Illinois: Peoria to Havana

Day: 83
NM today: 37
NM Total: 1677
Locks Today: 1
Locks Total: 77

Today was the classic example of "hurry up and wait" on the river.  We talked to our friends on Fryedaze who were at IVY (Illinois Valley Yacht Club) and got the word that the consensus from there meant a very early start to the day.  Contrary to our preferred mode of operation, we were up at sunrise today, and I took the picture below to prove it!

Sunrise in Peoria, IL

We had everything ready for a departure by 7:00 if needed.  When we talked to Dave on Fryedaze, he told us that the wait at the Peoria Lock was a full 8 hours due to the heavy barge traffic.  He said that Plane to Sea had left IVY at the crack of dawn to go sit at the lock and take his chances on getting locked through potentially along with a smaller barge load.

As we were considering what to do - resign ourselves to a second night at the Peoria dock or follow Plane to Sea's example, we saw them go by us on their way downstream.  Clark gave him about a half hour to get down to the lock itself and then he called him on his cell phone to get the scoop. Plane to Sea told Clark that they were led to believe that the lockmaster would find a way to get them through in between barges.  With that input, we decided to head down to the lock.  Worst case, we float around there for long enough to realize it is hopeless and come back upstream to Peoria for another night.  That choice was better than sitting and wondering all day long.

We finally left Peoria at 9:00 and arrived at the lock about 30 minutes later.  We sat just upstream of the lock waiting for our turn.  As we waited, Elizabear and Always Home joined Plane to Sea and us in the wait for the lock.  After drifting there for an hour and a half, we got the word that the lockmaster planned on doing a pleasure boater lock through to push us on our way.  Clark called Fryedaze to find out their location on the river and let them know that the pleasure boat turn was coming up shortly.

As Clark was talking to Fryedaze, the gates opened and we received the signal to start loading the lock.  We could see Fryedaze coming round the bend, so we figured they would make it in as well. The lockmaster told us not to bother tying up in the lock and just float there as the water dropped us the 10 feet down.  The four of us that had been waiting pulled into the lock and then along came Fryedaze and tucked themselves in as well.  Yay!  We all made it!

Coming out of Peoria, IL Lock
Plane to Sea first (not in picture), Sea Moss 2nd (our kayak in picture),
Elizabear 3rd, Always Home 4th, and Fryedaze 5th

 Besides continuously weaving around tows for the trip downstream today, we came across a complete "road" block as we came to a dredging site.  At first the site manager told us to wait until he pulled his boat over to the extreme right, and then we could go around.  Before he got his boat to the side, however, he discovered that a huge barge followed along behind the pleasure boat flotilla.

With that knowledge he had the crew break apart the dredging pipe and move the sections to either side of the river.  We went right down the middle!  As we moved on we heard yet another barge call the dredging manager, who told him, "Come on down and we'll make it a triple header!"

"Road" Block on the river with dredging activity

We finally pulled into the Tall Timber Marina in Havana, Illinois at 3:15.  Because we plan on several days of travel without the benefit of marina restroom facilities, we stopped at the main dock for a pump out of our holding tank to make sure we are empty.  As we waited for that job to finish, the other boats started showing up.

The crew at Tall Timber consists of the owner who does everything and his brother who is just another set of hands to help.  Bob from Tall Timber told the other boats to wait out in the river until he was done with us, so that he could help them dock.  Based on size of boats, he told us to stay put at the pump out dock, so he could get a much larger boat in first.

That boat, Elizabear, tried to get into the marina and failed.  With the type of vessel they have they needed more water than the entrance to the marina offered.  We had no problem as we need 3'8", but they need over 5' of water, and they just could not do it.  The owner of the marina told them where they could find an anchorage for the night.  It appeared that this was a somewhat common occurrence for him.

The next boat in line, Always Home, managed to make it into the cozy little marina.  To get into the slip, he used the bow thrust-er which really stirred up the silver carp.  They were jumping all over the place.  I heard one slam into the side of our boat.  At least two landed on the docks.  The owner just picked them up by hand and threw them back in the river.  He put one practically in my face to show me how lovely they look up close.  I was not impressed!

I do not know where Plane to Sea went today as their night's destination.  They passed by Tall Timber, so in the end, it was just the three of us loopers that stayed here.  Later, a non-looper came in and docked next to Fryedaze.  Originally the owner told us he would dock us next to Always Home, but when we saw the width of their boat and the width of ours combined compared to the width of the slip, we had him reconsider that decision.  He agreed to put us over on the side by ourselves.

After the fish settled down and we got ourselves situated, Clark and I took off on our bicycles to go to the food store for some much-needed provisions.  Thank goodness we have bikes.  Initially, when we asked about a food store, the marina owner told us where we could find the Dollar Store to buy whatever we needed except of course produce and fresh meat - the two things at the top of my list!   The bike ride to the County Market takes 11 minutes according to Google Maps, so we grabbed our backpacks and went out to get groceries and have a look-see around town.

On our way we saw a sign pointing the way to the historic water tower which celebrated its 150th birthday in 2003.  The tower is still in use and holds 50,000 gallons of water to supply the town.  It was named an Historic Water Site in 1982.

Havana, Illinois Historic Water Tower

The main street of Havana, Illinois is cobblestone.  It rather made my teeth rattle to ride my bike on it, but it was an interesting piece of preserved history.  Clark had inquired at the marina and learned that Grandpa's on Main Street in town sold hard ice cream, so after our trip to the food market, we stopped there before returning to the boat.

Cobblestone Main Street in Havana, IL

Interesting architecture for store on Main St.
"Ma's Got a Notion" Quilt Shop

 As we rode out to the food store Clark saw a park along the river that he wanted to explore before returning to the boat.  The park was very picturesque with a board walk view of the river.

Riverside Park in Havana, IL

When we got back to the boat, I put away the perishable food and then made dinner.  While I was doing that, Clark chatted with Dave from Fryedaze.  He got the low-down on IVY.  It seems that it was real cozy in that private yacht club.  After hearing some  of the tales of staying there, I am very glad we opted for the Peoria town dock.

BTW: We did get digital TV in Peoria.  Since it was a Monday night, we got to watch one of my favorite shows - "So You Think You Can Dance".  I didn't get to see as many episodes this season as I like because TV availability was so hit and miss.  I am happy I got to see last night's episode which was the season finale!