned about slipping, there is a lot of space between those bridge supports.
The next day our locking luck continued with a break of dawn lock through in Lock 52. We finished our run up the Ohio, past Padukah, KY and turned onto the Cumberland River. It was nice to be on a small river again although for the first few miles we passed some barge operations on the banks, but eventually we were in uninterrupted country side, the river turned often and the vistas were lovely. We hit Barkley Lock for a rise of 57 feet and again went right in to lock up. The lock master had been watching his AIS and saw us coming so he held up a faster boat which had passed us to make one lock load.
That Green Turtle Bay was an oasis of boats and activity became apparent as soon as we left the lock. Arriving on a Saturday afternoon meant there were boats occupying the slips we had been assigned and it took a few minutes for them to clear things out. We elected to dinghy over to check in and had no trouble finding a looper boat willing to let us tie up. Like Grafton, it is hard to walk the dock here without running into a familiar face. We elected to have dinner at the yacht club here and spent some time catching up at docktails in front of Serenity before heading up.
Miles Day 123: 87 Day 124: 48 Total Miles: 3805
Locks Day 123: 2 (counting Olmstead) Locks Day 124: 2 Total Locks: 93
States: 12 (we double checked count and apparently counted Missouri as two when we stopped at Hoppies, dang can’t count Kentucky then)
The most beautiful sunrise of the trip yet leaving Little Diversion Channel.
The boats peeled off Hoppies dock in the order they had arrived. By the time we emerged from below decks, Untide was heading out, Ocean Breeze was fired up and Paula was tossing lines, so we hurried up and did the same.
Armed with our notes from Fern we headed down stream. We commented on how we hadn’t yet seen any of the huge tows we’ve heard ply these waters, although we had one of the worst wakes from one just before bedtime while at the dock, we doubled the number of fenders in hopes that some would stay between us and the dock if we got another, then we were able to get to sleep.
The river would be a beautiful cruise if you didn’t have to contend with the current, watching your cruise line, sailing over weir dams (the charts don’t tell you how deep they are), and all the debris in the water.
I was about to have Paul ask Untide how to take the green buoy in front of LIttle Diversion Channel when I noticed it was floating downstream.
We were coasting a bit following Ocean Breeze when suddenly Paul asked me, “What’s he doing?”
I looked up and said, “He’s avoiding that turbulence. You know Fern told us not to go through that stuff (actually we found you couldn’t avoid it, but this stuff was pretty bad). You better avoid it too, Captain (whenever I tell Paul how to drive, I find it helps to call him Captain).”
When Ocean Breeze foundered, we realized he was not tactically moving around the turbulence and Todd soon came on to say he had hit a weir dam with his running gear. We stood by as did Untide several miles down River while Todd checked the damage. It was a terrifying couple of minutes as we watched him float between the weir dam he hit and another while dodging a small tow coming up river. Eventually he came back that while there was some vibration and a little water in the bilge, he thought he could keep going, but wanted to take it slowly.
Chester, home of Popeye and the Mississippi Queen.
So, we took the lead and slowed our speed to match his. Our arrival at Little Diversion was only an hour behind what we had been expecting as the boost from the current kept us close to 11mph.
Our anchoring routine was a bit on the cautious side after our last night on the hook, but very little current and protection from winds made it relatively safe. I am happy to report we woke in exactly the same spot.
Miles Today: 109 Total Miles: 3670
Locks Today: 0 Total Locks: 89
States: 12
Mark Twain was quoted as saying the Mississippi
Last Mango leaving Grafton
was too thick to drink and too thin to plough an apt description.
In a convoy of four boats we left Grafton heading for Mile 158, Hoppie’s Marina as our goal. A captain’s meeting the night before leaving has become the custom in Grafton and ours was largely dedicated to other things, once we had told Ocean Breeze they would go first, (being the largest and having done the loop before), agreed on 7am departure, and that we would monitor 68.
