9/1 - Chicago

High School Classmates

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Today we were visited by Mike and Susan McGirr, who took the train from their home in Crete, Illinois to see us. Pat and Mike were classmates since second grade at St. Michael's School in Union, NJ, and Pat, Mike, George, and Charlie were also classmates at Archbishop Walsh High School in Irvington, NJ.

Mike is a retired emergency physician and Sue is a hospice nurse. They brought along pictures of their beautiful family which includes 3 grandchildren. It was great catching up with what they are doing and they had fascinating stories of remote places they had been where Mike participated in some of his Ham radio adventures.

All of us had a lovely lunch together at the Park Grill in Millennium Park, and we were grateful that McGirrs had made the effort to come into the city to see us. After taking some pictures and saying our "good- byes", Charlie and Helen continued touring, while George and Pat returned to the boat to take down the radar arch in preparation for our journey down the Illinois River on Thursday. We have to traverse under a number of low bridges, so this was a necessary effort. George wasn't feeling up to par after coming down with a slight cold, so rather than joining Charlie at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, he decided to take it easy and had a quiet evening and dinner aboard with Helen and Pat.

8/31 - Chicago

The Wrigley Building

The Sears Tower in the background

The view from our table while having drinks in the Signature Room Bar in the John Hancock Building
(Can you fine "Reflection" in the picture?)

Charlie and Helen flew in this morning from New Jersey and we were happy to welcome them aboard by 11 a.m. After a light lunch we moved the boat from the wall in Monroe Harbor to our reserved slip at Du Sable Harbor. Once we were settled in, we walked to the Chicago River and boarded a sightseeing boat for an architectural river cruise run by the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

The cruise was fascinating and it was truly a unique way to view and learn about the many buildings here in the city. Afterwards, we walked along Michigan Avenue, and studied the many pieces of stone from places around the world and from ancient eras embedded in the outside walls of the Chicago Tribune building. Then we took the elevator to the top of the John Hancock building and had drinks in the Signature Room Bar from which we could see the vast number of buildings and the Lake Michigan shoreline for miles. We spotted "Reflection" at her dock, but she looked like a small spot from the 96th floor vantage point.

Instead of walking back to the marina, we hailed a cab and were lucky enough to have a great cab driver who told us how Chicago is a finalist in the competition to get the 2016 Olympics. He thought that they have a great chance at getting the bid and is anxious to find out the results which will be announced on 10/2/09.

In the evening Jason and Heather Virgilio, their baby daughter, Riley, and Chris Virgilio came aboard for a visit. Jason and Chris are the twin sons of long-time friends of Charlie and Helen and they live and work in Chicago. It was a fun evening, and we were happy that they could join us.

8/30 - Chicago

This looks too much like work

The spectators and tri-athletes merge

"Reflection" in Monroe Harbor along the race course

The transistion area (bikes as far as you can see)

A line of tri-athletes walking two by two with bikes and back packs began forming around 4 a.m. The line did not stop until nearly 6 a.m. After they placed their bikes in the bike stands at the transition area they walked down the path right next to our boat in their swim gear on their way to the Lake Michigan shore-line. The air was really electric at that time of morning with expectation and lots of positive energy.

There were also many spectators/entourages for the participants. The air temperature was only 52 degrees, and we wondered what the Lake temperature must have been. We were able to wish them luck as they walked past, and several of them welcomed us to Chicago and joked about what we would have for breakfast for them after their swim.

The average age for the participants appeared to be between 30 and 35, but there were also a few much older and some who didn't quite look good enough in shape to do this. There were even some amputees with metal legs and two in wheel chairs!

The first wave of swimmers started to come past the boat headed for the bike leg about 6:15 a.m., and we were able to cheer them on. With over 56 waves of at least 150 participants each, this kept going on for hours as they completed the bike leg and then ran past us on the walking track about 30 feet away.

After the amateurs had completed the course, the pros did the triathlon in record time. We truly had the best seats in the house as we had a lovely breakfast and watched the action from our back-deck and later from our fly- bridge. The crowds continued all day and again we were a major tourist attraction with lots of people taking pictures next to "Reflection". George was thinking of charging for the privilege! Things finally quieted down around 6 p.m. when the garbage trucks appeared to pick up the litter. By 8 p.m. there was almost no one around and we were able to get a quiet night's sleep.

8/29 - Chicago

Michigan Avenue looking north

Michigan Avenue looking south

Giordano's restaurant where pizza is a major meal

The "Bean" in Millennium Park -Art?

