1 Oct 17

We slept in again this morning as we only have a short run to Alton Marina, Alton, IL. Before we pulled out of Grafton, we did the monthly boat chores (exercised all thru-hull valves, cleaned all of the bilge, freshwater and shower pump screens, upended the fire extinguishers and cleaned all the raw water inlet screens). We pulled out into the muddy Mississippi just after 11:00. The Mississippi is a lot wider than the Illinois; there is also a lot more commercial traffic, but the river is so wide that it is not much of an issue. Alton Marina was achieved at 13:00. This is a very nice marina, but is right under the big highway bridge that stretches over the Mississippi between Alton and St. Charles County, MO, so there is a lot of road noise. After we were all tied up, we walked a mile into town to Mac’s Time Out (sports bar) and watched the Astro’s last baseball game of the 2017 regular season - the Astros came from behind in the 7th inning to beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 and finished with a 101-61 season record: outstanding! Now, its on to the post season; Boston comes to Houston for the first two games of the ALDS starting on next Thursday.

38-53.035’N, 090-10.586’W; Log = 13.2, Sum (2017) = 2441.0 N-m

2 Oct 17

Today was re-provisioning and laundry and planning day. We met another couple - Serge and Sandrine - who are also doing the loop on “Le Voyageur”, their 22 ft houseboat. We will pull out of the marina tomorrow at the same time.