We had called ahead earlier in the day and talked to Tall Timbers Marina in Havana who informed us that the pool level was very low and we couldn’t get into their entrance as it was only about 4 feet deep. So we continued to this general area all day (48 miles including the Peoria Wicket Lock) and got into Havana in the early afternoon.
We look at the nearly new town dock as an alternative but,
with careful movement in found that we could only get within about 30’ of tying
up since it was so shallow. After we
dropped a bow anchor and then took out a stern with the dinghy, we were safely
moored for the day sitting on the bottom.
Chuck has a good friend who was the plant manager at a
foundry where he worked before retirement who told him that his father wanted
him to stop in Havana and let him be the local host. He had been in contact with him by phone and,
as soon as we let him know that we were on that dock, he was down there in a
flash.
Since I needed to stay aboard to deal with anyone who wanted
to question our anchoring position (completely legal, well clear of traffic
channel outside the buoys), they rowed the dinghy to the dock and took off with
“Scotty” for a cold one in town followed by a visit to the local grocery.
While I relaxed in this quiet and sunny location and passed
a few hours, I was hailed by a boat which was out on the river creating quite a
wake. After I explained the depth
situation, they still persisted on coming into the dock inside of us – although
the draft of their massive 52 foot luxury cruiser was only 6” less than ours at
4’6”.
They managed to get it in after about 15 minutes of
jockeying and, while they did eventually get tied up, I pointed out that they
had been pumping river mid through their engines for the whole time. There was the owner and his wife aboard their
boat “Endless Summer” from Holland, MI and they also had a hired Captain and
his wife aboard to give them a hand. I
talked with him later and found that he had removed two buckets of
densely-packed river bottom from the strainer baskets. Hopefully, they didn’t have too much packed
in a similar manner in the rest of the cooling system.
When the Captain and Chuck came back, they were amazed to
see that another boat had joined us.
While they were gone, I made up some salmon patties and was just ready
to cook them when they announced that Scotty also wanted to take us for dinner
at 6:30. So, the patties went into the
refrigerator for use another time and we went to the local tavern/restaurant
and were joined by Scotty’s wife Barbara.
We had nice meal and visit in this pleasant town with a most
gracious host and ended up back at Dutchess after dark for a few episodes of
“Father Ted” on the TV.
We were already zipped into our sleeping bags for the
evening later when we were disturbed by engine noises and a huge searchlight
coming up from behind us. Amazingly, a
37’ Nordic Tug (Insandidty, Ocala, FL) was slipping between us and Endless
Summer to try docking forward on the part of the dock with no cleats.
We watched as they worked their way in very
slowly and, although their 3’ draft should have been no problem, they still had
difficulty getting tied up. Eventually
all was quiet and we went back to bed for another peaceful night on the
Illinois.
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