ONTO GRAFTON

Sept 10- We left Tall Timber Marina at 8:00 am and headed down the river. We have one lock to do today- last lock on the Illinois River. It was a cool morning but as soon as the sun got up we were baking again. The lock was open when we got there and it took maybe a half hour to go through and then we had to find a place to pull over for the night. We locked through with three other boats who were Loopers as well. We passed by them at one point on the way down the river so when we found an island called Buckhorn to pull over for the night they all anchored there as well. We were invited over onto Reunion for docktails around 5 pm and met the other Loopers and exchanged a lot of helpful information. We were invited to dinner aboard Harmony and we had a wonderful meal. We had just gone to bed when we got hit by a pretty good storm with lightening, thunder and rain.

Sept 11- We left at 8:00 am heading to Grafton for a couple of days. When we reached Grafton marina we found we had caught up to American Pie who we hadn't seen since Ludington on Michigan. There are about eight Loopers here right now and I suspect we will pretty well all run together from here on. The couple from Harmony and American Pie joined us for dinner and unfortunately Harmony has left us to travel on ahead. They are a wonderful couple and I hope we will meet up with them again somewhere.

Heading to Grafton

Campground along river

Abandoned river boat

Car ferry 

Mist on the hills

Big homes built higher on the hills

One of the big houses

Grafton Marina

Sept 12- We have decided to stay in Grafton for a day or two as we have some maintenance to do on Manana. We are planning to hit Walmart today with the couple from American Pie (Bob and Lynn) to get supplies again. Grafton is a small town of around 650 people but it is a tourist area and is extremely busy for its size. They have 16 bars and 2 winerys here. I must apologize to anyone following my blog I have been printing August when we are in September - sorry about that.

View from our slip

A sign stating high water mark

This is a gift shop in Grafton

Downtown Grafton

Interesting little shops

These two homes are historical homes

Sept 13- We left Grafton at 9:30 am as we were waiting for the fog or mist to lift. We have a whole 20 miles to go to get to Acton as we are waiting for American Pie and hope to travel with them for awhile. When we got to Acton marina there was a Chris Craft at the dock that was sinking. They apparently had picked up a rope that wrapped around their prop and dislodged something and it started to take on water. When we passed it, it was listing badly to the starboard and the pumps were going full trying to right her again. It was about an hour before it started to come back and everyone let out a sigh of relief for this poor couple. The boat has now been towed out of here to a place where it can be repaired.

Leaving Grafton- some condos

The shoreline is rocky and higher now

Trailerable trawlers- possibly a club

Rocky shoreline

A very large home on cliff

Bridge at Alton

Grain elevator at Alton

A look at downtown Alton

A real riverboat