Log 78
“The Final Chapter”
August, 2000
I’ve written a whole lot as I have sat down and tried to write this final chapter. I have written about each week, I have written about each leg, and I have written about a lot of neat moments along the way. In total I have probably written 10 pages of stuff that as I re-read it, was pretty boring, and it was also just a rehash of most of the things I had said in other chapters, so I deleted all that.
I said there would be a final chapter, and so there will be. But I’ve decided to just put a few words of conclusion to this story. In doing that I’ll just answer some of the questions people ask me.
Am I sad that the trip is over? Sure. Partly because I want to be out there making the trip, but I’ll also really miss all of the hours I spent thinking about, and planning the trip. They say the journey is the best part of reaching any goal, and that is definitely the case with this trip. The journey was fantastic, and Deb and I have memories that will last a lifetime. (Or until the next time)
Will you do it again? We’d like to someday…if we can. If we are still able to, someday we would like to do it with a little smaller boat (32 to 36 feet), so just the two of us can handle it easily, and also it costs less for fuel, and to dock. We would also like to stay on the boat for the entire year (or longer). Strange as it may seem, this is Debs idea, and like any good husband I’m not one to stand in her way.
What was your favorite part? There were so many great days that it would be impossible (and unfair) to pick one, but I guess my favorite parts were the mornings. Getting up early, and writing these logs were some of my favorite times of the whole trip. I would sit and write about the day before, and then think about what was to come that day. It was usually dark when I wrote them, and very peaceful. As I sit here writing this, I can recall many neat places I wrote a morning log, and the great feelings it brought me. Another great part of the morning was getting the boat ready to leave, and starting the engines. I know it seems weird, but when those big Detroit’s fired up each morning, I knew we were heading out to somewhere new, and each morning the feeling was the same. I’ll miss that part of the adventure. Then finally… the morning was when we untied the lines, and saw some of the best times of the cruising day.
What was the toughest part? Worrying about the things I couldn’t control. Like crossing the Gulf (by far the thing I worried about the most) and needing to be out in the Atlantic, even if the weather was bad, because we needed to make some time. The other thing was trying to keep all of the logistics straight. Where to keep the boat, maintenance, flights, and everyone’s schedules. On one hand, all part of the fun, but on the other, the toughest part of the trip. Trying to balance this, and not miss anything at work, was certainly a full time job for the last year.
Did you learn anything about yourself? I learned that most of the things you worry about never happen. I spent a lot of time worried about the weather, and how that would affect us, and it never happened. I learned to try to only worry about the things I could control, and to deal with the other ones as they happen. It’s much easier to say that, than to do it, but I did learn to do it better. I also learned (actually I probably confirmed) that I could cruise for a long time. A long, long time.
Any regrets? Nope!
What’s next? Not a clue. (You know I almost ended this sentence there, but as I sit here and think about what could be next, I get excited. I don’t know what it will be, but I guess it’s not too early to start planning)
Any conclusions? Yea. Several.
1. The boat has not been as clean as when Darrell and Steve Larry were aboard.
2. We’ll probably never have anyone aboard that will ever take as many pictures as Carl.
3. It’s not as much fun navigating without Terry.
4. Vacuuming will not be the same since Claudia sucked up her panties that morning.
5. I have a new found appreciation for a good waitress since we had that memorable meal in the Salomon Islands with Rome and Theresa.
6. I wish I could send all of the lockmasters on the Illinois Waterway to Canada for lessons.
7. I’ll probably never have a better New York strip steak than I did with Steve and Chris in Myrtle Beach.
8. The picture of Donna waving her arms at 4 in the morning to an oncoming barge and yelling, “Do you think he sees us?” will forever be etched in my brain.
9. I’m glad that Chris finally got to take her walk on the ocean beach, even though the dingy depth finder hasn’t worked since.
10. Boating won’t be the same………..it will be better!
11. I’ll miss writing these logs…….maybe I should write a book……Yea,,,,,,right!
Deb and I are very fortunate to have been able to make this trip. Now, or at any time in our lives, and we don’t take that for granted. We are also very fortunate to have been able to share it with some great people who were with us along the way, (and a lot of great people who we shared it with us through these logs) and I’d like to say thanks for all of their help, because with out them, the trip would have been a lot more work, and not half as much fun.
BK
PS.
I have attached an article that was written in the local Ottawa paper about our trip. It is not too far off, but there are a couple of corrections;
1. Our boat is a Cruisers Yacht; not a Gibson.
2. We didn’t go around Florida; we went across it, via Lake Okeechobee.
3. I didn’t say that Ottawa was as good as any place we visited, but I did say that it is as nice as many that were “touted” to be better. And it is.
