August 31 / Day 102 / Chicago to Joliet / 36.6 NM

We were off the dock at 7 and through the Chicago lock and then right through downtown Chicago on the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal (it's better than it sounds) definitely a highlight of our trip.  AC and Jim had come by the slip to say good bye and then much to our delight, hustled down to the Michigan Avenue bridge to snap some photos.  Ac was on the south side and Jim was on the North side.

Our first hold up of the day occurred at the Amtrak railroad bridge just outside of Chicago. As we approached, a very long freight train was just beginning to go over so we knew we had a bit of a wait.

This is a hydraulic tow whose pilot house raises and lowers to fit under the low bridges.  Sadly, we couldn't fit unless the bridge was raised, so we had to wait.

 We decided to pull over next to a Chinese Pergola to wait it out.  It was in a very pretty park.

Our next obstacle was the Asian carp electrical barrier.  This is a permanent electrical barrier designed to prevent invasive fish species (Asian Carp) into Lake Michigan.  Word on the Looper channels was that they were only letting marine traffic through from 12-2.  We arrived at 12 and waited til 12:45 for the go ahead to proceed.  Looper legend is that the Asian Carp are so frantic around the electrical barrier that they jump in your boat, thrash around and bleed everywhere. . .we did not see a fish before, during or after the barrier area. . .we're OK with that.  

Our third and final wait of the day occurred at our first lock on the Illinois River.  Here, we were required to pull over, wait for a north bound tug (we are supposed to refer to them as 'tows') to lock through and then Observer and fellow Looper Skinny Dipper piled on along side the double wide tow.  This was our first lock where we have encountered bollards to tie off of.   You simply loop a line around the bollard at midship, cleat it off and then you are eased down the lock wall as the bollard descends with the water level.  Easy peasy!

Observer attached to a lock wall bollard

We arrived at a free wall on Joliet, IL about 4.  We cooked up dinner on the boat and then went over to the free concert @ Bicentennial Park.  We survived day one on the Illinois River. 

Observer tied to the free wall in Joliet