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It’s been smooth sailing. I anchored at Henry Island at yesterday at dusk. Nice spot, I’ve stayed there before. Today was a leisurely cruise down to Peoria. Clear, calm and sunny. Rain is forecast for the next day or two, then another nice stretch is here. Nights below freezing but sunny days. I can happily live with that.

I may stay here for a day or two. I visited the Caterpillar Museum five years ago and could happily return. But it and the nice restaurant close by are closed until Tuesday. We’ll see. I’m still waiting for insurance coverage to go south, and am nearing the limit for my standard policy.

One project I may take on while here is getting the generator operational. I’m not getting much from solar, and use a lot more power running the furnace. I figure I can stay put right now for 36 hours before I have to charge the house battery if I’m frugal. I don’t expect to be plugged in this winter. Last time I ran it properly was over three years ago. Then I installed it on Escapade and never ran it. I need an electric water pump I think, as it’s above the waterline and I couldn’t get the water pump to prime. If I’m ever going to use it now is the time.

Today I was running at my slow canal speed, a little under 7 mph, with less than 1/2 mph tail current. The river is low and slow. Not leaving any wake, burning about 2l/hr. I think I’ll stick to that pace.

What else? A new bridge, a height guage on a bridge – record flood is about 18 ft above current levels. A post that in my imagination got taken out by a tow, and others reinforced against collision. The tows here are 15 barge max. Big enough to do some damage.

Weather today was beautiful. Sunny and crisp. I was underway before 0700, and anchored here at about 4:00. It’s dark by 5.

That’s a pretty good run. Three locks with minimal delay. At Marseilles I went down between a split load. A towboat with 15 barges puts the first 9 in the lock, and at the top of the lock they winch that block out then return for the towboat and remaining barges. I snuck in after they pulled out the first block.

I’ve seen a few critters – bald eagles, heron and a deer.

It’s going down below freezing tonight, then decent until Tuesday when serious cold sets in.

I’m underway, if slowly, on the Illinois River. I’ve been tied up at the Joliet Wall for the last day or so. Nice spot, and gorgeous weather.

As planned I returned to Chicago on Sunday by car, and spend a couple of days provisioning and getting ready to move on.

Yesterday I came down here, arriving just after dark with a couple of new problems. My head stopped working, and my chart plotter started acting up halfway here. Looking back I think it was just after I went through the electric fish barrier.

Today was spent fixing those issues, which I did successfully. The issue with the plotter was frustrating and took most of the day. Part of the chart file was corrupted.

I haven’t been in a huge rush as the weather is nice and I’m still waiting for confirmation on insurance for the winter. My current coverage is for 40 degrees north latitude and I’m not much above that now. Trading messages with my broker, at the last minute as usual…

Tomorrow I’ll move on.

These photos were taken yesterday.

Here are a few more pics from my stay at Crowley’s. It’s always fun visiting.

I’m tied up at Crowley’s for the next few weeks. Tentative departure date to head down the Illinois Waterway is Nov 12. Between now and then I’m helping out as a rigger through the fall rush, then taking a trip home for a few days.

I’ll take some pics. They put a few hundred sailboats inside for the winter, and they all need their rigs unstepped. Many arrive fully rigged and we take the sails off, etc. Masts are stored in our rigging shop. It’s quite an operation.

I’m still not quite sure where I’m headed from here. The basic plan is to travel for a month or so, then leave the boat for a month or so, then resume cruising. I’ve been thinking of going to Little Rock, or possibly Louisiana. I’d like to go down the Mississippi. But the Tennessee River is a good alternative as well. No rush to finalize.

I always enjoy seeing a bunch of boats up close. The Morris 36 still catches my eye. Here are pics of a couple.

I got into Chicago Wednesday evening, and have been anchored here since.

The trip down was lovely.  As planned I spent two nights in Escanaba, and had a long walk around town on my lay day.

Saturday had NW winds, and I went down the coast to Menomonee where I stopped for late lunch, then further south to anchor here.  I thought I could get into the river, but it was too shallow.

The next day I cruised across to Sturgeon Bay, and went ashore for a couple of hours to visit the museum and grab lunch.  From there I went out the canal and south to Algoma, where i stayed on the wall and had a nice dinner out.

Monday I cruised down to Sheboygan and stayed on a wall in the river.  Another solo looper was staying at the yacht club for a few weeks, and I almost booked a slip there.

The weather had been nice – following breezes and mostly sunny – and we had two more days before a nasty system came through with strong east winds. I was tempted to keep going. The deciding factor came Tuesday morning when a non-urgent specialist appointment in Toronto for Nov 6 was bumped back a couple of months. I had planned to travel from Chicago for that. Without that constraint I’m now free to head downriver earlier.

So I left Sheboygan Tuesday, spent the night anchored inside the breakwater south of South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee, and came down here Wednesday. Lovely travel on the lake.

I’m anchored in the municipal harbour. The weather is finally breaking, with south winds expected to go west then NW over the next day or so and bring cooler temperatures. My plan is to head south to Marinette on Saturday. Looks like there is lots to do ashore here tomorrow.

All is good aboard. Dinner out last night was great, blackened whitefish and veggies. The autopilot is working well, and it’s great to have one again. It makes travel like this fun and easy.

I’m anchored here, close to a restaurant where I’ll visit via dinghy a little later. I like it around here.

Yesterday I had a pleasant cruise around to Fayette, a neat ghost town that’s now a state park. Beautiful natural harbor was host to an iron smelter in the 19th century.

It blew pretty hard from the south last night, so I stayed there and cruised down here today.

It’s still warm – I’ve been living in a pair of shorts for several days – but that’s going to change. Expected north winds and cooler temps in a few days. My plan is to stay here tonight, then head over to Escanaba and the Little Bay de Noc tomorrow.

I’ve been anchored inside the breakwater since arriving yesterday afternoon, and have been ashore several times. I like it here.

The weather continues to be freakishly nice. It’s going to cool off this weekend, but for now I’m enjoying it. I had dinner yesterday at an old Big Boy resaurant and lunch today at a nice sandwich shop with a dinghy dock, then got some groceries.

Tomorrow I’m off for Garden.

I’m writing this post as Manistique MI is in sight.

Yesterday was a pleasant trip from Drummond over to De Tour for a lunch out, then over to anchor here close to Mackinac Island. The highlight was noodling through the islands to get in to Cedarville. I came in the eastern entrance and out the west.

Today I was underway in the dark at 0700 to do the 70NM straight across the upper section of Lake Michigan. It was dark and rainy until about 30 minutes ago, and is now brilliantly sunny.

I’ll stay here for a couple of days I think. Will watch the weather, but I think a small front is coming through mid week and then north winds, which will be fine.

We’ve entered the US. The cruising permit for Escapade is good for a year. I’m anchored here off Drummond Island.

The weather has been exceptionally nice. Calm, clear, sunny and unusually warm. I’m writing this at 8 pm with all my hatches open, and have been living in shorts.

The forecast for more of the same for the next 5 days. My plan is to explore the Upper Peninsula in that time, working my way along the coast to Escanaba then down into Green Bay. It’s great to have a weather window.

Not much to report. I spent last night at Blind River, and the night before in Gore Bay. There are a few straggling loopers, so I’m not entirely alone in my travels.

Filled up with fuel (510 l) and water and pumped out at Blind River. Previous stop was six weeks and 620 NM earlier.