Our view while waiting to cross the barrier 
While waiting some neighbors came by
You got to have friends
Going through the Barrier (the scenery was breath taking).
This morning we left Du Sable Harbor at 5:50 a.m. on our 57 mile trip through 2 locks, and the electrical fish barrier to Joliet. This journey took us across Lake Michigan for 11 miles to the very industrial Calumet River, through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and then into the Illinois River. We also transited under 56 bridges, including some which had to open for us.
The biggest challenge for us, however, proved to be the crossing of the electrical carp barrier. In order to progress south on the "Great Loop", we contracted with Artco Towing (the only towing company out of 16 allowed to do so - Chicago politics maybe?) to have our boat towed across the electrical barrier area for a fee of $600.00 (cash or check only).
We got our clearance from the Coast Guard a few days ago and got an "appointment" to be towed across the barrier at noon. We arrived at the tow point at 11 a.m., but were notified by the tow boat to be patient - he also had several commercial barges to take through before us. There were also 3 other boats behind us that also had "appointments", however, commercial vessels/ barges, always take precedence, even at locks as well.
This was a very tight area with many barges being towed within close proximity to our boat, so we and the other boats tied up to coal barges, so we would be out of the way of the huge vessels coming at us. Then the Coast Guard announced that the barrier area was being closed, so that the Army Corps of Engineers could conduct more testing of the electrical current in the barrier area! We couldn't believe it! We ended up sitting in this dangerous area until 5:23 p.m. when we were finally towed through with another vessel alongside us.
George had to shut off all the batteries and breakers on the boat, then we had to don life-jackets, pay our ransom, board the tow boat, and sit inside the tow's galley while we were driven 3/4 mile across the barrier. It took the boat which tied along side us quite a while to re-connect their batteries, and then we had to get through another lock - which always takes more time. So, we ended up arriving at Joliet's Bicentennial Park wall after dark. There were other boaters there to help tie us up, and we were finally docked at 7:45 p.m.
Our friends, Ray and Caryl, aboard "Houlegan" were even farther behind us, since they were on the tow after us. They finally arrived and George and Charlie tied them up. We were all so tired that we ended up eating Italian meatball and pasta left-overs along with drinking SEVERAL cocktails after a very long and stressful day.
The biggest challenge for us, however, proved to be the crossing of the electrical carp barrier. In order to progress south on the "Great Loop", we contracted with Artco Towing (the only towing company out of 16 allowed to do so - Chicago politics maybe?) to have our boat towed across the electrical barrier area for a fee of $600.00 (cash or check only).
We got our clearance from the Coast Guard a few days ago and got an "appointment" to be towed across the barrier at noon. We arrived at the tow point at 11 a.m., but were notified by the tow boat to be patient - he also had several commercial barges to take through before us. There were also 3 other boats behind us that also had "appointments", however, commercial vessels/ barges, always take precedence, even at locks as well.
This was a very tight area with many barges being towed within close proximity to our boat, so we and the other boats tied up to coal barges, so we would be out of the way of the huge vessels coming at us. Then the Coast Guard announced that the barrier area was being closed, so that the Army Corps of Engineers could conduct more testing of the electrical current in the barrier area! We couldn't believe it! We ended up sitting in this dangerous area until 5:23 p.m. when we were finally towed through with another vessel alongside us.
George had to shut off all the batteries and breakers on the boat, then we had to don life-jackets, pay our ransom, board the tow boat, and sit inside the tow's galley while we were driven 3/4 mile across the barrier. It took the boat which tied along side us quite a while to re-connect their batteries, and then we had to get through another lock - which always takes more time. So, we ended up arriving at Joliet's Bicentennial Park wall after dark. There were other boaters there to help tie us up, and we were finally docked at 7:45 p.m.
Our friends, Ray and Caryl, aboard "Houlegan" were even farther behind us, since they were on the tow after us. They finally arrived and George and Charlie tied them up. We were all so tired that we ended up eating Italian meatball and pasta left-overs along with drinking SEVERAL cocktails after a very long and stressful day.
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