Day 51- Hennepin, Illinois

The reality came to us that we had to leave Heritage Harbor and get past the last lock scheduled for closure. We had done our shopping and fixed our generator issue. For the moment…

So we begin on a pleasant morning, knowing we only have to go about thirty miles, which will include getting through the last lock scheduled to close. We are not in a hurry to leave, and with the currents pushing us south, we will make good time. It only took us about 4 hours to go 29 miles, with a 35 minute delay going through the last lock. I kept a close eye on the instruments on the way, making sure the batteries were charging and all was good. We had left the marina at around 10am, expecting to get to our next stop in Hennepin by around 3pm. Hennepin has a free wall which boaters can dock at. There is no water or electric, but we are self sufficient enough to not need these amenities every day.

Hennepin from Wikipedia: “population was 757 at the 2010 census, up from 707 in 2000.  Hennepin’s Putnam County Courthouse, built in 1837, was as of 2007 the oldest county courthouse in Illinois still serving its original purpose.” This was a small town. (Follow this link to laugh at the TripAdvisor ‘the BEST things to do in Hennepin‘) Before arrival we reached out to another boat ‘Trinity’ which we’ve run across several times in our travels. They are the boat we almost dragged down on when our anchor wasn’t holding in Grand Haven. Also the same boat we were with in Frankfort, Michigan for a few days waiting out the weather. We knew they were there due to Nebo and reached out for some advice. They told us there was space, and they would assist us in docking. The docks there are not protected, so you are open to wake/waves from passing boats, which could be uncomfortable if taken on the beam. When we arrived, they told us they were backed in along the only dock, but we could raft off of them so our bow would be facing the river. This makes for a comfortable night for sleeping. We agreed, and after a couple of attempts, we finally were in the correct position to tie off of them. We walked to the courthouse, and around the town. There was a park we stopped and sat on a swinging bench, and just enjoyed the early evening. There was nothing else to do. Simplicity at its best.

We wandered back to the boat, and I fell asleep on the back patio. Lauren was reading a book, and Frank and the cats were lounging as they do. I was awoken by talking, and Lauren and Sonja from Trinity were chatting about the town. At this point it was close to dinner time, and Lauren had made some guacamole in preparation of our planned meal. It was time for us to run the generator to charge the batteries and have the power to cook our meal. Trinity retired and I went down to start the generator. I fired it up and came topside to listen for the flowing water. I was greeted with black smoke, and no sound of water. WTF!? It worked a few days ago, now what!? I obviously diagnosed it as no water. I checked all the hoses and found we had water flow, but it was not getting pulled to the engine. This means it must be an impeller. I have read enough about boat engines to know about this. It is a rubber wheel, which has paddles around it, This spins, creating a suction, pulling water through the engine to cool it down. From what I have read, the paddles break and you lose the suction. It should be as simple as pulling the broken one out and inserting a new one. Yeah, simple. At this point I am sweaty from being in the engine room trying to figure out why this is happening, then trying to figure out where the impeller is on the generator. And I do not have a replacement on hand. I’ve checked the engine one, but not the generator. I have now spent an hour or more on this and I’ve lost my appetite due to frustration. I call it a night and go to bed.

The next morning we awake and take wanted to take Frank for a walk. Since we are rafted to Trinity, we have to walk across their boat to get to the dock. They have a dog named Sophie. She is the ‘Trinity’ of Duane and Sonja. She is also a very good watch dog. We wait until they depart the boat with her before taking Frank. Once everyone’s business is done, I am talking with Duane , who is aware of our issue earlier with the batteries, and has more knowledge than me. We deduce it is the impeller, and he offers to come take a look at it with me. We decide the impeller is in the raw water pump, which is inaccessible unless you remove the whole pump. The pump is behind the belts, which are behind a protective covering. This all has to be removed, wrestle off the rusted bolts and then remove more bolts to get to the impeller. This sounds daunting, and looking at it, it was. This also meant we spent the night conserving our power by turning off every breaker that wasn’t necessary. At this point it was getting time to decide what we were going to do. Stay or go. I had walked up to town and inquired about an impeller…The only marine store in town told me he only works on outboards, but if we go to the next stop, there are a couple of larger marinas that my be able to help and possibly have the part I need.

It is now almost 11am and we decide we should go to the next stop. We bid our good-bye’s to Trinity and shove off toward Illinois Valley Yacht Club (IVY for short). This is in Peoria Heights, and it is also known to be a “Looper Stop” and we were now in search of an impeller…