Day 1 - 100 miles behind us and 6,400 more to go

Today was the first day of our Great Loop Adventure. We departed Waukegan at 8:25 am and cruised to Hammond, Indiana for fuel. For you “fuel-o-files, (sail boaters love this stuff) we took on 297 gallons of diesel at a cost of $834.00. The fuel in Hammond was $2.79 per gallon Vs Waukegan which was $3.89 per gallon. We saved $327 on our first tank of fuel. We entered the Cal Sag Canal at Calumet and traveled to the Illinois River. We transited two locks and had to wait for several bridges to open. Total distance traveled was 100 miles.

The river system is quite narrow at times and is only 100′ wide at some points. We had minimal barge traffic until we arrived at the Lockport lock and then had to wait 1.5 hours for commercial traffic to pass. Commercial traffic gets priority over pleasure craft. We are known to the bridge and lock tenders as the “down-bound PC.”

Sections of the river are highly industrialized with junk yards, oil refineries and barge docks. We are tied up to the wall at a park in Joliet just south of the Jefferson Street bridge. Free electricity! Harras Casino is across the river. The Jefferson Street bridge is undergoing renovations and the sound of abrasive blasting permeates the air. I wonder what brand of paint they are using?

We met two other Looper boat crews here, one from Staten Island and one from Michigan. I am sure we will see them again many times. Tomorrow we will cruise 50 miles to Starved Rock State Park

All is well on day one.
The alpha – departing Waukegan on September 21, 2015