Ocean Breeze leaving Grafton
We all departed as planned Greg, from the sailboat Fracas, was a good sport coming out in the cold early morning to help us cast off. A call to the Mel Price Lock before we left confirmed there were no delays and we gave him a heads up that the four of us were coming. We found another small trawler waiting for us in the lock. Unfortunately, the lockmaster decided not to hold the lock for the sailboats Last Mango and Senior Moment.
Piasa bird of the local legend. Said to come and hunt men. Another version of the story has the natives making up the story to scare off the explorers. This is a re-creation on the river.
A short respite from the river.
We were diverted off the river for the approach to the second and final lock on the Mississippi, Chain of Rocks Lock or number 27 as the lock master preferred today. Again we had no wait. We are having good lock luck this trip.
Best picture of Asian Carp yet. These were in the canal jumping.
Soon after the second lock we found ourselves nearing St Louis. The many steel bridges and the arch made for the best photo op of the day.
We had made good time and found ourselves a couple hours out of Hoppies at lunch time, so we agreed on a late lunch at the infamous Blue Owl when we arrived. We were joined by Paula and Todd of Ocean Breeze, the chicken special and pastry case were so enticing, we all succumbed, and had extra to take home.
Hoppie’s “Marina” while not much of a marina (3 barges) Fern and Hoppie make it a worthy stop with their river knowledge.
We hurried back for Fern’s river tips after a stroll through town (cute). The consensus was the trawlers preference was to make it the 100 miles, but the sailors would prefer the shorter run to Kaskaskia Lock, so we said goodbye for now to Last Mango and a Senior Moment.
Miles Today: 60 Total Miles: 3561
Locks Today: 2 Total Locks: 89
States: 12 (we stopped on the Missouri side of the river at Hoppies)
Sunrise on the Mississippi
We knew Grafton had a large marina and a lot of loopers, so it was set as a destination. What we didn’t know was they had a great deal (buy 4 get 3 days free), and a courtesy vehicle. After our misadventures anchoring on the river in high water and knowing we had several more anchoring days ahead, we signed up for a week. We didn’t know we would enjoy the stay which is a good thing as there are not a lot of boat projects left to do ( there are some, though).
Almost as soon as we were in Gina and Steve from Island Time asked if we wanted to join a large group to go to dinner at Aerie’s. They sent a bus for about 30 of us and had a great view of the river confluence ( the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri all come together around here).
I would like to get back up to Aerie on a clear day for a great picture.
We had two large tables of Loopers.
As we headed home another couple Connie and Jim from Patriot announced they had the van for provisioning in the morning and asked if anyone wanted to tag along, we did and two others one of whom had the van signed out for the afternoon, so we had a day of sightseeing. First to the Mel Price Lock which has a visitor center and offered a tour of the lock. We don’t always get to see it from up high.
The auxiliary lock at Mel Price. This is supposed to be for pleasure craft, but I have heard reports they are putting us through the main chamber, good thing.
We lucked out and found a nice place for lunch in Alton eating outside on their patio as the sun came out for the first time in several days, then headed for Walmart.
The next morning a large group headed down the river and boats jockeyed around. I worked on laundry and the Captain worked on boat jobs, one of which is to rewire our radio as it has the bad habit of going down due to a phantom low battery when we need it (we have a hand held, but the reach isn’t as powerful).
The marina put on a dinner that night and we stopped for a drink and talked to the group. Our misadventure always seems to come up when we see someone for the first time here. I am not sure we will ever live it down.
We thought this was the Nina or the Pinta, but turned out to be a pirate ship that does tours in the area.
We have scheduled the van for a Sunday breakfast at the Lodge at Pere Marquette State Park and today I am having my haircut. This is shaping up to be a great stop. Good people, great marina, interesting area, who knew?
Miles Day 114: 30 Total Miles: 3501
Locks: 0 Total Locks: 87
States: 10 (although we were certainly in Missouri at some point, but never touched the shore, so I am not counting it).
