Making Steady Progress...Sept 15-18

The group we joined along the free wall in Joliet (including electricity....how do you beat that?)

So about that making up some ground (water) in the last post.  Here Tom is leading the flotilla out of Joliet.

 
But, boy, when they say tows have first priority do they ever mean it!  Our average wait time at the Brandon, Dresden and Marseilles locks was about 4 hours each.  So it is steady progress but not too many miles per day. 
Here we are after communicating with the tow captain, passing him on the "two whistle" (starboard to starboard).  The captain will let you know which side to pass or overtake him on, to hold up while he passes, to wait for the next straight section of river, etc.  They do not want to have a problem with a recreational vessel so if you don't contact them, they will contact you!

Being one of the longer boats in the group we joined up with, we are usually assigned the wall of the lock so others can raft off our boat. Twice have had a nice floating bollard to secure to (only need one line amidships)  and once just had bow and stern lines over the lock wall.  Given I only have one strong arm due to the rotator cuff surgery, the captain of the boat who rafted off with us came aboard and handled the stern line when we had to handle two lines.  That is the Looper comradery, everyone helps their fellow Looper.  Everyone we have met have been so much fun to meet and exchange stories, etc.  Meeting fun and interesting people was one of our goals for our adventure and we have not been disappointed!
Here we are awaiting a drop with lines provided by the lockmaster.

Had a little excitement in the Marseilles lock with another boater who was having difficulty with the swirling winds in the lock and keeping control of his boat.  So if we can't get exercise, we can at least get our heart rate up when visions of cracking fiberglass go through ones mind....  He did finally get secured to Sum Escape as directed by the lockmaster, but it took three approaches.
And here is one of the locks as it emptied!  Note we are secured to a floating bollard which makes the descent really easy.  No lines to handle, just need to be attentive if the bollard should jam and loosen the line.  One should have a knife handy, just in case.

We want to catch up to our friends in Alton, IL by Tues, but a no travel day on Friday due to not wanting to take a chance on weather, makes that very questionable.  But hey, we are retired and we should catch up to them at the rendezvous in mid Oct.  The most dangerous thing on the voyage is a schedule, so we will enjoy the pool, possibly take the marina courtesy car to town to restock, take a nice walk, or finally just generally relax for a day. 
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