Our Crazy Afternoon

Good-bye to Lake Michigan!

Last night there was a huge storm.  I have never heard such thunder.  It sounded like a monster walking toward us.  Heavy, deep steps woke me in the night. I always think of ancient people, and wonder what their explanation was for the otherworldly sounds in a powerful storm.  We were awake for a while and then slept in.

We had a lazy day today at Hammond Marina. We filled our water tank and studied our Skipper Bob book about the rivers.  We watched the Steven Colbert interview with Joe Biden. We expected to leave Hammond on Saturday after another rainy night.

Around 2:00 pm I checked the Great Lakes forecast on NOAA.  I hope this was my last time with that site.  There is a gale warning for our area until Saturday afternoon.  Gale force winds on the lake on Saturday.  Oh, no!  We will be stuck here again. Waves from 7 - 10 feet are predicted.  Even though we just have three miles to the Calumet River, we cannot go out in that weather.  I was shocked and dismayed.  It felt like one more bad joke from Lake Michigan.

We decided to go!  We called several marinas quickly.  Most did not answer. Finally, Marine Services picked up the phone and said we could come, but they would not be there at 5:00 to help us. I ran to the marina office to turn in the gate key.  George checked the oil and opened up the fly bridge area.  We took off the electrical power and our dock lines.  We left the dock at 3:00 pm.  Rain was expected at 5:00pm.  We had 13 miles and one lock to get to a marina that would take us in.  The sky was cloudy, but there was no wind and no waves.

We drove 9 mph to the turn in for the Calumet River.  First, we went under a railway bridge that usually stays open. Then we came up to the 92nd Street Bridge, which has a listed height of 19 feet.  We think we need 16.5 feet.  As we got closer, the bridge looked low.  A tow was sitting with a sailboat he had rescued off the lake, waiting for the bridge to open.  We decided to go around him and go under the closed bridge.  The tow said, "You should let down your anchor light.  You should lower your antenna."  I climbed around and lowered the antenna, but I didn't have time or a tool to lower the anchor light. When we went under, the anchor light bumped the bridge.  Scary! The good news was that the anchor light got lowered that way, and I pulled it down more after we passed.

Here we approach a railroad bridge in the up position 

and a bascule bridge that's probably about 20 feet of clearance.  Looks low, doesn't it?

This is an industrial waterway lined with barges. There were piles of coal, sand, recycling.  We passed at least three landfills.  There were lots of bridges, but none were as low as the 92nd Street.  (Later we heard that the 92nd Street Bridge was stuck in the closed position, so that poor tow boat captain was stuck out there. Not a fun Friday night.)

 The blue stripe is the top of our bimini.  We are about a foot under this bridge.

Here we come out the other side. Whew!

We continued to the Thomas J. O'Brien Lock.  Going through took thirty minutes even though we were lowered only two feet. We were the only boat in a huge lock.  The lock master said just to float in the lock. As soon as we got inside, he closed the back gate and opened the front.  However, he kept the front open just about 5 feet for what seemed like forever to equalize the water levels. Of course, thunder and lightning started while we were sitting there. I had to work on staying calm. We motored two more miles after the lock and turned into the Marine Services Marina with lots of lightning popping.  We pulled up to the C Dock, and I got the lines tied.  Thank you, Jesus, there was zero wind. We waited for a half hour for the storm to calm before going out to hook up electricity.  Now we are all set:  safe, happy, having wine and popcorn.  So glad we came this far.

We should have a quieter night here than at Hammond.  Tomorrow we can leave when the rain stops and go to Joliet.  We are excited about the Georgia Tech - Notre Dame football game at 2:30 pm.  We plan to use Uber to go to a sports bar.  Go Jackets!