If you didn’t believe in divine intervention, our experience last night would be enough to make a believer out of you.
As we were the last ones in to the Tall Timbers marina and were tied to Just Us, we were the first of the six boats to cast off at about 6:30 and headed out to a river that soon became foggy, not so much that you couldn’t see the flotsam drifting in the water, but enough that two of us stood watch. We were soon passed by the faster boats of the group, Friendly Cove and Just Us were headed to Grafton. 120 miles is a lot for a boat going 9 knots, so the rest of us were looking at the anchorages along the way.
It was an easier run, I found myself at loose ends as working together the boats shared information about conditions, obstructions, and barge passing making the long day easier for the Captain and really easy for me.
Using notes left by last year’s looper, Off Leash, we were looking at Willow Island a 90 mile run from Tall Timbers. Blue Willow and Sweetwater followed us in, we headed upstream behind the island almost a mile to the tip. The other two boats anchored behind. All signs were promising as the anchor set and held really well the first try. We sat on the back deck and relaxed, then made dinner before retiring below.
Dinner entertainment behind Willow Island was this crew that came through and emptied several traps. Those are Asian Carp, some big ones.
Blue Willow and Sweetwater at sunset behind Willow Island.
One of us slept like a baby and woke before dawn, looking out the windows were fogged, but from the lights, it looked like we had been joined by two more boats and the others had moved away. After a cup of coffee and a little more light it became clear that we weren’t where we had started. Two of those lights were from a house on shore! The captain pooh poohed this until our GPS on my iPad showed us to be well below Willow Island.
I bet it was cold starting those engines in his undies, but I doubt he felt it. Going forward, I found three huge logs (trees really) on our anchor line, one of which was every bit of 40′ long and 18″ across. They must have caused the anchor to drag in the night. The miracle is that as we drifted, we apparently went right between the other two boats and caught again just before reaching a second island down stream.
Blue Willow fending off a log before dinner. Little did we know, this was a baby compared to what was coming.
So at 6:30 and 50 degrees we started the task of getting these logs off. With a boat hook, I could just barely reach them, they were caught on the line with the remains of branches. The captain tried driving up on them, but the strain on the line and bow pulpit made me picture it all coming apart in my face. So down went the dinghy (after I threw cloths at the captain, of course). I’d like to say that it went in like a well oiled machine, but let’s just say we didn’t sink it (we discovered the bung was out before too much water got in).
We didn’t regret the Captain’s need for the extra horsepower on the dinghy this morning or the planks I have been occasionally doing as what eventually worked was pushing the short end up river around the fulcrum of the anchor line. Since it was so big and slippery it required a boat hook held against it and the dinghy to do the pushing at full throttle. Of course all h*%^#ll broke loose once it was free and the dinghy was motoring full on with the logs and anchor line precariously close to the props.
In the process of getting that under control, the engine cut out and would not restart. Now we are drifting downstream past the boat in the dinghy. It only took a couple hundred yards to figure out: 1) we couldn’t row against the current and 2) we had an anchor we could drop. Finally this allowed the captain to workout that we had an airlock and weren’t getting fuel.
While we were sitting in the dinghy at 7am the other two boats pulled anchor and left. It turns out they had similar harrowing tales in the middle of the night with Blue Willow being pushed into the bank by a large log and Sweetwater coming to their rescue at 12:30am. They thought we were the smart ones to move, HAHH!
Marc on Blue a Willow suggested a stop down river for breakfast, we all though some time off the boat sounded good.
Over breakfast we started making a list of what not to do, anchoring in high water was number one everyone’s list.
Breakfast down river to commiserate. We joined three smarter boats that had tied up at the restaurant.
Miles Today: 90 Total Miles 3471
Locks Today: 1 Total Locks: 87
States: 10
The gang out for dinner at Babe’s in Havana the night before Willow Island.
Someone rolled out the welcome mat in Havana, IL.
