Dolton, Illinois

We had planned to spend today in Dolton to take care of a number of items before going down the rivers.  

Fred called the marina (Marine Services) last Monday to order additional fenders, parts to address an antenna issue, and oil to change the engines’ oil. The Parts Department (which many marinas don’t have) did a great job and even left the parts where Fred could get them on Saturday when they were closed. 

We got the new fenders for the locks, Fred changed the oil, and we have an acceptable antenna solution.

The people on the the dock have been very nice, even though they don’t see transients very often.  

Not a great place to leave the marina for restaurants, etc. but a very helpful and interesting place to stop and get work done.  

As we have mentioned before, many people belong to yacht/boat clubs in the Midwest and we had a nice time talking to the local yacht club, the Calumet River Boyz which you can see at www.yachtboyz.org.  

We have one boater on the dock who enjoys his music quite loud.  Being transients, we just adjust to the locals and we can only hear it if we are outside. On Sunday morning Fred was working on the flybridge to some very nice Jazz and Blues. Later on we had Show Tunes along with some exuberant singing.  Fred liked the music and talked to the local boater. Ultimately they had a very nice conversation over a few Modelos. Very nice and somewhat eccentric guy who has retired from being an attorney to become a professional gambler.  He is also a helicopter pilot and left us a bottle of sparkling wine before he left on his Harley.  Marinas never lack for interesting people. 


We had more thunderstorms roll through this afternoon. At the end, we were rewarded with a full rainbow.

One of the boaters next to us has a 1970 Chris Craft boat and restored it. It is a beautiful boat and he says he’s had many offers for it. 




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