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This old boat needs attention. The reality. Since the engine is running rough and we stopped early afternoon Saturday at...
10/19/2026

This old boat needs attention. The reality.
Since the engine is running rough and we stopped early afternoon Saturday at a marina that can work on it, while we go home for a bit, we pulled out the growing To Do list. The fresh water tank will not hold water. Before leaving Bay City, we actually flushed it out and Tom even took a shower after we refilled it. But now somewhere there’s a leak! It’s not known if it’s the tank itself or the plumbing leading up to the tanks. Despite removing the floor boards, a cabinet and part of the seating, we could not figure it out.
Last week when connected to city water, we had a new leak at the hot water tank pipe. Tom was able to disassemble the pieces, buy new (no more grey pipe on that section!) parts and reassemble leak free. Eventually we will replace all the plumbing. But right now we are just trying to get things working. One problem solved!
We also had rain water coming down the somewhere near the mast plate. Looks like it was old sealant that failed and somehow plugged the drain hole. Scraped all the old goo out and added new sealant. Second problem solved.

More of the reality…Instacart will deliver out in the middle of nowhere. We have power at the marina! I will have heat! ...
10/19/2026

More of the reality…Instacart will deliver out in the middle of nowhere. We have power at the marina! I will have heat! Thank you April Proffitt for adding your mama to your family account!! It’s too cold for me!

Chicago to the Gulf Part 2 10/17/26 Goodbye to the Illinois river today. Hello Mississippi River & MissouriWe called aro...
10/18/2026

Chicago to the Gulf Part 2
10/17/26 Goodbye to the Illinois river today. Hello Mississippi River & Missouri

We called around on Friday for a marina that had enough depth for our keel, where we could leave the boat for a week or two, and a mechanic to look at and service our Yanmar engine. The 2 marinas where we were hoping to stay did not have a service department. However we did get the names of recommended mechanics. After 3 calls we found someone who could help us with our engine and had available docks. It’s really end of season for everyone, so marinas typically have availability for transients. It was a peaceful calm night despite 20+ mph winds. We were in a protected cove and just drifted around a bit all night. No problems with the anchor. The morning was 🥶 COLD, but beautiful. Lots of birds. No locks today, but we will say goodbye to the Illinois River and get to see the mighty Mississippi! We thought we would have been off the Illinois river on the last trip!
When we accelerated to begin motoring we realized we had to back off the RPMs even more. We were a bit worried about when we would have to turn and go against the current on the Mississippi River to get to the marina. We did a little test on the Illinois river to see how much the current slowed us down. It looked like we should have enough power to be able to go up the Mississippi river. When we tied up in the afternoon it was a sigh of relief! The charts indicated the water wasn’t deep enough, but the marina owner said we could make it and we did! ❤️🙏 Believe me I was praying the engine would get us there too!

10/18/2026

Saw this yesterday and it just reminds me how much I enjoy seeing everyone and everything enjoying the warmth of the sun.

10/17/2026

I saw some boats have windshield wipers. Mine works pretty good!

Chicago to the Gulf Part 210/16/26 Bar island anchorage to Dark chute anchorage. The day started great! Lots of movement...
10/17/2026

Chicago to the Gulf Part 2
10/16/26 Bar island anchorage to Dark chute anchorage.
The day started great! Lots of movement due to 30+ mph wind, however our anchor held! We went through one lock and kept our RPM’s low since we are having some sort of engine problem. Probably a fuel/fuel filter issue. We called around and spoke to 3 different mechanics and found one to help look at it. YAY!
We passed several barges today. I saw a beautiful formation of birds flying south but I couldn’t take a picture because I had to hold the line in the lock.

