Chicago to St Louis run 5/4-5/5 Great Loop Run

[swatski]

Do you plan to pull out there or are you just going to leave your boat up in Alton? Is this trip doable you think right now or do we need to re think it?

We would just leave the boat, I have guest slipped there on occasion, it is very convenient. We will get a ride from there.

Will need to confirm with the Peoria locks and gas, so just some calls, otherwise the river is very high and very beautiful.

At least in the lower part which has been most inundated there are reports of very little or no debris, somewhat surprising but great news.

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[robert843]

@swatski are you sure you want to that? I feel bad that your going to just have to leave your boat at a marina that is not your home marina with no idea when you will be able to get it out just to pull this trip off? That sounds like a costly price tag to pay.

 

[swatski]

@swatski are you sure you want to that? I feel bad that your going to just have to leave your boat at a marina that is not your home marina with no idea when you will be able to get it out just to pull this trip off? That sounds like a costly price tag to pay.

Not at all. I only posted that picture of the inundated Alton ramp thinking of @Nickp98 - I suggested earlier in the thread that’s a great place to park the truck and pull the boat if he does the trip. Well, that may not be the best option right now for him.

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[Wisefam22]

@swatski Pulled his boat out from between 2 trees in the mud on a "this looks like an acceptable slope to make a ramp" a little high water is nothing... could you fold tower to go under bridge or is water to high with tower folded?

 

[swatski]

@swatski Pulled his boat out from between 2 trees in the mud on a "this looks like an acceptable slope to make a ramp" a little high water is nothing... could you fold tower to go under bridge or is water to high with tower folded?

It can get impassible even with tower down after a heavy rain, that little river can go up 20ft o/n, lol.

Also... my tower does not fold (at least not easily, it requires some tools now with my “redesigned” lock).
(It used to fold whether or not I wanted it to, lolol)

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[Mainah]

 

[Mainah]

Looks like they expect it to come down from where it is to below flood stage by this Sunday.

 

[swatski]

Looks like they expect it to come down from where it is to below flood stage by this Sunday.

Yes! It may or may not be enough though (to use the ramp the way it was designed to be used). Just saying in case others plan to pull there.
There are not many places around with secure parking and easy access, during high water. Or low water for that matter, lol.
Personally - I’ll rather take high water, and things are starting to look good!

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[swatski]

As of today, Illinois River is looking good, Mississippi River... not so much. Riverbills.com is a good site to follow (or call individual lockmasters, they are usually happy to talk).

There is another crest coming in about 10-14 days down into the pool 26 (Grafton/Alton), so possibly our retrieval plans may need to be revised, but right now the Alton Marina stop is a safe bet at this point.

Many locks on the upper Mississippi are currently getting ready to close up again due to that incoming flood wave - this should NOT effect our trip.

Again, Illinois River looking great as of now, though we do have more rain coming.
As a potential bonus, the lower two locks (Peoria and LaGrange) which are "wicket" type are now wide open - we could just fly through without "locking through"! But it may or may not stay that way when we get there.

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[Mainah]

Forgive the question from a non local but Is there a possibility of submerged channel markers to be concerned with (fixed or floating)?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Forgive the question from a non local but Is there a possibility of submerged channel markers to be concerned with (fixed or floating)?

Yes very much so.

 

[swatski]

Forgive the question from a non local but Is there a possibility of submerged channel markers to be concerned with (fixed or floating)?

Totally.
We will be flying (half) blind, with instruments, primarily relying on the nav+ of my dragonfly.

I have found it to be remarkably reliable in the past but channel does get out of wack with every flood.

The biggest danger at high water are L-dikes and rock dams, not all plotted on the charts (by your friendly ACE dudes).

We will be watching the chart plotter, the water surface, holding onto our butts...!

If anyone is not feeling it, I absolutely would not hold it against, this trip has the potential to provide for some unique challenges, perhaps.

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[Mainah]

Totally.
We will be flying (half) blind, with instruments, primarily relying on the nav+ of my dragonfly.

I have found it to be remarkably reliable in the past but channel does get out of wack with every flood.

The biggest danger at high water are L-dikes and rock dams, not all plotted on the charts (by your friendly ACE dudes).

We will be watching the chart plotter, the water surface, holding onto our butts...!

If anyone is not feeling it, I absolutely would not hold it against, this trip has the potential to provide for some unique challenges, perhaps.