Tuesday, August 08, 2000
Sunday, August 06, 2000
Chapter 77: Back Home Again.
Log 77
Back Home Again
6:10 AM
Sunday, August 06, 2000
Starved Rock Marina
Ottawa, IL.
As you notice, there is no day number on this log. I stop counting now, because we are home. Done. We made it!
Yesterday…
When I got up real early I started to monitor 3 channels on the VHF radio. I monitor 14 because that is the channel the locks are on (and we were close enough to the Dresden Lock to be able to hear them), and I monitor 13 & 16 because that's the channels the barges are on. If you do this, you fairly quickly get an idea of what is happening, and how long of a wait you may have at any given lock. Well, as I listened yesterday, I didn’t like what I was hearing. First of all at about 5:30 a northbound barge went by (Winchester) and I called him to ask him how things were going down (we were headed southbound) at the Dresden Lock. He said there were 3 waiting to get through. A single, and a double. If they were to take all of them through before us, it could take 6 to 8 hours, or longer. Things didn’t look good.
At about 6:30 I called the lockmaster on the VHF, and ask him the status of us coming through. He told me about all of the southbound traffic, and “It could be a while”. “How long is a while”, I asked, and he told me a minimum of 2 hours, but he would have to wait and see.
Normally in the morning we have a piece of toast or something for breakfast, but this morning we had plenty of time, and so the girls fixed sausage, potatoes, and eggs. It was great food, but I was getting antsy, so as soon as we were done (8:30) we fired up the generator, untied the lines, and left Harborside Marina and made the 1-mile run to Dresden Lock. I knew we couldn’t get through right away, but I wanted to be down there and let them know we were ready to go. As it turned out there was a southbound double just getting ready to enter the locks, and so I ask the lockmaster if we could lock down with his second cut. After he talked to the barge captain he said we could, so at least we knew what the plan was. It would take a while, but we had a plan.
It was about 11:30 before we got out of the Dresden Lock. Not only that, but the weather was getting darker by the minute, (so much for the rain coming late that night) and so we had to plan on getting ready to drive from the lower station. By the time we got to Morris, the rain had started, and we all went below. The bad news was it was raining, so we had to be inside. The good news was, that this is where the TV is, and there was a NASCAR race on, so we fired up the satellite, and watched the race as we drove in the rain.
We drove 24 miles, and got to the Marseilles Lock at about 1:30. They were just letting down the first half of a southbound double, so we had to wait again. They estimated the time before we got in the lock to be 1 hour and 15 minutes. We watched some of the race, but there were to many trees around, and it was blocking the signal, so we just sat and waited. While we were doing so, we figured out that in the last 2 weeks since we left Oneida Lake, near Syracuse NY, till now, we have gone through 54 locks, (We will have gone through 97 in the entire trip) The waiting time to get through the 4 locks in Illinois was longer than the total combined waiting time it took us to get through the other 50.
On the other side of the lock was Ottawa, and our homeport. We also knew that Deb’s sister Annie, and her husband Les (along with several other people) were waiting on their boat (Rainman). At our dock at Starved Rock Marina, Deb’s Mom, Uncle Bill, Aunt Marylynne, and Aunt Betty were waiting for us, and we had a bottle of champagne to pop open, celebrate our successful journey. The trip was nearly over, and we wanted to get through this last lock……which we finally did, at about 4PM.
I’ll not soon forget the feeling I had when they opened the lock doors. (I probably shouldn’t tell anyone this, but as I write this, tears are running down my cheek…..hey I shared everything else along the way…why stop now…..ok, I’m back to normal now) As I said, we had been through 97 locks on this journey, but when the doors opened on this one… it was different. (I could write a bunch of stuff here, but you can fill in the blanks)
Just like we had planned long ago, when we came out of the lock, Rainman was there to greet us. They had a full boat, with Donnie and Mooie (Deb’s sister and brother in law), Rome and Theresa, (our friends from Bourbonnais), and Jenny, (Les &Annie’s daughter) along with Jake, her son. They were tooting the horn, and waving signs to welcome us home. We were also tooting our horn, and popping campaign on the bow of the boat. We had at least made it back to our “home pool”, as they call it on the waterway. All we had to do now was go 14 miles, and tie up the boat at our slip, and we would be done.
The last mile before reaching Starved Rock Marina I slowed down to an idle. The wind was really whipping (but the rain had stopped, and the sky was trying to brighten) and the spray was coming over the back of the boat. I also wanted to just enjoy the final mile. (You understand) As we got close, I could see someone standing at the point where you enter the channel to the marina, and it turned out to be Barb, Bill, Marylynne, and Betty. They were waving balloons, and holding a sign that said “Welcome Back HQ”.
