We woke up pretty early this morning. First Light was the first boat in a line of boats tied up bow to stern along the wall. Since we were up and moving, we decided to just keep on moving until we were underway. The departure prep went smooth and a bit before 0700 we were back on the river.
The first plan was a four hour day to end on a dock owned by a restaurant. One can stay the night in exchange for having dinner there. Deb had talked to them several times yesterday and we knew that there was little space. So she called again today15 minutes before they were officially open to grab a spot. But two of our companion boats for the last couple of days called even earlier. They were bigger boats so...no space at the inn, literally.
The next plan was to stay on the town's free dock. It had some pretty poor reviews including having uninvited people board the boats in the dark hours of the night. Once upon a time, I might have just shrugged and said, “fine, fish need fed.” But those days are long gone. Other reviews were not near as harsh. But when we motored by, the place looked like a ghetto dock. Pass.
The plan after that plan was to just continue on and add tomorrow's route to today's. It would make for a pretty long day but would knock off two travel days in one go. And it would end up at what was reported as a nice anchorage with easy access and lots of room for boats. A hitch in that plan was a lock that had been a part of tomorrow's plan now being in today's plan. There was no telling how long it would take to clear it, time that would be added to a now 10 hour day.
It turned out to be a bit more than two hours. We waited it out anchored next to a new “buddy boat” we had picked up just as they cleared the marina entrance where they had spent the night. It looked like they were going to be faster than us. We radioed them ship to ship to let them know we were slowing down to let them slide into the channel ahead of us and take the lead. It turned out they were hading for the same anchorage we were. But the already long day was stretched a bit more by the lock delay.
After clearing the lock, we headed off down the Illinois River, our new traveling companions pulling a slight lead as we went along. It went that way for several hours as we twisted our way down the sometimes narrow channel. The river itself was seriously wide in some spots, not so much in others. And it is much prettier and way more remote than I would have guessed.
As we neared the end of the trip, literally just two bends away from entering the anchorage, and in a narrower part of the river, a barge called our traveling companion and asked if he would hold outside of the rather tight bend that lay between us and the anchorage. Both crews were really ready to be done for the day, but pleasure boats that tangle with tows always come out on the bottom (no pun intended).
There was some discussion as to where would be the best place to hold, with one idea being to hold position just outside of the channel marker for the barge to pass. I wasn't a fan of that option as just outside the channel marker could be pretty shallow water. Instead, I moved back in the direction from which we had come to let the barge make the corner and get on a straight bit. Our friends did the same and, with our buddy boat now to our stern, the two of us just passed the tow inside the channel. Easy.
After we passed the tow, I started into the turn, my line of sight now free of the tow and the tree-lined shore. Much to my surprise, a second tow was already in the bend and heading straight for us. This thing was so wide that two tugs were doing the pushing, completely filling the channel. My first impulse was to stop, turn around, and outrun them to the straight part were we could negotiate a reasonable pass. Alas, our traveling companion and the tow were too close to make that a safe option.
Deb suggested I just stop. We were already outside of the red and the tow was nearly on us. I disagreed with enthusiasm for several reasons. The first being we were very close to the marker, as in just a few feet off the starboard bow. Second, First Light is not a particularly easy boat to hold still in one place. Third, the tow, while not making much of a bow wake, was churning up a monster wheel wake with two tugs trying to twist the raft of barges around the corner. And fourth, I was already in 5 feet of water in a boat that draws four and a half. But by then it was too late to do anything but try to do what Deb had suggested. I was not at all sure I could pull it off, but there was no choice then but to try and make it happen. So I tried, and it worked. (Always listen to the smart person on the boat.)
It was close though. Way, way too close. I aimed First Light at the moving target of the starboard aft corner of the barge closest to us, leading it to get as close as I could and back into the channel at the earliest possible moment. As we cleared the massive island of moving steel, I brought the power up to our normal 8 knot cruising setting and plowed into the wheel wake, still not at all sure I could keep the boat off the shallows. Deb kept reading off the depth as I wrestled with the thrust levers and helm and, just like that, all was well.
The first tow Captain had been professional enough to call and make arrangements for a safe passage. But he never let us know that there was a bigger, meaner tow right behind him. Whoever the Captain was on that tow never called, and never answered our radio calls to try and come up with a plan. I have to say that my generally high opinion of professional river mariners took a bit of a nose dive. He near to ran us down without making a sound. And when I say “near” I'm talking feet, not yards, not boat lengths, feet. Our buddy boat was back far enough to get a little warning, but pretty much had to do the same thing to miss getting chewed up. It was not pretty.
Just a few hundred yards after the near miss lay the anchorage entrance. We are hooked, secured, and really, really tired. I'm guessing it took a while for my heart rate to return to normal. So close to the end of the trip and yet another close call.
But at least we squeezed two day's travel into one. Tomorrow we will start with the plan that was was the day after tomorrow's plan...I think.
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