October 14, 2009 - Ottawa, Illinois

As we had breakfast, the Pamela H tug came through the bridge with a full raft of barges. We knew that the Dresden lock a few miles downriver would be busy with her for a while. Together, the barges will be too large for the lock, so the tug must break the tow into pieces for locking through. They do this by pushing into the lock, untying the first number of barges, and then backing out the rest. The lock descends, and the barges are winched out and tied outside the lock. The lock is raised, and the remaining barges and the tug go through. After descending, the barges are re-tied and the whole unit is once again underway. This takes about 1½ hours for two “loads” of barges.

After talking to the lock tender for an estimate of when he would be ready for us, we cast off. Shortly we came to a power plant, which was discharging coolant water into the river. The hot water made the river steam, and its temperature raised from 50 to 74 degrees,

Sure enough, the Pamela H was just getting her second load of barges into the lock, and the captain suggested we join them for the lock down. A sailboat was then added for a full load.

We tied to the floating bollard with spring lines to midship cleats, and had a smooth ride down.

The barges must be just made to fit the locks here, as there is hardly room for a piece of typing paper between them and the lock walls.

Just after we all exited the lock, there was another tow coming upriver, which caused considerable congestion. The Pamela H pushed her barges right into the bank, so that the other tow and the two pleasure boats could get by.

After that, traffic thinned out, and we were alone on the river. Along the banks are mostly woods, areas that are nature preserves and State (of Illinois) wetlands. Here is a duck blind ready for hunting season. The owner must arrive by boat, and hide it in the blind. We saw many of these blinds, some of which had ramps for hunting dogs to come and go as they retrieved the game.

At the next lock, we waited for it to fill. After it appeared ready, we wondered why the lockmaster didn’t open it. Then we saw him feeding his “pet” deer, tossing apples to them. Finally, we were allowed to enter the lock and be on our way.

We docked for the night at Ottawa, Illinois, a small town with a small – but free – dock!