Side Note: Barb (Deb’s Mom) has been keeping a journal of the entire trip. She has been taking my logs, and then matching them up with maps of the travels. I haven’t seen it, but she says it’s a couple of inches thick. Anyway…Barb decides that she would tell the local newspaper about the fact that we were coming home, and maybe they could put a note in the paper. Well I don’t know who said what to whom, all I know is I got a call from two people. The first one was from a journalist, who called me on my cell phone to ask if they could come and interview Deb and I, so we could tell them about our travels. The second one was several calls from Art (a photographer from the newspaper) who wanted to coordinate our arrival, and meet us at the dock, to get our picture for the paper. Barb’s answer to what happened was “Bobby, I just never imagined this editor would take to this thing the way he did. Why he just took my journal, and got all excited. I think I may have even given him your cell phone number”. Ya gotta love her!
When we got to our dock, it was quite a spectacle. The first thing that happen was as we were coming in the harbor, three swans got in front of us, and led us along the channel. The people waiting couldn’t see us yet, and as we came around a boat at the end of the dock, and getting ready to turn into our slip, they could first see the swans, and then us, following these swans to our slip. Our dock was full of people. Our friends and relatives, as well as others from the marina, and Art (the photographer) Signs were up, and balloons flying (they said “Happy Birthday” on them…it seems Annie couldn’t find any others at the last minute…I don’t know?) Somehow during all of this, I managed (with a lot of help) to get Headquarters docked, and safely tied to our slip. The one we had left 11 months ago.
The rest of the afternoon was spent laughing and recounting some of the details of our journey. (Which is something I’m sure we will do for some time) Everyone left around 8:30, and Deb and I looked at one another and said, “I’m tired…Let’s go to bed”
End of the day…end of the trip.
Today…
Not much to report here. It’s 75 degrees and sticky out. I’m getting ready to take a cup of coffee and walk the docks to get the feeling of being home again. Deb and I plan on cleaning up the boat a little, and then heading home about 11. Our daughter, and granddaughter are coming over tonight for Pizza, and we’re looking forward to that.
It looks like things are back to normal already.
PS…After I have had time to gather my thoughts, I will be putting together a “Final Chapter”. It’s something I want to do for me. I’m not sure it will be worth reading for anyone else, but I’ll send it, and you can decide.
BK
Back Home Again
6:10 AM
Sunday, August 06, 2000
Starved Rock Marina
Ottawa, IL.
As you notice, there is no day number on this log. I stop counting now, because we are home. Done. We made it!
Yesterday…
When I got up real early I started to monitor 3 channels on the VHF radio. I monitor 14 because that is the channel the locks are on (and we were close enough to the Dresden Lock to be able to hear them), and I monitor 13 & 16 because that's the channels the barges are on. If you do this, you fairly quickly get an idea of what is happening, and how long of a wait you may have at any given lock. Well, as I listened yesterday, I didn’t like what I was hearing. First of all at about 5:30 a northbound barge went by (Winchester) and I called him to ask him how things were going down (we were headed southbound) at the Dresden Lock. He said there were 3 waiting to get through. A single, and a double. If they were to take all of them through before us, it could take 6 to 8 hours, or longer. Things didn’t look good.
At about 6:30 I called the lockmaster on the VHF, and ask him the status of us coming through. He told me about all of the southbound traffic, and “It could be a while”. “How long is a while”, I asked, and he told me a minimum of 2 hours, but he would have to wait and see.
Normally in the morning we have a piece of toast or something for breakfast, but this morning we had plenty of time, and so the girls fixed sausage, potatoes, and eggs. It was great food, but I was getting antsy, so as soon as we were done (8:30) we fired up the generator, untied the lines, and left Harborside Marina and made the 1-mile run to Dresden Lock. I knew we couldn’t get through right away, but I wanted to be down there and let them know we were ready to go. As it turned out there was a southbound double just getting ready to enter the locks, and so I ask the lockmaster if we could lock down with his second cut. After he talked to the barge captain he said we could, so at least we knew what the plan was. It would take a while, but we had a plan.
It was about 11:30 before we got out of the Dresden Lock. Not only that, but the weather was getting darker by the minute, (so much for the rain coming late that night) and so we had to plan on getting ready to drive from the lower station. By the time we got to Morris, the rain had started, and we all went below. The bad news was it was raining, so we had to be inside. The good news was, that this is where the TV is, and there was a NASCAR race on, so we fired up the satellite, and watched the race as we drove in the rain.
