Mike was the Captain of Flotilla 2 to go through the first 5 or 6 locks together. We moved from Hammond Marina to Marine Services Marina. This got our group off of Lake Michigan and into the Calumet-Saganashkee Channel (Cal-Sag). The Cal-Sag is a 16 mile shipping and drainage canal in Cook County. This is a man made waterway that connects the Calumet river and the Chicago Sanitary Canal. The Chicago Sanitary Canal was conceived in 1885 and the purpose was to reverse the flow of the Chicago River away from lake Michigan in order to halt pollution of the lake waters by the city’s sewage. The Corps of Engineers took over the project in 1930 and monitor the pollution.
The canal became a problem again when the Asian Carp, an invasive species that had taken hold in the Mississippi River system were found in the canal. The Corps of Engineers constructed a series of low-voltage electrical barriers to deter the carp from advancing further, preserving the navigability of a vital waterway while protecting the ecosystem of the Great Lakes.
We traveled through the electric fish barrier without incident but a few boats with electric steering had to be towed due to the electric current damaging their electronics.
We arrived at the Joliet wall on October 6. Jenny and Danny on “The Other Woman” hosted a hot dog grill and everyone brought a covered dish. It was cold and windy but we still had a good time.