Boot Key Harbor
"Marathon- the Heart of the Florida Keys"

An On-Line Cruising Guide for the Florida Keys & Cuba
Best viewed at 1024x768 or higher

The Illinois River -
The Upper portion of which is known as the Chicago Sanitary Canal (Should be called the Chicago UNSANITARY Canal)
Sept 19th, 2001

The initial Illinois River, going South out of Chicago, is EXTREMELY busy and commercial. Sometimes there wasn't room to even pass side by side barges and tows, and had to wait for an open spot. The worst part of this is that this "Sanitary Canal" - as they call it - is that it is the most UNSANITARY body of water we've ever been in. Lisa had to point out to me the dozens of condoms that were constantly floating in the water downstream with us! She didn't have to point out the smell to me - my sense of smell is not like hers, but I couldn't even miss the stench. The commercial aspects of the river are understandable, but the filth was not. We couldn't believe people were fishing from the banks. Were they really going to eat those fish? When we stopped in Peoria so I could go work for a while, Lisa opted NOT to make the rest of the river trip with me and instead hooked up again in Kentucky. That's too bad because from Peoria on down the river was nice and it was a good trip.

The locks started again, of course, in the Illinois River. Below is a pleasure boat locked in with a Tow and Barges. Courtesy of Windigo III.

To see some pictures from our friends aboard the S/V Windigo III - go to http://www.heartlandlabs.com/WindigoIII/WindigoIII%20Travelogue%20Catalogue.htm

CLICK HERE for the next photos in series of the Great Circle Trip . . .