Saturday, June 5, 2021

Passage to Chicago. Oh My.

Well, we made it to Chicago via water - a rather magical experience!

Cool Heads Prevail was all ready to sail, bobbing about in her slip in St. Joseph, Michigan, and we were certainly ready to sail, yet carrying on at home in Normal, Illinois, frequently checking weather & wind & sea conditions and waiting for all elements to align so we could attempt our 52 mile journey across Lake Michigan to deliver CHP to our home harbor. 

What seemed like suddenly, we found ourselves heading north in two cars, leaving one near our dock at Burnham Harbor in Chicago, and driving together in the other to Michigan - and yes, that would make the sixth time in two months! Back on our boat at last, we made finals preparations to begin our crossing early the next morning. 

Red sky at night, sailors' delight.


Out of the slip before 8 AM, we were thrilled to be greeted with the US Coast Guard standing at attention as they raised the flag and played reveille, definitely a magical and inspiring moment! Of course not meant for us, but we rose to our feet and graciously soaked it up as a perfect way to start our momentous day. 

At 54 degrees and bundled in layers, it felt fresh and sweet to be heading out so early in the morning. As we sipped our coffee we saw fishermen standing along the seawall, a few little boats in the water, and an ambitious paddle boarder near shore. 

As we headed further out onto Lake Michigan there was less activity on the water, but we occasionally saw a fishing boat or a tug with a barge or a giant steamer off in the distance. The further away from shore, the fewer vessels we sighted. And soon we were unable to see land or anything except water in any direction. No internet nor cell tower coverage. Quite a heady feeling.

And out on the water with the light wind blowing from the southwest - exactly the same direction to which we were heading - we knew our sails were not going to help. So we motored. 

And we motored. And motored. Slowly. I got lots of very needed practice at steadily holding the helm.

Along the way we kept hourly track of our coordinates, wind speed, boat speed, and sea conditions. We swatted pesky flies that were hitch-hiking their way from MI to IL aboard our boat, we played ukulele, we listened to podcasts, we marveled at this miraculous journey over this very large body of water. 

SO. Chicago is 52 nautical miles from St. Joseph. And we were averaging, oh 5 nm per hour with our sturdy diesel engine running at 3,000 rpm. Yep, just like you we kept doing the math and coming up with the same thing = we'd be enjoying this ride for ten hours! 

And then, sometime after our peanut butter sandwich lunch: Land Ho! We spotted the gloriously unmistakable skyline of Chicago far, far out in the distance to the west. Wow! We were 26 miles away, exactly half-way! We high-fived and toasted with our water bottles.

Later in the day when the wind changed direction and kicked up slightly we unfurled the jib. And we sat together on the foredeck near the bow to admire the skyline, soak up the warm sun, and enjoy the fact that we'd made it this far. 

A short clip en route across Lake Michigan.


We inched closer & closer while viewing the Chicago skyline.

And many, many hours later with the sun beginning to set, we were snugly tied up in our slip in Chicago! Home port! What a ride!

Securely tied up to our slip in Burnham Harbor. Our new Chicago condo.