Joliet → Heritage Harbor
October 1, 2026
Distance: ~40–45 nautical miles
Waterway / State: Des Plaines River → Illinois River — Illinois
Locks: 3 — Brandon Road, Dresden Island, Marseilles | 5 total so far
Notable: First full day of river locking, heavier commercial traffic and three more opportunities to get comfortable with floating bollards.
The Trip
We were up early at the Joliet Wall with the goal of getting underway around 7:00.
After a quick breakfast and coffee, we pushed off and headed toward our first lock of the day: Brandon Road.
We had expected a couple of other boats to leave with us, but only Selena/Atticus Finch ended up traveling with us at first.
Not far into the trip, they had a little excitement of their own. They had hit their radar mast on a bridge and also managed to get a dinghy line into the prop, but they were able to get it untangled and continue on with us.
By the time we reached Brandon Road, it was just the two boats going through together.
The lock itself was pretty straightforward. We tied up on the starboard side, got our line around a floating bollard and had some time to sit and take in the view while the water dropped.
After that, we continued down the Des Plaines River, following the marked channel and working around commercial traffic.
We passed a few towboats and larger commercial vessels along the way, sometimes slowing down or moving over to give them plenty of room.
It was another day where the river felt very different from what we had been used to on Lake Michigan.
More Locks, More Practice
Next came Dresden Island Lock.
This one was a little more challenging because we had to get Breaking Awave onto the port side, which Greg had less practice doing. Our prop walks to starboard in reverse, so when approaching a port-side wall we have to use reverse sparingly—or sometimes not at all—because it can pull the stern away from where we want it.
We got close, but not quite all the way to the wall, so the lockmaster helped pull our line in.
Once secured, though, the floating bollard worked exactly as we now expected it to.
By then, we were starting to feel a little less intimidated by locks.
Later in the day we reached Marseilles Lock, which would be our third lock of the day.
Three locks in one day was a lot compared with where we had been only 24 hours earlier, but each one made the process feel more familiar.
Julie took over driving for part of the afternoon while Greg caught up on some things aboard, and we kept working our way south.
The Experience
The river itself was a mix of wide stretches, commercial traffic, leaves, branches and plenty of debris floating in the water.
Nothing was particularly dramatic, but it required steady attention.
By late afternoon, the weather had turned and it was raining as we made our way into Heritage Harbor Marina.
We got Breaking Awave tied up, connected to shore power and started getting ourselves packed up.
Julie managed to catch a ride from the marina manager’s husband to pick up a rental car, and by then the rain was coming down pretty hard.
After a full day of locks and river travel, we were very ready to be settled.
At the Helm
This was the day locks started to feel less like a special event and more like part of the normal rhythm of the trip.
We had three of them in one day, and each one gave us a little more confidence with where to position the boat, how to handle the lines and how the floating bollards worked.
The port-side tie at Dresden added another wrinkle. Because Breaking Awave’s prop walks to starboard in reverse, backing near a port-side wall can actually pull the stern away from where we want it. That means using reverse very carefully—or sometimes not at all—and relying more on planning the approach, momentum and the bow thruster.
It was a good reminder that the same boat can behave very differently depending on which side we’re trying to put against the wall.
The other big adjustment was simply getting used to river traffic.
On the Great Lakes, we had spent a lot of time thinking about weather and waves. On the rivers, the new concerns were channels, towboats, locks, debris and giving commercial traffic plenty of space.
We were learning a different kind of boating now.
Today’s Route
[Nebo route visual]
Today in Pictures
[Leaving Joliet Wall, Brandon Road Lock, floating bollards, Des Plaines River, commercial traffic, Dresden Island Lock, Marseilles Lock, rainy arrival at Heritage Harbor]