Port#18: Docktails in Dolton...

Great Loop II Date: 9/5/2014

Day #36 (Friday): 13.5 miles (1030 total miles)

Locks: 1 (3 total locks)

Port #18:  Dolton, IL

On August 28^th a 57 foot tug capsized and sank in the Calumet River just past the 106^th Street Bridge in Chicago, IL.  Other than the headlines, who would think it would cause us problems as we prepared to start our trek down the rivers.  Because of Ocean Breeze’s bridge clearance, we chose to take the Cal-Sag Shipping Channel both in 2010 and again during this Loop.  The 106^th Street Bridge was part of this route.  Worse yet, we were informed the Army Corps of Engineers responsible for removing the sunk tug planned to close passage through that area for a week.

Todd and I had already decided we wanted to get underway and get to a point where we could pass through the famous Aquatic Nuisance Species Dispersal Barrier (Asian Carp Fish Barrier, for short!) on Saturday or Sunday when it was open.  During our 2010 Loop trip, we traveled down this corridor on Sunday and it was quiet.  No barges were moving, all the plants along the waterway were still and the locks and bridges opened as soon as we arrived.  We knew leaving on a Friday would put us amid a working river but we had to get down stream before the river would be closed.

By Friday, a large group of Loopers had come into Hammond Marina to prepare for their river transit.  A few made the decision to stay in Hammond.  Andante (Sue and Tom) and Sweetwater (Pam and Tim) were ready to make a run for the rivers.

Bye bye Hammond

We met our first barge before we even entered the Calumet River!  Only one barge being moved toward one of the steel plants.  We saw quite a few being moved around and repositioned in the river.

The entrance to the Calumet River.  We're finally off the lakes...until next summer.

The first bridge we had to wait for...although this one went up fairly quickly and our wait was short.

Believe it or not, we fit under this railroad bridge...and wouldn't you know a train came over it as soon as we started under it!

At normal pool we would have fit under this bridge.  With the higher water levels in Lake Michigan this year, the clearance was lowered to 17 feet.  We eased up to the bridge but there just was not enough room so we waited with this trawler.

There's a sunk 57 foot tug at the end of that crane.

This is a pretty big operation to get this tug pulled up and out of the river.

More barges in various stages of loading and unloading along the side of the river.

Scenes like this also populate the river and always catch my eye.

The last freighter we'll see until we come into the Hudson River...unless we catch them along the East Coast.  That won't be until next May.

The rivers were busy with small numbers of barges being moved about and positioned for taking on a load or travel.  Some of the bridges were open as we came down the river, others had to be called.  It was very windy and hot, so waiting was not pleasant.

When we reached our only lock of the day (the Thomas O’Brian), the lockmaster was filling the lock and two sailboats were waiting.  A trawler and a small johnboat joined us, as well.  The transit took an hour and the drop was only 3 feet.  We didn’t have to tie to a bollard since the drop was minimal with no turbulence.

Good Ol' Thomas O'Brien, the first lock of 8 we will go through on our way down the Calumet, Des Plaines and Illinois River System on the way to the Mississippi.

When we're in the rivers, the scenery seems so remote and rural that we often forget civilization may only be a bridge away.  This is the I-94 bridge that runs north into Chicago, on up the west side of Lake Michigan into Milwaukee then inland into Minnesota!

We arrived at our stop for the day only 13 ½ miles downriver from Lake Michigan.  The trip took us 2 ½ hours, which is not unusual with wait times for lift bridges and locks.  The run positioned us well to transit the Fish Barrier on Saturday morning.  We also had our first Docktails get together with 4 other Looper boats: Andante, Sweetwater, Satisfaction and NancyAnn.