Island Hopping: Midwest Style
It is striking how different the first and second parts of this trip have been. I think of these parts as pre-Chicago and post-Chicago. Pre-Chicago was all northern Michigan towns, bathing suits, getting tan, and reading books; the autohelm still worked, so neither of us had to drive. It was warm and sunny, so we frolicked around towns a lot and showered at reasonable intervals. Now, post-Chicago, we are still frolicking a lot but around muddy islands instead of towns, and we are wearing three layers of warm clothes under full foul weather gear because it is constantly misty / pouring rain / painfully cold.
After Heritage Harbor, equipped with six pages of my handwritten notes and new friendships, we had our first anchorages on the Illinois River. Jessie told us that her favorite nights of the trip were when she and Katie were anchored out, and I wondered how that could possibly be better than being docked with wifi and a hot shower. Turns out, she was completely right. Grace and I have been going days at a time without speaking to or seeing humans besides each other, but we don’t feel like we are missing anything.
First was Starved Rock. There were a couple of other boats anchored there, but we didn’t make contact with them. We spent our evening watching youtube videos and laughing at Bo Burnham singing about burritos until we had tears in our eyes.
Drying our laundry
The next morning, we celebrated Grace’s 24th birthday by locking through Starved Rock and then eating cake for breakfast. Later that day, we arrived at Lower Sister Island with a little more excitement than intended. Just south of the island was shallower than expected; luckily, we were able to reverse and find a clear path to the anchorage. That was our first anchorage where we were the only boat within sight. It was so calm and quiet that it was hard to imagine that anyone else existed. I exercised by doing high-knees around the boat, and Grace was ready with the med kit in case I sliced my foot open on the jib car track.
The next day we made it to Lower Henry Island, my favorite anchorage so far. Grace and I rowed to shore in Iris, the inflatable dinghy we tow behind us. I ran around the island in foul weather gear and my red rain boots with sailboats on them. We climbed tree branches and pretended the fallen ones were balance beams. We even played tag (I won).
M U D! Cool mud on the island
The day after Lower Henry, we had planned on tying up to the free wall at Peoria, but mid-day, our new friends hailed us on the VHF to join them for taco night at the Ivy Club. Making a quick change in plans, Grace and I jumped up and down, thrilled we had friends who wanted to hang out with us. We enjoyed a lovely dinner with Ramie and Tim of Miss Norma and Julie and Joe of Seductress. Grace ate five tacos, and the next morning one of our new friends expressed her concern to me that we were not eating enough food on our boat trip (we are totally eating enough food on our boat trip).
The Illinois River is surprisingly beautiful. Maybe because of the rain, but everything is either super green or starting to change colors. It is also peacefully devoid of any traffic except for the occasional barge. I’m surprised people don’t talk about it more. It seemed like, while preparing for our trip, people had endless opinions and comments about the Mississippi River, but I don’t think a single person mentioned the Illinois; truthfully, I don’t even think I realized the Illinois River existed until we were motoring down it.
Some other thoughts on this part of our trip:
Life is centered around basic needs now. Using the indoor head or outdoor head are both inconvenient, so seriously so much of my time is consumed by dreading it and then putting it off until I get unbearably cranky. Also, food: It’s hard to balance eating an appropriate amount of food with not having a real form of exercise, but Grace casually remarked how cranky I get when I’m hungry (oops), so I eat a lot.
I am becoming accustomed to only showering every 5-7 days, sometimes more. I probably still smell, but I smell myself less. Progress? Our holding tank also doesn’t contain smells well. This is not a good way to convince people to visit the boat…
Things are getting hairy. Hairy in every sense of the word. My legs are hairy like they haven’t been since high school swim season the week before Leagues, we’ve had some hairy experiences with shallow anchorages and barges, and my glasses look like Ha(r)ry Potter glasses… I’ve had too much time to think.
Said Harry Potter glasses (from Beaver Island)
Literally, hours on end. It sometimes becomes necessary to listen to 2000s top hits really loudly when I’m driving or else normal thoughts like, “Wow that book was really inspirational but I’m sure glad I’m not hiking the PCT” transition into “Would I be my own friend if I weren’t me?” and then I end up reflecting on all the embarrassing things I’ve ever said or done and begin to think once we hit the Gulf of Mexico we’ll keep going south and never return.
All in all though, life on the Great Loop continues to be an adventure. We are learning every day and are endlessly grateful for this wonderful opportunity.