Flotilla 4 and the Admiral Returns

October 14

Flotilla 4

The Illinois waterway had been closed since July due to maintenance on three locks; Brandon Roads, Dresden Island and Marseilles.  They opened on schedule, October 1, but requested that Loopers wait until October 6th before traversing allowing the backlog of commercial traffic to ease.  Even with this, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) would only commit to allowing 16 pleasure craft through per day.  

There are ~275 looper boats this year.  With the 16 boat limit, we organized into Flotillas of 16 with each leaving in subsequent days.  We did gain agreement from the ACE that if other non looper boats were at the lock as well, they would permit a second lock through.

I was the leader of Flotilla 4.  This made a lot of sense when I thought Jim would be on the boat working with me to get through.  With the 5 day shift from 10/1 to 10/6, I lost Jim due to his golf schedule.  I found myself solo leading a total of 15 boats (one dropped out) down the Illinois waterway.  All worked out well, but it wasn't without it's moments.

  

So what were these "moments" I mentioned?  To get to the three repaired locks that were the subject of such great concern, we had to traverse either the Chicago river or the Calumet river.  Everyone was staged and ready to go.  THEN, a railroad bridge got stuck in the down position effectively closing the Chicago river. THEN, the weather kicked up effectively closing Lake Michigan to boaters.  This left everyone staging at Chicago scrambling to find space near or on the Calumet.  The marinas quickly became overrun with Loopers forcing multiple staging points for the Flotillas.  

Flotilla 4 split into two with 5 boats starting 28 miles down the Calumet (named F4.5) and 10 boats (named F4.10) starting at Hammond Indiana at the mouth of the Calumet.  I put Mike Bruhn in charge of F4.5.  Mike is a retired army colonel and an amazing man.  He did great.

Being miles ahead, F4.5 was scheduled to arrive at the Joliet wall hours ahead of F4.10.   The Joliet wall is the staging area for the three repaired locks.  It is a town wall with limited space.  F4.5's objective was to secure space on the wall for the entire flotilla allowing us to depart at first light on 10/9.  

Flotilla 4 on Joliet Wall

Here is a drone video taken by Mike Pickette of Pickette's Pub.  It was emailed to me so the resolution is low but it does a great job showing the size of the flotilla and the size of these barges.

On the way to Joliet, both groups had to pass through an electronic fish barrier designed to keep Asian Carp out of the great lakes.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_carp_in_North_America).  Essentially, they electrify the water preventing fish from passing.  It serves its purpose.  HOWEVER, when F4.5 went through this, it knocked out 2 of the 5 boats.  One boat was able to "reboot" and proceed.  The other is still offline and under repairs as I type.

With F4.10 being 2 hours behind and having knowledge of this we adjusted our plans.  The boats that were knocked out were "steer by wire" and all electronic ignition (read modern boats).  We decided the following:

• Everyone was to turn off their electronics at the breaker to protect them.
• Anyone of similar configuration to the down boats was to be towed through the barrier by able boats.

As it turns out, only two boats were suitable tow boats with the Shorebilly being one since I was outboard based and direct connect hydraulic steering (no electric assist).  So picture this;  the Shorebilly is one of the smallest boats in the fleet.  I would pull beside big boats like Never Home, tie up to them side by side (aka Side Saddle), and pull them across the barrier.  Then go back and get the next boat.  All while solo.  With barges coming up and down the river.   Intense.  We all made it.  No more damaged boats.  

Shorebilly pulling the much larger Never Home through Barrier

"Side Saddle" Pull

Getting almost all of Flotilla 4 to Joliet was a big win.  Dreamcatcher was down and out from the barrier not to return.  We did, however, find some non Looper boats at the wall looking to go through the locks.  Rather than fight them, we incorporated them into our plans, invited them to the captains meeting and worked collaboratively to the benefit of all.   I posted a "rafting"order (how we would be positioned inside the lock).  6 Feet Under and Star Ship were non looper boats.  This also shows their slip assignments once we got through the locks.

Everyone lined up like ducks in a row and through the locks we went.  

More general Flotilla pics:

Everything was going fantastic with the lock crews praising us for our organization and efficiency.  We did give them treats of homemade toffee and breakfast sammies so that might have helped with the praise.  THEN another one of those moments happened.  

We had to hold station for an hour at the Marseilles lock in 20+mph winds.  Imagine trying to keep 16 boats from a) hitting each other and b) not running aground for one hour in a narrow channel.  Some of these boats are single engine and no thrusters.  Brutal.  

One of the non looper sail boats was being pushed by an 8ph outboard and could not hold station.  They ended up hopelessly grounded just as the lock doors were opening.  It had a young family on board. Remember, they are only going to give us one locking a day!  I quickly got on the radio and asked if anyone could give assistance.  I got "I don't have the power", "I don't have the maneuverability", "I can't get to them" (The group was now strung out over a mile from the winds).  This left one boat.  You guessed it, the Shorebilly.   

