30 Sep 17

I forgot that the alarm was not set for Saturday, so we slept in until 07:00. Nevertheless, we got the anchor up and were underway before 07:30, with breakfast on the road. It was a rather uneventful day (i.e., no locks, hurray!!), but at 09:42, we reached the western-most point on the American Great Loop at 39-21.770’N and 090-37.334’W. The last time the boat was this far west was in February 2013, just after we started this adventure. Fall is in the air; the trees on the tops of the hills are starting to change colors, although the ones down at the riverside are still green. We motored on gamely through the morning and early afternoon and were finally off the Illinois River and tied up at Grafton Harbor Marina, in Grafton, IL, at 14:15. Grafton styles itself the Key West of the Midwest and it was hopping. Thousands of people from all over the area descend on Grafton every weekend to take advantage of the many bars (many with live music), restaurants and wineries grouped along a half mile stretch of riverfront. We eventually went up to the top of the bluff for a light dinner and a glass of wine at Aerie’s and enjoyed the beautiful sunset views over the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

38-58.078’N, 090-26.411’W; Log = 47.3, Sum (2017) = 2427.8 N-m