Wilmington, IL

September 3, 2011

We woke to a nice morning.  There was a slight breeze from the west and it wasn’t too hot yet.

I was through the Chicago Lock by 7:00 AM this morning.  Heading through the numerous bridges I need to go under in Chicago.  At 7:40 I was waiting with a barge in tow for the Amtrak Bridge, which was having computer problems.  We were finally underway again at 7:55 AM.

View of industrial areas of Chicago River

We met up with barges under tow by Bill Arnold, who led us thru a very tight area and then let us pass.  It was getting hot and sticky! 

Fish barrier to keep Asian Carp from Great Lakes

When I got to the Lockport Lock, We had to wait with another pleasure boat for a tow locking up.  It was only about 15 minutes.

The sky was looking worse.  I got to the Brandon Road Lock about 2:00.  We had no problems going through.  But then – 2:30 PM we got hit with a thunderstorm!  They tied me off on a barge on the river – a Benzene carrying barge no less – and 15 minutes later I was being hit with hail!!  This is not fun!!  We were about 8 miles from our stopping point for the evening.  I was finally able to tie-up for the evening at 3:50 Pm @ Harborside Marina. 

The “marina” is very small, mostly houseboats and floating cottages.  They don’t get many transients.  There is a very good restaurant here.  My people enjoyed their meals tremendously.

I just hope there are no more thunderstorms in the near future!