Boat on the Run

Boat on the Run

25-Jun-2021 Friday IVY Club, Peoria IL to Buckhorn Island, Montezuma Township, IL to Buckhorn Island, Montezuma Township, IL (108.4 nautical miles 124.8 statute miles)

39°30’02.7″N 90°35’22.2″W
39.500739, -90.589485
Elevation: 424 feet     Elevation change: -15 feet
States (1): Illinois

Locks (2):
Mile 157.6, Peoria Lock & Dam
Mile 80.2, La Grange Lock & Dam

Along the Way

Boat on the run! Peoria is bracing for floods with 4-6 inches of rain expected by Monday, four days from now. We took off at first light to get south of it. The rain started last night.

New bridge going in next to the old bridge. They built a temporary bridge for the crane so it could bridge the new bridge.

Peoria

Mile 157.6, Peoria Lock

There are levees along most of todays run.

We are world tourists. We we’re in Havana today. Earlier this month we were in Peru, Frankfort, Rome and Troy.

Dang there were barges in the La Grange Lock with the more barges and the tow down below. It was wait……

With large barge tows and large locks the tow will break apart it’s tow into smaller section and run them up the lock separately. The first set comes up without the tow boat. The barges get pulled out of the lock by a cleat on a rail when they get to the top.

The cleat

The La Grange Lock dog is a local dog that comes down to the lock pretty much every day and hangs out with the workers.

The La Grange Lock had a lot of work done to it during last year the 2020 Illinois Waterway shutdown. All new cement and new doors.

Blades. The tow boat had to really stretch its neck to see over its load. The barge needs less than 3 feet of water bottom clearance.

Rain started. We obviously didn’t out run it. If a boat can’t take water it shouldn’t be a boat

(The All Terrain Armored Transport, or AT-AT walker, is a four-legged transport and combat vehicle used by the Imperial ground forces.)

Lucky for us the rain was soon over.

Boat on the run! It looked like it was coming our way again.

The ‘better weather ahead’ didn’t last for long. The rain came. It was like driving your boat through a car wash. At times we couldn’t see the bow on yes dear… or the sides of the river. Micro bursts of wind pummeled us. Vinnie the Pirate took the helm and followed the charted red line. Dale and I stood vigilance, one on each side of him watching for logs and other debris between the lightening flashes. An orange bolt traveled down the river at us. Dale and I ducked waiting for the sound of it hitting the boat, blinded as it flashed through the helm. Thunder rumbled. Vinnie the Pirate just kept following the charted red line.

Lightning flashed non-stop. It was too dark for my camera to take pictures until the storm began to lighten up.

We were NOT night running. It was about 6:30PM.

When it was all over it was still hot and humid.

Disambiguation

Levees protect land that is normally dry but that may be flooded when rain or melting snow raises the water level in a body of water, such as a river. Dikes protect land that would naturally be underwater most of the time. Levees and dikes look alike, and sometimes the terms levee and dike are used interchangeably.

Drolleries and Yuks

If lightning strikes an orchestra, who is most likely to get hit?
~The conductor.

Why does lightning strike a tree before a person?
~Because it takes the path of leaf resistance.

What do you call a cow struck by lightning?
~Ground beef.

Did you know that when lightnings strikes a church, insurance companies refuse to pay?
Reason: Act of God, in other words, deliberate destruction by owner.

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