Day 51, September 22nd, 2009
A good start to the day - only 6 miles from Beardstown we arrived at La Grange Lock and Dam and 4 loopers together entered straight into the lock and tied up. A drop of only 10ft. This was the last lock on the Illinois River. There was quite a bit of turbulence on the lower side with the water rushing over the dam. This really helped our day though as the current pushed us along, making up to 7 knots at times. Again the scenery was much the same. Its hard to get a good idea of the general area because all you see on the river bank are the trees and the levees. We understand that when the river is in flood there can be a rise of 40ft., consequently the state of Illinois has built all these drainage levees to try to protect the land around. There are some houses on the river banks, although not many. They are built up on stilts to protect against the flood waters. Some of the newer ones must be 20-30ft high!!!
We were wondering what the anchorage would be like, afraid we would not have enough depth again but were delighted to find a lovely spot behind Willow Island with 6ft beneath us!!!
Bugs were bad, we rushed to put the screens up and grab a fly swatter each to do MURDER!
A good start to the day - only 6 miles from Beardstown we arrived at La Grange Lock and Dam and 4 loopers together entered straight into the lock and tied up. A drop of only 10ft. This was the last lock on the Illinois River. There was quite a bit of turbulence on the lower side with the water rushing over the dam. This really helped our day though as the current pushed us along, making up to 7 knots at times. Again the scenery was much the same. Its hard to get a good idea of the general area because all you see on the river bank are the trees and the levees. We understand that when the river is in flood there can be a rise of 40ft., consequently the state of Illinois has built all these drainage levees to try to protect the land around. There are some houses on the river banks, although not many. They are built up on stilts to protect against the flood waters. Some of the newer ones must be 20-30ft high!!!
We were wondering what the anchorage would be like, afraid we would not have enough depth again but were delighted to find a lovely spot behind Willow Island with 6ft beneath us!!!
Bugs were bad, we rushed to put the screens up and grab a fly swatter each to do MURDER!
Thought you might enjoy the last photo of my view in the morning as John secures the anchor!
Its a little awkward as he struggles to reach over the mast support at the pulpit!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment