Log 6; Day 9; May 30, 2008; DuSable Harbor Chicago, IL

Log 6
Day 9
Friday, May 30, 2008

6:30 AM CDT
Location: DuSable Marina, Chicago, IL.
Weather: 64* and mostly cloudy...storms in the forecast

Made the crossing from Michigan to Chicago yesterday. Awesome day.

The wait for good crossing weather was worth it. Got up at about 5 am yesterday and got on the computer to check all the weather reporting stations to make sure the weather window would cooperate. Not only did they cooperate...it was like I planned it. It was a little cool (42*) but NO wind and predicted to remain very light. I made all my checks and got things ready, and it was 6 am by the time I fired up the generator and woke up Debbie...and 6:26 when we left the slip. The lake was almost flat when we came out of the South Haven channel and I set the auto pilot to track to the center of the Monroe Harbor entrance in Chicago. (a distance of 77.6 miles at a heading of 242*). For the next 7 hours and 8 minutes I never touched the steering wheel. It was sunny; flat; and a beautiful crossing.

When we reached DuSable Harbor (if you drive on Randolf St. in Chicago and go East until you run into the lake...that’s us) we stopped at the pump out dock (self service and free) and then on to our slip. Just as we got to the slip it started to rain a little. Not much...but enough for us to go get our rain gear on. And shortly after that the sun came out again...and it was nice for the rest of the day.

Deb and I decided it would be a shame to pay these high Chicago docking prices ($129 per night) and not enjoy this beautiful city so I went on line and found some cheap tickets to Jersey Boys and to the Italian Village for dinner. Great night. (I had seen Jersey Boys before...but it was even better the second time). We were back at the boat at about 10:30. A long day...but great.

Today...not really sure what we’ll do. We want to take a long dinghy ride to see all the boats, and even go through the Chicago lock and down the Chicago river (which goes right through the middle of downtown Chicago). Also might go to Wrigley Field and see if we can get a couple of cheap tickets for the game. But not sure if any of that is going to happen because the radar shows big time storms west of here...and heading this way. Definitely going to get rain...just not sure when and how much. We’ll make the best of it...whatever it is. Who knows...maybe I’ll get out one of those books I brought along? Right.

Side note...Deb and I are really excited because we get to spend the next several months on rivers...something we really love. The next time we have to make a big crossing will be sometime in November or December when we cross the Gulf of Mexico.

I’ll keep you posted...

BK.