We're Off the Lake!

Guess what - Saturday was another rough day on Lake Michigan!! But we're making progress. We got to S. Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee just at sunset.

Sunday, Sept. 16th: Em got to visit with an old friend from her FBI days, Margaret (better known as "Rock"). We hadn't seen each other in years so that was fun. Our son Eric and girlfriend, Diana, brought us some provisions (and wine) then we were off for another crazy day on the Lake with Eric joining us. Winds still coming out of the south and maybe 7ft waves. We made it to Winthrop Harbor, IL and got a slip there for $1/ft; it's huge - 1,100 slips! Also a huge walk to shore for Ginger (she's doing really well by the way).

This is North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor, IL. The ad says "bathhouses with showers and laundries - all within steps of your dock". I'd say more like miles!

Monday, Sept 17th: Our last day on the Lake - we're excited! Really blowing out of the south, again, and pretty rough. When the skyline of Chicago appeared we felt relieved! It was very cool to cruise along downtown Chicago and see Navy Pier and all the skyscrapers close up. We waved to Oprah but she didn't wave back! We stayed at Burnham Harbor for $2/ft and that was without power (that was an additional $18!) We did have a great view of the skyline and Soldier Field though.

Tuesday, Sept 18th: We fueled up, pumped out and headed for our first lock, which was quite uneventful - we were lowered two whole feet. The Chicago Lock was built to prevent the back flow of water from the Chicago River and Sanitary Canal from flowing into Lake Michigan. What a great view of downtown going through "THE LOOP" downtown - very impressive! We passed under many bridges, some with a clearance of only 17 ft. We then went through a lot of industrial areas and stayed clear of the barges. Eric saw a log floating in the canal, but his mouth was full so "turn right!" sounded more like "mmmrf mrrf!" Eventually we got the point and took evasive action. The Lockport Lock was huge (to us). We went down about 40ft.

We traveled on these four rivers: Chicago; Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, Des Plaines and IL River. On the whole we felt proud of ourselves. We're tied up for the night in Joliet, IL at a public dock - no charge and power too! There are several other "Looper" boats here; they're all very friendly. It was back to summer weather today - in the upper 80s; hard to believe I wore earmuffs, gloves and many layers last week! On down the river tomorrow.