We drove 24 miles, and got to the Marseilles Lock at about 1:30. They were just letting down the first half of a southbound double, so we had to wait again. They estimated the time before we got in the lock to be 1 hour and 15 minutes. We watched some of the race, but there were to many trees around, and it was blocking the signal, so we just sat and waited. While we were doing so, we figured out that in the last 2 weeks since we left Oneida Lake, near Syracuse NY, till now, we have gone through 54 locks, (We will have gone through 97 in the entire trip) The waiting time to get through the 4 locks in Illinois was longer than the total combined waiting time it took us to get through the other 50.
On the other side of the lock was Ottawa, and our homeport. We also knew that Deb’s sister Annie, and her husband Les (along with several other people) were waiting on their boat (Rainman). At our dock at Starved Rock Marina, Deb’s Mom, Uncle Bill, Aunt Marylynne, and Aunt Betty were waiting for us, and we had a bottle of champagne to pop open, celebrate our successful journey. The trip was nearly over, and we wanted to get through this last lock……which we finally did, at about 4PM.
I’ll not soon forget the feeling I had when they opened the lock doors. (I probably shouldn’t tell anyone this, but as I write this, tears are running down my cheek…..hey I shared everything else along the way…why stop now…..ok, I’m back to normal now) As I said, we had been through 97 locks on this journey, but when the doors opened on this one… it was different. (I could write a bunch of stuff here, but you can fill in the blanks)
Just like we had planned long ago, when we came out of the lock, Rainman was there to greet us. They had a full boat, with Donnie and Mooie (Deb’s sister and brother in law), Rome and Theresa, (our friends from Bourbonnais), and Jenny, (Les &Annie’s daughter) along with Jake, her son. They were tooting the horn, and waving signs to welcome us home. We were also tooting our horn, and popping campaign on the bow of the boat. We had at least made it back to our “home pool”, as they call it on the waterway. All we had to do now was go 14 miles, and tie up the boat at our slip, and we would be done.
The last mile before reaching Starved Rock Marina I slowed down to an idle. The wind was really whipping (but the rain had stopped, and the sky was trying to brighten) and the spray was coming over the back of the boat. I also wanted to just enjoy the final mile. (You understand) As we got close, I could see someone standing at the point where you enter the channel to the marina, and it turned out to be Barb, Bill, Marylynne, and Betty. They were waving balloons, and holding a sign that said “Welcome Back HQ”.
Side Note: Barb (Deb’s Mom) has been keeping a journal of the entire trip. She has been taking my logs, and then matching them up with maps of the travels. I haven’t seen it, but she says it’s a couple of inches thick. Anyway…Barb decides that she would tell the local newspaper about the fact that we were coming home, and maybe they could put a note in the paper. Well I don’t know who said what to whom, all I know is I got a call from two people. The first one was from a journalist, who called me on my cell phone to ask if they could come and interview Deb and I, so we could tell them about our travels. The second one was several calls from Art (a photographer from the newspaper) who wanted to coordinate our arrival, and meet us at the dock, to get our picture for the paper. Barb’s answer to what happened was “Bobby, I just never imagined this editor would take to this thing the way he did. Why he just took my journal, and got all excited. I think I may have even given him your cell phone number”. Ya gotta love her!
When we got to our dock, it was quite a spectacle. The first thing that happen was as we were coming in the harbor, three swans got in front of us, and led us along the channel. The people waiting couldn’t see us yet, and as we came around a boat at the end of the dock, and getting ready to turn into our slip, they could first see the swans, and then us, following these swans to our slip. Our dock was full of people. Our friends and relatives, as well as others from the marina, and Art (the photographer) Signs were up, and balloons flying (they said “Happy Birthday” on them…it seems Annie couldn’t find any others at the last minute…I don’t know?) Somehow during all of this, I managed (with a lot of help) to get Headquarters docked, and safely tied to our slip. The one we had left 11 months ago.
The rest of the afternoon was spent laughing and recounting some of the details of our journey. (Which is something I’m sure we will do for some time) Everyone left around 8:30, and Deb and I looked at one another and said, “I’m tired…Let’s go to bed”
End of the day…end of the trip.
Today…
Not much to report here. It’s 75 degrees and sticky out. I’m getting ready to take a cup of coffee and walk the docks to get the feeling of being home again. Deb and I plan on cleaning up the boat a little, and then heading home about 11. Our daughter, and granddaughter are coming over tonight for Pizza, and we’re looking forward to that.
It looks like things are back to normal already.
PS…After I have had time to gather my thoughts, I will be putting together a “Final Chapter”. It’s something I want to do for me. I’m not sure it will be worth reading for anyone else, but I’ll send it, and you can decide.
BK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
