FIRST TIME SOLO !!!

Well, tuesday morning brought more cold and head winds of 8-10 mph. Man, do I miss my little brother. Cruised to Starve Rock lock and dam, where they had a barge STUCK, so i had an hour wait in the cold and rain, but this lock did have a nice place to shelter the boat from the wind, and the timing was perfect. While quietly drifting and waiting, I recieved a call from a client asking if I was available soon. Looks like I get to go home for a few days and also cover the cost of the trip so far (thank you, LORD).

Made it to the Hennepin ity dock that night, and moored far away from several signs saying " barge parking". About midnight, another sailboat pulled in, rammed the dock, and proceeded to tie up by the signs and head into town. At 3 am
I awoke to LOUD rumblings and my whole boat was lit up ! Sticking my head out of the hatch, all i saw were two gigantic headlights 20 feet away from me . Then a voice from the lights called out "dont worry, we won't hit you ". Then this gigantic tug proceeded to squeeze in between me and that other boat so they could refuel from a waiting truck in the parking lot. I didnt get much sleep that night 8-( AND IT GOT DOWN TO 22 DEGREES !!
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Wednesday morning was cold, but sunny and still. It turned out to be a beautiful day to cruise and i easily made it to Peoria
City dock, where i safely moored for the trip home. What a relief !