Peoria and Beyond

Sunday, August 5th and we left our snug anchorage behind Willow Island and headed south along the Illinois River. Actually anchoring out is very comfortable and relaxing, …….. if you have the right spot with plenty of room to swing about, if you have set the anchor properly and don’t drag anchor during the night, and if you are anchored out of the channel and a towboat doesn’t get you, otherwise, it’s fine.
Sunday was hot and by mid afternoon the heat was getting to us when we reached Peoria. The Illinois Valley Yacht Club ( IVY as it’s known), was a nice club with a very nice clubhouse and pool. The only negative was their very slow fuel pump and very high priced diesel fuel. It took over an hour to pump two hundred gallons and I thought we owned part of the club after paying the bill. After docking and showers, we headed for the club house for their Sunday night buffet featuring the best real fried chicken, with mashed potatoes, and wonderful gravy and all other fixings. We pigged out, but it was real “comfort” food and we loved it.
Because we were looking forward to getting to St. Louis and stretching our legs ashore, the decision was made to really push hard and try and cover some distance. So, Monday morning we were underway by 7am and heading down the river amid all the towboats and barges. Within an hour we arrived at the Peoria lock only to be told that the lock was under construction. They were opening and closing the lock doors using small tug boats to push the doors open and closed. Also, because of the size of some of the tows, they had to break the tows in half and lock through side by side, then make up the tow again. We waited almost an hour and a half to get through going south. If we had been north bound, it could have been five or six hours, since there were over five towboats waiting to lock through and pleasure boats have to wait on all commercial vessels.
As the day wore on and the heat increased, we reached more open river areas and made better time. Also, since it was a weekday and there were very few locals fishing, we did not have to keep slowing down. Our boat throws a terrible wake and we must be careful of our speed. Once past Peoria, there are almost no towns with any docking facilities, so we kept going until almost 7pm when we finally settled on an anchorage just out of the channel. Between the heat of the day and the 135 miles we covered, sleeping that night was not a problem. We do have air-conditioning below decks and a faithful generator that keeps on ticking.