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I trust the plotters pretty well. This is an awful long trip to play follow the line on the screen though. Are we talking we should expect submerged fixed objects/land a good distance from shore along the entire trip or just in certain spots? I get floating debris can happen but it just dawned on me today about normally visible fixed items being submerged. Getting thrown around in or from the boat would be less than ideal. I was considering bringing my white water helmet as a joke but now that it may really be needed it is not so funny.

 

[swatski]

I trust the plotters pretty well. This is an awful long trip to play follow the line on the screen though. Are we talking we should expect submerged fixed objects/land a good distance from shore along the entire trip or just in certain spots? I get floating debris can happen but it just dawned on me today about normally visible fixed items being submerged. Getting thrown around in or from the boat would be less than ideal. I was considering bringing my white water helmet as a joke but now that it may really be needed it is not so funny.

Well... Yes. To all those concerns.
I'm by no means an expert but there is no question this is going to be a risky trip. The channel is unrecognizable at flood levels, I don't care how good or familiar with the channel you are, there is just no way of telling the channel the normal way when it floods everything looks different, and the markers themselves can be moved and out of wack, etc.
The chartplotter and straining your eyes carefully scanning the surface is how I run. COme to think of it, i have never been out in a flooded river without actually hitting something. Most all of it is small debris, I have never yet hit anything that would do damage to anything other than the pumps, thank god. just saying - not to bs or sugarcoat.
Pulling a pump requires a lift so that would be a trip stopper. Likely to happen? - probably not.


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[Mainah]

Well... Yes. To all those concerns.
I'm by no means an expert but there is no question this is going to be a risky trip. The channel is unrecognizable at flood levels, I don't care how good or familiar with the channel you are, there is just no way of telling the channel the normal way when it floods everything looks different, and the markers themselves can be moved and out of wack, etc.
The chartplotter and straining your eyes carefully scanning the surface is how I run. COme to think of it, i have never been out in a flooded river without actually hitting something. Most all of it is small debris, I have never yet hit anything that would do damage to anything other than the pumps, thank god. just saying - not to bs or sugarcoat.
Pulling a pump requires a lift so that would be a trip stopper. Likely to happen? - probably not.


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I am going to take solace in that we are doing this is shallow draft jet boat.

 

[robert843]

I am going to take solace in that we are doing this is shallow draft jet boat.

The good news is a great portion of our trip is on the Illinois and I don't think it is in the same shape as the Mississippi. It looks like we won't enter a section of river that will be in flood stage till there is about 40-50 miles left which means we will have about 300 miles of river that is not in flood stage. Wow now when I broke this down I was looking at in small sections I never did the full math that this trip was 350 miles or so this is going to be great.

 

[swatski]

The good news is a great portion of our trip is on the Illinois and I don't think it is in the same shape as the Mississippi. It looks like we won't enter a section of river that will be in flood stage till there is about 40-50 miles left which means we will have about 300 miles of river that is not in flood stage. Wow now when I broke this down I was looking at in small sections I never did the full math that this trip was 350 miles or so this is going to be great.

The real good news is we have @Betik in charge of ground support.

Truth is, this trip can only be as safe as its ground support crew can make it.
Keep in mind, large swaths of land along river banks in IL/MO are quite desolate, and generally inaccessible by public transport and mostly unpaved roads if any, but mostly no (easy) access at all.

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[Betik]

With areal time tracker on the boat. Big Sister is watching LOL

 

[swatski]

You've got to be kidding...

Say it ain't snow: Winter storm to pound 4 million people across 1,200 miles of Midwest this weekend

A potent late-April snowstorm is forecast to dump up to 9 inches of snow across a 1,200-mile stripe of the Midwest and Great Lakes states over the weekend.

www.usatoday.com

The constant rain here for the last few weeks has been depressing, driving me crazy. But... this is... (not sure what to call it) ...exciting? lol

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[zipper]

You've got to be kidding...

Say it ain't snow: Winter storm to pound 4 million people across 1,200 miles of Midwest this weekend

A potent late-April snowstorm is forecast to dump up to 9 inches of snow across a 1,200-mile stripe of the Midwest and Great Lakes states over the weekend.

www.usatoday.com

The constant rain here for the last few weeks has been depressing, driving me crazy. But... this is... (not sure what to call it) ...exciting? lol

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That is what happens when Cabin and Spring Fevers collide. The sun will shine my friend...Eventually.