First Windy Day on the River

October 6, 2001 - First Windy Day on the River

We left Haborside Marina at 8:50 a.m. --the sun is trying to come up but it's still very cold and frosty. I wish I had brought the gloves I had laid out;but I didn't let anyone (Bill) talk me out of my silk long underwear, which I have on right now. There is quite a lot of fall color in the trees now. We're headed towards the Dresden Island Lock, just a few minutes away. We waited for a barge to go through, and then entered the lock with two small boats and dropped about 22'. Then on to the Marseilles Lock. By now the wind is in gale force and we had to struggle to get in the lock. The wind was so strong that it turned us around sidewise in the lock , so we had to go back out of the lock, turn around, and re-enter the lock. We finally got a hold of the lock lines and they let the water out and we could exit the lock.. It was a very scary event. Finally, we're out of the lock and on our way to Starved Rock in Ottawa Illinois. Remember, Shirley and Roger Curry were from here, I think. Catherines friend, Laura Brocks parents , Bev and Tom Novak own the Starved Rock Marina and we enjoyed meeting them. They had just arrived home from Colorado yesterday from a visit with their daughter.. We arrived at the marina and the wind was still at gale force - two men from the marina anticipated that we might need help to get in the slip and gave us a hand. WOW! - a real ordeal. A little too much excitement for me. I'm glad that Captain Bill is good at maneuvering this boat, or we'd be in big trouble by now, and we are very glad that Tom and Bev are here; they are great help and support. Tom is so patient and so much help with teaching us about the computer. Doug, the sychronizer we installed is working great, and I'm using it all the time on the rivers - what a great help! Also, I haven't had to use the depth sounder yet to keep us out of trouble, but it seems to be reading perfectly. After getting settled, we went out to a nice local restaurant and had a very good dinner. Bill and Tom are now watching the Ohio State and Northwestern game. I'm off to bed.