Log 17; Day 93; August 22, 2008; IVY Club, Peoria IL.

Log 17
Day 93
Thursday, August 22, 2008

5:25 AM CDT
Location: IVY Club, Peoria, IL.
Weather: 72* with 80% humidity...86* and humid, 50% chance of rain predicted today.

First, a few pictures...

Here is the sand bar near our marina where we spent a lot of our time.

This is the IVY Club where we spent last night.

Here is a shot of our guests sitting on the back of the boat. This table is where I go every morning and work on the computer...and we eat all our meals.

This is picture of us pulling HQ to wash the bottom

Another view

Here is a shot of folks catching Asian carp on the Illinois River...the boat is FULL...and they are throwing them in the pickup truck. The picture does not do this justice...an unbelievable job.

Up at 5 this morning. Outside it is very damp from all the rain we got yesterday and last night. But, it’s nice and very still. The crickets are very loud. Coffee is made...all weather web sites checked, and the weather channel is on...national and world headlines checked...all helm instruments are on and working.

Yesterday...was a sign of many days to come. Slow cruising at 9 mph for 4 to 5 hours and then heading to a marina for the evening. We left the dock about 7:30. The plan was to leave at 8, but I could see the rain coming on my radar (I have XM weather on my GPS...which is the same weather feed that the weather channel gets...real cool) so I asked Deb (yes...asked) if she was ready to shove off a little early...and she said sure. So we untied the lines, and as soon as we did it started to rain...and pretty much rained all the way to the IVY Club. However, even with the rain it was a great ride...and a great day. We traveled 51 miles and tied up about 2 pm. After all the hook ups (electric; water) we got the internet connection and satellite TV and checked the emails and got “connected”, we went up to the bar to register (personally speaking...I think all marinas should have a bar where you register). Anyway...you can’t register without at least having a beer...which we did. Then back to the boat for inside (Deb) and outside (Bob) cleaning. At the bar a guy asked me if that was our “new” boat. I said that it was 3 years old to which he said “no one should work that hard to keep a boat that clean”. When he saw us cleaning a little while later he said “be careful...you’ll wash the gel coat off that thing”. I love it! After the cleaning...and drying...the rain began. And it stormed, and rained off and on most of the night. At about 6 pm Terry and Jeanie (Deb’s sister and brother in law) came to the boat and we went across the street to a pub called the Firehouse Grill (owned by the local fire chief) for some great sandwiches. After that...back to the boat for some desert and a glass of wine. I was in bed by 9.

One highlight from yesterday was that we passed two boats that were fishing for Asian Carp (see the picture above). I won’t go into too much detail on these fish (Google Asian Carp, or go to Utube and see some of the amazing details) but I can say they are large (up to 30 pounds or larger) and very aggressive. They get excited by the sound of boat engines and begin jumping out of the water all over the place. They will actually jump in the boat...and have hurt several people when they have done that. Some folks try to get them to jump and actually hunt them with bow and arrow. Crazy. Anyway...the picture is of these guys who had their boat totally filled (we’re talking 2 to 3 foot high) and were unloading them. Not sure what they do with them after that. Sell them for cat food???

Today’s plan...is to go 48 miles to mile marker 120 and Havana, IL. There is a marina there called Tall Timbers, and we have a reservation. Only issue could be that the water is very low, and not sure if we can get in. We’ll see.

It’s starting to get light now. Sunrise today is 6:15 am...it’s now 6:10 and I can see the Illinois River. Very low clouds and a light fog is out there. Looks like it will be a little dreary cruising today. No matter...I can’t wait to untie the lines.

BK.