The only lock for today was about an hour and a half away from the marina. An 0630 call to the lockmaster gave good news. If we got a move on, the lock would be ready for us when we arrived. So four of the five boats from yesterday pulled in lines, fired up engines, and got a move on. The fifth boat from yesterday was going to spend and extra day at Heritage. I silently bid them fair winds and following seas as they are good folk. Though that was kind of silly seeing we that we are all in a river with boats that have motors.
The river today was a totally different river from yesterday's industry-laden waterway. We passed a few places where barges were beached and a tug terminal or two. But for the most part it was 40 miles of water, trees, a few dear, some eagles, and a whole lot of not much else. It was also really wide, though staying in the channel was still necessary. Just because it is wide from side to side doesn't mean it is deep from side to side. There were many a place where the birds were standing bird ankle deep in water while a long way from shore...and not all that far from the boat.
At the end of the day, we tied up to a wall at Henry Harbor Marina, a wall that is actually an old decommissioned lock. The old lock was the first lock ever built on the Illinois River and was constructed in 1870 for a total cost of $400,000. What is left of the lock is a rock wall with bent hoops of rebar cemented into the top of the wall to use as cleats. Every fender we own is hung between us and that wall. Care is required when walking as much of the top of the wall is covered with loose rock and shale. It is a twisted ankle waiting to happen. But there is power and water and the owner/operators, Fran and David, are the best kind of helpful.
I did have a weird thing happen while I was closing up the flybridge. I glanced up over the bow and was a bit surprised and being absolutely sure I had been in this place before. It was a classic case of Deja Vu. It doesn't happen often, but it is also something I have experienced from time to time. Those who know me well know there isn't an ounce of wooist in me anywhere. I loves me some mythology, but that is about as far as my “other worldly” interests go. There is zero chance I have ever been in this place before, and a less than zero chance that I looked at it from the flybridge of a 42' trawler named “First Light.” So I got me a good chuckle along with the reminder that the human brain is really, really good at fooling itself. Something I think we should all remind ourselves from time to time. It just might make our collective passing this way a bit more tolerable.
So here we are, safe and secure at a truly unique “marina” and sharing space with a couple of crews we have been traveling with for several days now. Which is still a new experience for us.
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