September 26, Day 105 - Peoria to Bath Chute at Snicarte Island

We had planned on leaving early, but we woke up to dense fog and had to delay our departure. By the time the fog cleared and we got a necessary pump out and another in our traveling group got diesel, we finally got underway around 9:30. We had 60+ miles to travel so we were hoping for a quick lock through and a minimum of barge traffic. We were lucky with the lock through. We only had to wait a short time and, then once in the lock, we didn’t even tie up. They just had us free float while they locked us down. It was only a short drop of around 10 feet and there was no wind or current so they told us not to tie up. That worked pretty well.

There was a lot more barge traffic today. Seems like we were either overtaking or passing oncoming barges all day long. We also had periods of rain off and on most of the day. We were really hoping that the anchorage listed in the book turned out satisfactory because we were definitely ready to stop. We are finding that the water level of the river is quite low and some of the marinas and anchorages listed in the guide books are not accessible to us. Fortunately, when we arrived at the selected anchorage, the water depth was 8+ feet and there was plenty of room for all of us and, as a bonus, it was peaceful and beautiful.

Christina on Christina Diane had made a big pot of seafood chowder and invited everyone over for big bowls of chowder. It was yummy!! We were all tired from our long day so after an hour or so, everyone headed home via Monk’s Vineyard dinghy taxi service (it appears our dinghy is the easiest to get down). It was time to call it a night.

It was off to bed where we were serenaded by the various critters on the nearby island.

We had stayed on the outskirts of Peoria, so early in the day we passed the actual town of Peoria. Most of the marinas were too shallow for us to enter so we had opted to stay elsewhere.



The industrial side of Peoria

Arriving at the Peoria Lock and Dam

The Lock Building

The other boats in our group floating in the lock -- we did not tie up to the wall

This is the town of ..........


Havana !!

A house on stilts. Most of the homes along the river are built on stilts ... not much flooding this year though

The river and clouds ahead

and the river and boats behind

At the anchorage. It was very nice and peaceful.

More of the anchorage

A flock of pelicans flying south

A gorgeous sunset