Sitting in the same spot for 5 days had both of us twitching, even with the break visiting friends. So, it was off with the lines and out into the raging waters of the Illinois River, not really. Even though the river was up 2′, it was not at flood stage near us. That may just be because when the waters get high, they lower the wicket dam and let it flow down stream. We didn’t notice any problems as we headed down Peoria Lake. There was lots to look at as we headed through town to the Peoria Lock.
The Nina and Pinta replicas tied up in downtown Peoria. They are also doing the loop this year.
We spotted the Spirit of Peoria on Peoria Lake heading up river.
We had a little trepidation as we neared the lock. We knew from the COE Lock Status the wicket dam was down, but called the lockmaster on channel 14 to confirm we were to just drive over the dam. He gave us the go ahead and on we went. It was a little turbulent, but with 20+’ under the keel, there was no issue. Nice not to have a lock delay.
Going over the dam, Yikes!
Above Peoria Lock. This is where you are supposed to be able to tie up if you are waiting to lock up.
After Peoria the scenery got a little more rural without a lot of novelty. A few tugs with barges, but only heading up river or parked on the bank. We finally turned on the radio, but out in the middle of nowhere turning every mile or so, it was hard to find and keep a good station (other than those religious ones, they seem to have the most powerful transmitters these days). We had sunshine and cool temps and made good speed a couple knots over our norm with no increase in engine power.
Bald Eagle
There wasn’t a lot to see, but I found this interesting. As they load the corn in the barge it tilts. There is a lot of this kind of infrastructure on the river.
We made our next stop 40 miles down stream just after 3pm (had a late start for us, 1o:30, we were planning just a few miles for new scenery as Tall Timbers was full, but we called again before we left and Bob had a couple boats leave, so……) in Havana, Ill. Whenever we mentioned this marina the word tight would come up, and it was tight, but with the help of boaters on either side and a couple on the dock, the basically pulled us into our spot without any incidents.
The view from the back of the boat in Tall Timbers.
The marina at sunset and a barge on the river.
Docktails were set and we had a chance to talk with a new group of loopers. There are six boats here waiting to head down stream Lucky Us, Just Us, Sweetwater, Friendly Cove, Blue Willow, and us. We will wait out the rain and the bottle neck down river with a second night here.
Miles Today: 43 Total Miles: 3381
Locks Today: 1 (counting it even though it was down) Total Locks: 86
When they heard we were doing the loop dock mates Lori and Mike from Legacy said, “You will go right by us, you’ll have to stop.” So Peoria has been a stop in our plans all along. They are a busy couple, but we managed to time it just right with a break in their schedule and a weather day coinciding with our arrival.
We had a great visit, it is amazing how there much there is to talk about when we get together. We started catching up over lunch at the IVY (Illinois Valley Yacht) Club then headed for their home with a nice tour through downtown Peoria and the surrounding area. Caterpillar headquarters are here as is a lot of industry and farm country. It really felt like we were in the central hub of the states.
They have a lovely home which Mike designed and did a lot of the work on, Lori has it looking like a professional decorator has just finished with it. We did have a great sunset as we drove to dinner after the rain stopped, but I didn’t get a pic, sorry.
In a beautiful home, we spent most of our time talking here, one of us was drooling over the kitchen Lori designed.
My second favorite space, unfortunately it was too cold to enjoy while we were there.
As we got back to the dock at the IVY Club, Jan off Adagio, a gold looper, told us there were reports of flooding down river. We had been planning to leave, but re-evaluated and decided to wait out the water for a few more days here before heading out. Tim, the dock master for the Club was quite gracious in figuring out how to make that work.
We had a few down days to fill. One thing we did was watch the water rise in the marina and listened for news downstream. Loopers are backing up in the marinas upstream of the Mississippi.
When we arrived these stairs were completely below the concrete by several inches.
We watched as the rose inch by inch, well maybe we just noted them now and then.
Final level before we left. Nothing compared to the spring of 2013 when the water was up almost an additional 20 feet into the club house.
