Bucket List: Ottawa Illinois to Grafton

Tuesday morning, 9/9 Attitude Changer and us left at 7:30 am for Peoria. It had rained that night and many of the looper boats decided not to go until the next day. Little did they know the next day the weather was much worse. We got thru the lock with no problem and made it to Peoria at the Illinois Valley Yacht Club for a two day stay because the weather didn't look good. We had over three inches of rain that night and thru Wednesday. We left Thursday morning with Attitude Changer. The river had risen and there was a lot of debris in the river. There are no marinas between Peoria and Grafton which means we had to anchor out for the night. We traveled about 80 miles but had a great current that pushed us about 10 knots per hour the whole way. We anchored at a spot called Bar Island. After we anchored we launched the dinghy and went over to Attitude Changer for ice cream and the fix in's. Early in the morning I took Chloe on the dinghy to shore to do her thing and after loading up the dinghy we took off around seven. Another 80 mile day but with the current we were flying. We finally arrived in Grafton after dodging tons of debris in the river around 3:30 pm. There were all ready some 25 looper boats here waiting for the go signal to go down he Mississippi River because of the large amount of debris and high water. So I guess we'll just wait like everyone else. The good news is Navigator and Average Looper are here and invited us over Friday night with Attitude Changer for Tortilla soup and the fix in's. We brought over some salmon. From what I know there are now 38 looper boats here and maybe as many in Alton, about 10 miles down stream and more across the river in Saint Charles. Soon as conditions improve look out because here we come! As a side note here at the Grafton Harbor Marina they have a pool, courtesy car, great store, and the Big Kahuna restaurant. Not a bad place to be for awhile.