Henry, IL to Havana, IL

Miles Traveled 75.5

Total Miles Traveled 6493

Day 360

We took advantage of high water on the Illinois River and a beautiful day, to cruise all the way to Havana, IL.  We stopped at Tall Timbers Marina four years ago on a river cruise from Chicago to Alton and made this a “must stop” on our Great Loop Adventure. 

After leaving our anchorage, “Willow Tru” caught up with us from their anchorage as we passed this barge.

We normally cruise around 8 mph, but with the added river current we averaged 10 mph most of the day.

For the most part, the river was surprisingly free of debris but every few miles or so, we would see a potential hazard.

The dam at the Peoria Lock and Dam is a wicket dam.  With wickets, the entire dam is built on a hinge. During high water, the wickets are down, and the river traffic uses the main river channel.  During low water, the wickets are raised; creating a pool behind the dam, and navigation traffic has to use the lock.  With the high water conditions we are experiencing, the wickets were down allowing us to pass over the dam saving us a minimum of an hour to pass through the lock.

During our river trip four years ago we stayed at the Pekin Boat Club but the water was too high to make this stop.

Passing a north bound barge on the Illinois River.

This is a young eagle, for the first 3 to 5 years, juvenile bald eagles are a subdued mixture of chocolate brown with a varying amount of white over the body, tail and under wings.