So, the grime from Hammond is off the boat(including the grill), we have two more screens installed where there were none before, and we are plowing through our new supply of books.
Miles Today: 0 😦
Locks Today : 0
IVY Club has a covered barge they use for some nice slips.
Docktails our last night.
On Saturday the yacht club had races out in the river.
After a not so great night sleep for either of us the day dawned with the message from Weather Bug: “rain all day”. WHAT???? ??? A pot of coffee and more checking……. Maybe. A call to the lock, not now, but be here at 8:15 and probably….. Weather looked better, a couple of stops had been identified in case of emergency. We agreed we wanted to get below the lock. So as we spotted several PC (pleasure craft) boats go by and heard, “PC 20 minutes” from the lock on the radio, we quickly cast off and departed the marina to join the parade to the lock.
The milieu of boats at the lock when we arrived.
The timing was great, we hovered with the group for about 20 minutes then grabbed a couple of lines and we were below the lock in short order. By the way, the ropes they hand you in these locks are much nicer than what we saw on the Erie, not slimy and the walls are pretty clean too. Other than the waits for the tows, they would be nearly perfect locks.
Boats lining up in the lock to get their lines.
Starved rocks?
As the boats filed out we formed a line heading down the rivers, slow at first, eventually sorting ourselves out by speed. The weather caused some concern, we watched storm cells but lucked out in that they either broke up or moved south of us, we even had sunshine for awhile in the afternoon. We saw the barn door just as it threatened to rain. Of the six boats we locked through with four of us ended up at the Illinois Valley Yacht (IVY) Club a private club open to transients. The facility is quite nice and the entrance off the river a little deeper than most. It was a little tight getting in with the rain, but definitely a first class stop.
We ran behind Spirit of Peoria for much of the day, then were followed by this beautiful boat which continued on to Peoria, I assume.
Seen on the river, old boat parking with barges to lock them in.
We treated ourselves to dinner out joining several couples (from Karty Party, Errante, and Attitude Changer) and Jan from Adagio who has completed the loop and is staying here for a month acting as an unofficial harbor host. Unbeknownst to us, Tuesday was Trivia night at the No Wake Zone across the street and while we didn’t come in first, we put loopers on the map. It was also nice catching up with and getting to know new to us loopers.
Miles Today: 64 Total Miles: 3237
Locks Today: 1 Total Locks: 84
Stares: 11
The gang in the No Wake Zone
Heading down the river Day 2, a lot of what we saw was undeveloped. Around the towns there was some industry outfitted for barges.
We tucked ourselves in to Harborside before I got a picture, so I took one on the way out. Our departure was a little later than usual since we called the lockmaster as we had our morning coffee. His report was at least two hours for the barge going through, so we had breakfast and decided to put the canvas back up on top.
We arrived at the lock around 8:30 to find several boats waiting in the “pool” and a tug with coal sitting in the “gate”. After an hour of waiting and several more boats arriving, it became clear that we would not be going through with the tow. We decided to drop the anchor and put the radar back up. One of us had been cleaning eisenglass and needed to go out up top to finish anyway. We got a fifteen minute warning from the lock master just as we finished this up. The lockmaster gave very clear instructions on who would go where and we were locked down 22 feet by 11am.
We rafted to Errante Loopers from Conneticut which allowed us a nice chat to get to know them. They rafted to Mardi Gras who manned the wall.
Our arrival at the second lock of the day at Marseilles found a small tug and five boats waiting to go down. The tug captain was quite accommodating in allowing us pleasure craft to lock down with him. It wasn’t a matter of space, but it did add at least an additional half hour to his lock through. This was our first time on ropes dropped for us, not as easy as taking a bollard or rafting off. With 10 boats plus the tug, I was worried about swinging into another boat, but with very little wind and going down, it wasn’t too bad. Most of the boats started pealing off soon after the lock in Ottawa, but we decided to get as far as we could and made arrangements to head into Starved Rock Marina another 10 miles, 3 miles above the Starved Rock Lock. It seems you have better luck at a lock if you are traveling singly rather than in a pack, we will test that tomorrow. Only one lock planned, but we hope to get to Peoria which is more than 60 miles before the rain hits.
