Going in Circles in Alton, Illinois

the date

Sandstone Bluffs and Caves along the Mississippi

Alton Illinois is a short cruise from Grafton, only about 20 miles on the Mississippi river. We included it in our itinerary just so that we could see the town and extend our rest. After traversing the Illinois river. In the morning of our departure from Grafton, we first stopped again in Port Charles and had the missing rubber linkage installed between the thruster motor and shaft. It appeared to test just fine while we were tied up at the dock in the boat yard. However, a declining river level made our return to Port Charles somewhat problematic. As we entered the narrow channel, we were essentially pushing mud just over 3 feet of water. I was very anxious to depart before the levels dropped any lower and we were stuck in Port Charles. Our trip down the river to Alton was pleasant and uneventful. We entered the Alton Marina just under the highway bridge and proceeded to the field dock for fuel and pump out. The thruster were great, pushing the boat to starboard as we approach the fuel dock. However, when it was time to leave, we found that trying to thrust left again, cause the thruster to go to the right. The control which operated, the thruster had been miswired at the boat yard, and the boat would only rotate toward the right side. I called the boat yard and they offered to have a look if we would bring the boat 20 miles back upstream and enter that narrow, shallow channel once again. This did not seem like a good idea. And I declined another trip to Port Charles reasoning that the thruster at least worked to starboard. I had the great fortune to discuss this with one of our friends, Ian from etc. He asked to see the wiring diagram for the thruster, examined it and told me that he could solve the problem by cutting one of the wires which had welded itself to the motor contact and replacing it on a different contact on the other side of the motor. This seemed like a perilous option but Ian was adamant that he could fix the problem and, what do you know, he did. Only then, did he let on that he had trained and worked as an electrical engineer in his past life. This was a great relief as we had a functioning, thruster back and did not have to contemplate another trip and boatyard delay. Funny thing was that not having a thruster for a week while maneuvering into locks and marinas had proven to me that a thruster was not essential in my use of the device declined dramatically over the next several months. That was the silver lining.

The thruster motor in question.

With the thruster issue out-of-the-way, we were free to explore the small but very historic town of Alton. This area is best known because one of the Lincoln Douglas debates occurred here and the site is memorialized in a downtown Park. This was also the site of a notorious Civil War prison where Confederate prisoners of war were kept for several years with often tragic result. This entire region figures, large in the history of the Civil War with multiple sites, mostly related to grants, battles and campaign. We explored the town, had a nice lunch in a building where Lincoln stayed and visited the Confederate prison site.

Kathy's bike stopped working again (Error 09) and we found a canvas repair guy to repair the Bimini zipper once again.