America's Great Loop on Emilie B

We continued on the Illinois River from Beardstown to Grafton, then merged onto the Mississippi where we enjoyed a few knots of downriver current until we turned upriver on the Ohio, where we promptly got a similar current against us. These are working rivers with lots of commercial traffic and large locks. We've chatted with tow captains who liked the looks of Emilie B and a couple who thought we were a commercial tow. We had our highest mileage day (131) as we wanted to be on a dock before the remnants of Hurricane Francine arrived in the area. The stormed didn't amount to much, although the area could really use some rain. The Mississippi is lower than normal for this time of year and starting to impact commercial traffic. We got to celebrate with our friends on Voyager as they crossed their wake in Grand Rivers, KY and are now making new friends as we continue on our loop down the Tennessee River. We have decided to do a side trip to Chattanooga and maybe all the way to Kno...

The past few weeks have been quite varied as we transitioned off Lake Michigan on to the mid-west rivers with barges and locks. The days on the river have been at a slower pace with more miles between stops, since there are not many anchorages or marinas. Instead of waves, we are now aware of water depths and shoaling. We see evidence everywhere of how high the water can get, hard to believe with the width of the river and the depth right now. We are also passing through some iconic areas - the city of Chicago and in a couple of days, St. Louis. We are traveling again with Voyager who are on their last leg of the loop - crossing their wake in KY. Fun to be with them and able to get pictures of each other's boat.  It was a good day on Lake Michigan, so bypassed Milwaukee and went on to Racine We had a short stay in Racine and stayed 3 days in Northpoint Marine, just outside of Waukegan, IL - a huge public marina but lots of empty slips. Imagine flying this brand new G600 - our frien...