Miles Today: 36 Total Miles: 3273
Locks Today: 2 Total Locks: 86
States: 11
The crowd at Marseilles Lock when we arrived. The two sailboats to the left of the tug had been waiting for over 2 hours.
Loading the lock after the tug was secure.
On the river just above the marina
We passed this campground with a river boat that looked to have been used as a restaurant at one point in time.
Our one day delay for the perfect weather paid off with dividends, giving us the ultimate summer boating day to cruise through down town Chicago and start the river portion of our journey.
Sunrise
Up at dawn and casting off soon thereafter, we watched the sunrise behind us and reflect off the Chicago skyline as we
ran the short 9.5 miles to the Chicago Harbor. The Captain made the decision to drop the top once we were tucked behind the harbor break wall and it proved to be a great one as we were able to gaze straight up in awe once again as we wound our way through the city.
The city through sunrise tinted haze.
The Chicago River is isolated from Lake Michigan by a lock. This is not to prevent flooding, but rather was constructed to protect the city’s water supply which is drawn from the lake as it was being contaminated by the wastes which were dumped in the river. Instead of continuing to move the intakes farther and farther out in search of pure water, the river was deepened and a lock constructed so all of the waste from the city would flow downstream and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico. Judging from the bird life and kayakers on the water today, it is not the toxic mess it once was.
Michigan Avenue Bridge after we left the lock.
The run through the city was a mass of bridges, over 40 in a few short miles.
One of the concerns with the run through the city is clearance. The bridges don’t open, that would be a nightmare for traffic in the city, so the wisdom among Loopers is you have to be under 17′ in height for this route. We are 16.5′ from the top of the radar dome to the water. Unfortunately, in doing my research for this stretch, I found a couple bridges charted at more like 14′ heights and the Doyle guide (which was our bible on the way up the ICW) made it sound like you had to go through on a day they open the bridges. Skipper Bob and a call to the Loomis Street Bridge had us fairly confident we could make it, but there was still the question. When we finally approached the 17′ bridge on the outskirts of the city. we found it was the only bridge marked with a height board (every bridge up the ICW had these) and the water levels were down, increasing the vertical height. It was still a bit close (looked like 6″ to me) good thing we dropped the radar before we left Hammond.
The tugs through Chicago have to deal with the short bridges too.
They lower the pilot house to go under the bridge. This was the first tow we encountered on the river.
The height board was encouraging, hard to read but the lowest number was 17′.
The Captain stood up to check if we would fit.
It was tight, good thing the radar was down instead of on top.
Once through the city excitement we had about 20 miles to run before the electrified fish barrier which is keeping the Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes. They have been working on this with divers in the water over the summer, leading to delays and barge back ups at the locks. We had decided to travel through on the weekend, their days off. Except for the signage, we wouldn’t have known we were passing through.
The gas pipeline over the river marks the start of the electric fish barrier.
We lucked out with timing on our second lock reaching it just as an upbound tow left, they held the lock and we ran in. It was our first raft up and it is much easier. The captain of the boat we rafted to was planning to continue about another 15 miles and one more lock, as it was only 1pm when we reached Joliette, our planned stop, we kept going. It made for a long day, but we managed to get a spot in Harborside Marina just above the Kankakee River and treated ourselves to a cold shower 😦 and dinner at the on site restaurant :-).
Miles Today: 65 Total Miles: 3237
Locks Today: 3 Total Locks: 84
States: 11
Another bridge check after the lock.
One of the busier spots with barges.
From back to front Sears Tower, Chrysler Building, and City Marina, I think.
The Captain and his buddy Trump’s place.
Travels of the Infinite Sea 