At Alton, IL

---

October 31-November 3, 2022: We make the short cruise to Alton and park the boat for a month.

---

(continued from At Grafton, IL)

It was a very short trip from Alton to Grafton, IL: just 14 miles. The main highlight was merging into the mighty Mississippi River, which happened just a half mile from Grafton Marina. Although the river got a lot wider there, there wasn’t much of a difference between it and the last 50 or so miles of the Illinois River.

Except the islands, maybe. There were a number of islands along the way — Portage Island, Eagle Nest Island, Piasa Island — and channel markers guided us around them. We didn’t pass any of the enormous tows we’d been warned about. Water levels on the Lower Mississippi were still dangerously low and it was affecting barge traffic throughout the river system.

Then there was a tall bridge in front of us. We passed under, close to the Illinois shore and made a tight U-turn to get into the marina. The fuel dock was almost right next to one of the bridge towers. I came in and two dock hands tied us up. I took on 105 gallons of diesel at a whopping $5.89 per gallon. (I’d later learn that Hoppie’s Marine Service just 40 miles farther down stream — and my first stop on the next phase of my trip — was selling diesel for just $4.99/gallon. Yes, I could have saved about $100.)

The Nebo map for October 31, 2022. Download a PDF log file with more info. Track Do It Now on Nebo.

Parking for the Trip Home

I’d originally chosen an uncovered slip, hoping to soak up some sun while we were there, but changed my mind after we parked and asked for a covered slip. We moved the boat and secured it. The boat had a small leak somewhere above the galley and when it rained hard, water found its way in through a joint between the beautiful teak wall and a brass porthole. I’d troubleshoot that leak while we were there, but if I couldn’t fix it, I didn’t want rainfall to get in without me being around to dry it up. (That turned out to be a good thing because I couldn’t fix it.)

Our slip was on one of the long term docks that was pretty far from the office. The bathroom building on our dock was closed for the season — the water was shut off. The only bathroom available was all the way back at the main office — a round trip distance from Do It Now of about 3000 steps, as measured by my Apple Watch. We used that bathroom as much as possible since it wasn’t likely I’d be able to get the boat pumped out until after I reached Paducah or Green Turtle Bay when I continued my trip. So yes: three trips to the bathroom and I pretty much had my 10,000 steps for the day. There was no shower, but there was a laundry room with two washers and dryers. This turned out to be pretty handy for both of us to get clothes washed before we went home.

Nine Lives and Mark the Kayak Guy were also at the marina, but they were parked at the end of a transient dock much closer to the main office. La Principessa would arrive before Janet and I left to go home; we’d see Nine Lives off together the morning after we arrived.

Here’s Nine Lives, departing Alton on the morning after we arrived. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Kenny and Rhonda were running away from us.

We didn’t do much in Alton. We did go out one day for lunch at a restaurant in town, Bluff City Grill. It was surprisingly good. From there, we walked north through a residential area with a surprising number of parks, half-heartedly looking for a bakery and ending up at the Schwegel’s Market. This was one of the great little “mom and pop” supermarkets that some small cities still have. We didn’t need to buy much because we were leaving soon, but it was good to support a small, much needed business. (Keep in mind, folks, that the demise of stores like this create food deserts with tacky, crappy dollar stores to fill the void.) ON the way back to the boat, we stopped in a coffee shop called Post Commons, which occupied an old post office building. The architecture inside and out was a real treat for me. The coffee — well maybe not so much.

I did take care of two boat maintenance chores:

• I tried to track down the leak that had been plaguing me during every rainstorm since I’d owned the boat. Water was finding its way through the bottom of the little porthole window and dripping down the teak wall. I thought, at first, that it was a leak in the porthole, but it turned out to be something above the porthole, between the outer and inner walls of the boat out of sight and reach. There were two possibilities and neither could be fixed without the right kind of caulk and a lot more effort than I was willing to put into it then.

• 
  Despite the daunting size of the boat’s Volvo Penta D4-300 engine, changing the oil is relatively easy.

  I got the engine oil changed. Although I had the filters and the oil to do the job, I lacked a pump to get the oil out and a bucket large enough to hold it. I’d called a mechanic to come take care of it for me while I watched. I’d already seen several videos that showed me how to do it and I was pretty confident I could get the job done on my own, but it was good watching a mechanic and asking him specifics. He was a good guy who answered all of my questions. In the end, he took away the old oil in a 5-gallon bucket and I paid for an hour of his time.

Day Trip to St. Louis

I had decided to rent a car to get us to the airport on the morning of November 3 — mostly because of the sheer quantity of our luggage and having to deal with my pups and their travel kennel — and we went to pick it up at St. Louis Airport the day before. That in itself was an ordeal. After getting to the car rental place in an Uber, we waited on a line for nearly an hour before it was our turn. Then we waited a little more for our car to be brought out to us. The car rental place was understaffed and clearly did not have enough cars. They were giving them to renters as quickly as they were emerging from the car wash behind the facility.

From there, we went into St. Louis. Our destination was Gateway Arch, which I did not realize was a National Park. We parked in a weird cobblestone lot between the arch and the river and walked up the stairs to a park around the base of the arch. We both took lots of photos. Then we made our way to the entrance under the arch to go inside.

A weird scene unfolded as we were preparing to buy our tickets to go in. An extremely skinny black man, clad only in briefs, was mouthing off to people who worked in the building. He was either crazy or high on something (or both) and he was asked several times by security to leave. When he ignored them, picked up a pile of brochures, and started throwing brochures at the people who worked there, the security guy threatened to taze him. And then he did. The guy went down and the bystanders moved aside to stay out of the way. It was not a pleasant scene, but I have to admit that I’d seen worse in the days when I worked in Manhattan.

Eventually, we were ushered into the building’s basement where there was another place to buy tickets. We bought a ride to the top of the arch. Because they hadn’t let anyone into the building since the scene at the main entrance began, there were very few other people with us for the ride up.

Overall, it was an excellent experience. The little round cars that ride up to the top of the arch are an unusual little technological marvel now nearly 60 years old. At the top, you’re in a narrow room with windows on both sides that offer amazing views of St. Louis on one side and Illinois on the other. Because of the small size of our group — I think there were only six of us total — it wasn’t crowded at all and we had plenty of time to look around and take pictures. After about 10 minutes, we were ushered back into our little cars as another group came out of them and rode back down.

A view of St. Louis from the top of Gateway Arch on what has to be a perfect day.

Back in the basement, we checked out the gift shop and then made our way back outside into the warm sunshine. After a short walk through the park and into city streets we arrived at our lunch destination: Sugarfire Smoke House. After all, what’s a visit to St. Louis without real St. Louis barbecue? We ordered at the cafeteria style counter, paid, and sat down by a window to eat. It was delicious. I still regret not ordering extra to take home.

We walked back to the car not long after that. We were back at the boat before sunset.

Heading Home

The next day, we were up at 4 AM for our trip to the airport. Janet’s flight was an hour before mine so I dropped her off first. Then I parked at my airline’s terminal and went inside to check my big bag and my pups. It was the first time they’d ever been together in a kennel or on an airplane and I admit that I was very worried about them. But it was the only way we’d be able to get home; I wasn’t making that drive again anytime soon.

I returned the rental car and took the rental car shuttle back to the airport. A while later, I was on board my flight. With confirmation that my pups were on board, we were on our way home.

I had completed my first 23 days as Captain of my own boat on the Great Loop. We had traveled 321 miles in 10 cruising days. Not a bad start.

I’d be back at Do It Now to continue my trip right after Thanksgiving. I couldn’t wait.

(continued in Return to Do It Now)