Chicago to the Gulf part 210/15/26 Havana to Bar Island After the stressful ending to yesterday we decided on an easier...
10/15/2026

Chicago to the Gulf part 2
10/15/26 Havana to Bar Island
After the stressful ending to yesterday we decided on an easier day. We are adjusting our expectations to feel more comfortable. We want to get the boat south before freezing temperatures, but we don’t want to travel in the dark. We went pretty slow today and stopped early. Despite the rain and overcast skies, it was a beautiful day. One of the biggest reasons we stopped earlier is because there is not another place to anchor while it’s still daylight. A more problematic issue is when we passed a tug boat yesterday afternoon, there was a lot of churning water with strong currents. We were near the edge of the channel. Immediately, after going through that section, we started experiencing some power loss. The engine never died, it would just lose power and come back. It was very unnerving. We are not in an area where we can get a Marina mechanic to check it out.  I noticed when I tried to throttle up today I heard some of the same sluggish power loss. No issues going slow, so that is the plan! It was so nice to use our electronic navigation and depth finder to stay in the marked area where we could anchor safely. There are three other boats anchored in the same area.
Since we’re stopping early, Tom is working on the plumbing leak we found at the end of last trip. 

Chicago to the Gulf Part 210/14/26 Chillicothe to HavanaFrom our sailing lessons in January, “the most dangerous thing o...
10/15/2026

Chicago to the Gulf Part 2
10/14/26 Chillicothe to Havana
From our sailing lessons in January, “the most dangerous thing on Boat is a schedule.”
Every time we put together a plan, we can’t allow for how much the weather will impact us. How long will it take to get through a lock? The water level is too low. We can do the mileage calculations. We can do the fuel calculations. But even that is dependent on the river flow and wind. We hopped in a rental car at 5am. We were packed the previous night. We drove to Chillicothe IL and unloaded our provisions. Hopped back in the car to return it to the Peoria airport, where we took a Lyft back to the marina. Plans going well!! We started down the Illinois river and made great time getting to the marina just before dark. It was an overcast day. We called the marina earlier in the day to confirm availability, and if they had deep enough water to accommodate us. They said we were good. Just as we turned to go into the entrance of the Marina, we got stuck. We are blocking the entire entrance channel.  We were hoping for an easy uneventful day. I called the Marina to let them know we had a problem. She said we could just stay there for the night nobody was leaving. 😂 I called our Tow insurance and nobody in the area. We had to find our own tow and get reimbursed. So frustrating! After many attempts, we were able to get Free from the mud. YAY! It was fully dark by then.  BOO! Thankfully there was another nearby Anchorage off the main channel. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing. The next Anchorage was an hour and a half down the river.  Anchoring for a larger boat is not something to take lightly. The Anchorage channel was very narrow and we did not want to ground the boat again. We were very lucky to get it out of the mud earlier. With our wing shaped keel it’s nearly impossible. Regardless, a series of going forward, dropping the anchor, then motoring in reverse to avoid all the chain dropping in one pile. Letting out the appropriate amount of chain for the depth of the water. Then setting the anchor. I was so glad when we were done. It was dark and I was tired.

10/15/2026

Chicago to the Gulf Part 1 9/30/26-10/4/26
10/4/26
After more phone calls and looking at the maps, we realize we can’t make it far enough to leave our boat in another Marina. We have to leave it at the current place. It looks pretty rundown, but they have electricity and water. The owner is very nice. After troubleshooting head, not flushing, we realize that when they did the pump out, it never emptied the tank. Because the Marina where you were staying, didn’t have a pump out, we had to motor one hour down to Peoria for a pump out and motor back. That was a bit frustrating. But it was a nice day with nice weather. We use the rest of the day to work on some other things that weren’t working properly. Unfortunately, while working on some other things, we realized we had a new problem. The connections to the hot water tank was leaking a lot. Tom disconnected the pipes and we’re taking them home to make a new one. 

Chicago to the Gulf Part 1 9/30/26-10/4/2610/3/26Wow. A good nights sleep goes a long way.  I woke up feeling great thi...
10/15/2026

Chicago to the Gulf Part 1 9/30/26-10/4/26
10/3/26
Wow. A good nights sleep goes a long way.  I woke up feeling great this morning. We left the marina pretty early. There were 3 other trawlers and captain Ron was following us. The trawlers didn’t want to go as fast, so they were left behind. We went through more locks today. There’s more natural shoreline rather than businesses. I did notice we left the Marina in the morning, we had a little bit of trouble flushing the head. I decided to worry about it later, but I let Tom know. 

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