Day 56 – at Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa, IL - August 31, 2011

We decide to stay at Heritage Harbor Marina for another day so we can do some shopping and laundry.  We make good use of the courtesy car and get both these jobs done.  We had also planned to do some work on the boat, but don’t get as far along on the “to do” list as we hoped.  No worries though, as there are more days ahead to get those other tasks done.

We spend some time talking to Captain Moe, a Gold Looper (that’s someone who has completed the Great Loop) who completed his loop in 2005, about Ottawa and the Heritage Harbor Marina.  The floating docks here are anchored with extremely long dock pole – over 16 feet of the poles is above the water level.  Captain Moe pointed out the high level water mark on one of the poles.  It is 14 feet above the current water level and happened back in August of 2008.  There was serious flooding on the river and they had 12 Loopers that stayed with them for 10 days, waiting for the water to recede.  The floating docks were like their own island as the connectors to shore were under water.  Travel from your boat to the restaurant and shore required a trip in your dinghy.  We hear many stories of high water, but it is hard to imagine what it must look like.

            Miles: 0           Bridges: 0        Locks: 0