I was at the front of the pack and could see the doors opening.  The sailboat was at the back about a mile away.  This was the first time most of the flotilla had ever seen the Shorebilly over 8mph.  I apologized on the radio for waking everyone and took it up to 30mph (top speed).  To make the story very short, this was the first time that sailboat had ever had 315hp thrown at it. It took full throttle to get it off the bar. It was so stuck that once free, I had to cut the line for there was no getting it off the cleat.  

We both raced back to lock and made it.

The next day we had one more lock to do as a Flotilla and Mike Bruhn took lead.  The group was so used to working together that it took only 36 minutes end to end to make the pass.  The lock master literally applauded us.   

After that,  the Flotilla organization dissolved.  I wanted to get to Grafton to meet up with the Admiral (aka Terri) which was a 167 mile run.  I did most of it at 22mph.  The average is 16.6 but that includes locks and slow passes of barges.

Since the Flotilla was now dissolved, I had to do the remaining locks solo.  Ever wonder what that looks like?  That is me holding two lines .....

The Admiral

It is great to have Terri back on board.  Yudee went nuts when he saw here.  We have been married 38 years and this 2+ weeks is actually the longest we have been apart.  It was time to get her back!  Now she can focus on how to spoil me rotten again!

All is well,

Stay Safe

Love Terri and Aubrey

AGLCA Flotilla 4 Report

For those that have read this far.  Here is the report I submitted to the other Flotilla leaders to help/inform them:

-------

Sorry to combine the 2 days into one report.  Here goes.

You have almost nothing to worry about.  The rivers are starting to flow and things are open and working well.

Highlights:  

Day 1:

We made it to the Joliet wall by about 4:00. 

Both the TJ O’Brien and Lockport locks went smoothly with little to no delay.

We had broken into two groups: MSC and Hampton.

We had a sub leader for MSC and I took Hampton.

Both groups performed well.

Spirits were very high by the time we hit Joliet.

Captains meeting at Joliet was really fun but productive  

Day 2:

We cleared the Brandon Roads lock AND Dresden Island with NO DELAY.

We had our rafting order preplanned and both of these locks let me dictate.

They openly praised our process.

We picked up multiple non AGLCA boats.  We took the approach to integrate them into our structure.  They were grateful.  

Mercelles, the wind picked up (15 - 20mph).  Had to hold for 45 minutes.  Brutal.  One of the non AGLCA boats was a sailboat. It ran aground trying to hold.  That pulled me out of the pack to help.  At that time Marcellis opened.  We were not as organized there but ultimately the group was cohesive and pulled it out without incident.    

We arrived at Heritage Harbor at 4:45, so early they were not fully ready for us (no bar tender).

Lowlights

The electric fish barrier knocked out one boat completely and the electronics on another.  The second boat did a hard reboot of everything and got it going again.  The first boat is still down and stuck at Joliet.

Both of these boats were in the MSC group ahead of the Hammond group.

The Hammond group decided to PULL any boat with “fly by wire” or anyone worried over the barrier.  We did it “side saddle” and had no issues.  

ALL ELECTRONICS SHOULD BE TURNED OFF GOING OVER THE BARRIER.  Turn it off at the breaker and protect it.

Keys to Success

Multiple boats prepared “goodies” for the lock crew.  When I called, I would say “I heard you might not be able to accept home based goods.  We have prepared some for you.  Would you be able to accept?”  They immediately said yes. Since I did this in advance of our arrival, it incentivised the lock crew to work with us.  It worked and I am pretty sure that each lock phoned the other to tell them because by the third lock, they were saying yes before I completed the question.

Teamwork is key.  On the boring part of the river, one other boat and I got everyone telling stupid jokes.  It broke the ice.  When things went tough in Marseilles, everyone worked together.

Show trust to the other boats and let them lead where possible.  I stared out in front and literally called out the lock structure.  By the end, the smallest boat was leading and doing a great job and when I helped the sailboat, others felt empowered and jumped right in.  It was really cool.

Summary

A tough two days but really really fun and I learned to respect and appreciate those in Flotilla 4.

Aubrey

Here is a sample of our rafting structure. 6 Feet Under and Star Ship are not part of Flotilla 4 but incorporated.

Wall Boat	Raft Boats in Order	Length	Heritage Assignment
Frosty		51	B-"T..dock"
	Nevadatude	40	B-10
	FAITH	39	B-37
	June Sea	29	B-16
Chaniel		44	A - Side
	Puffin	44	C - Side
	Live de Life	39	B-14
	Slack Tide	34	B-43
6 Feet Under	Note: Marcellies will have Rambling Rosie on Wall. 6' Under will turn off before.
	Rambling Rosie	40	B-8
	Cool Breeze	38	A-8
	Pickette’s Pub	37	A - Side
The Jackie B III		50	A - Side
	Never Home	39	A-30
	Shorebilly Too	37	B-20
<	Star Ship	38

PS:  Kim,  I did not put this on the Leader Forum for I didn't think the formatting would hold.  Please post if that is possible.