Today we played tourists, and walked along Michigan Avenue and Grant Park, through the fairly new Millennium Park with its many large works of art, including "The Bean", gardens, etc. We also had lunch at "Giordanos'", a restaurant famous for its stuffed pizza. Pat ordered a small thin-crust pizza, but it turned out to be thicker than any pizza we ever had in New Jersey. George ordered a small stuffed pizza, and was glad he didn't order a larger one. We took Pat's left-overs back to the boat for later.

"Reflection" turned out to be one of the major tourist attractions along the wall here that is adjacent to the Lake's walk-way. Many people have stopped and taken their picture next to the boat, and made wonderful comments about how nice she looks. There is a lot of activity here today, because tomorrow the Chicago Triathlon will be held right here and we will have a ring-side seat! 9,500 people will swim, bike, and then run the course. Many have been out here running and biking today. They will start bringing their bikes to the staging area near us between 4:10 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. It should be a great experience to see!

8/28 - Chicago

Chicago skyline as we approach Monroe Harbor

Navy Pier

We left the dock at Crescent Shores Marina at 6:50 a.m. for an 85 mile trip across Lake Michigan to the "Windy City". The forecast was for heavy rain of 1 - 2 inches, and northeast winds of 10 - 13mph with wave heights of 1-2 feet. This was not the greatest forecast, but the ones for the next few days were worse, calling for heavy winds and seas.

Captain George "put the pedal to the metal" as soon as we left the inlet and we headed out directly on a course for Chicago. Everything was great for the first two hours, but as we approached the center of the Lake, the sea heights increased and the wind was now coming on our port beam instead of behind us. Our deal was that he would operate the boat at 15 knots from the fly-bridge to get us across as quickly as possible, but if it started to rain, because of visibility he would come below and operate at the inside station at 10 knots. Well, he stayed up on top for the entire trip despite the rocky conditions, because it never rained! First-mate Pat, on the other hand, hung out (on) below monitoring moving furniture, glasses clanging, etc. Thankfully, conditions calmed down the closer we got to Chicago and we looked forward to reaching our destination.

We originally had planned to visit some other ports before arriving here on Monday and meeting Charlie and Helen, but in view of the weather report, we wanted to be sure that we would be here on time. Thus, we had to make last minute arrangements for the week-end. We headed for Monroe Harbor, which has a 1000 boat mooring field. As we rode around calling the marina office, a boat approached us, the employee took our lines, and attached them to a mooring ball. Unfortunately, this area was very exposed, and the rocking made us feel like we were in a washing machine.

George took the tender service in to see the dockmaster, and she agreed to move us to an inside wall right on Lakeshore Drive in the heart of the city and alongside the Chicago Yacht Club. We were so relieved to be here and tired from the day's activities, we decided to have a quiet dinner aboard with a movie, and we even remembered to change our watches and clocks back an hour to Central Standard Time.

8/26 and 8/27 - Holland, Michigan

The most important accomplishment of these two days was the final installation of the NEW ICEMAKER. The sound of ice cubes being made and dropped into the bin was like music to the captain's ears! In addition, we also did a MAJOR food shopping trip to stock up the boat for the next few weeks, washed the outside and cleaned the inside, did laundry, and all the usual mechanical trip preparations.

Now we have another development! We have learned that a major problem has developed for "Loopers" like us who will be traversing the Calumet River and the Sanitary and Ship Canal beyond Chicago. Because Asian Carp have been discovered within 10 miles of the electrical water barrier built to keep these fish out of the Great Lakes, the Army Corps of Engineers has decided to "up" the current load from 1 to 2 volts of current per inch.

While they are in this testing and protocol phase, only large diesel-powered vessels with metal hulls are allowed to cross this area. Despite the fact that the usual 30 day notice for an action like this was not given to mariners in advance, and no decision date for when future crossings has been given, the Coast Guard is holding fast on keeping this area closed. Needless to say, this has caused a HUGE problem for all recreational boaters in the Chicago area, and especially for those of us doing the "Great Loop"!

There are literally close to 100 boats in our group alone waiting in marinas all over Michigan, who are being prohibited from heading south because of this barrier voltage change. Marinas are getting filled up because boats are stacking up in areas close to Chicago. We have been deemed by the press as the "Carp Captives", and are lobbying our congressmen and other government entities to get a plan and a schedule together so that we may proceed down the Illinois River. This is a financial as well as a calendar burden for many people who have plans for guests, boat haul-outs, jobs to get back to, etc.

Our friends, Charlie and Helen Dambroski, have purchased airline tickets in order to meet us on 8/31 in Chicago, plan to spend 10 days with us aboard, and will then fly back to Newark on 9/10 from St. Louis. We certainly don't want to alter that plan. Right now there is a lot of scuttlebutt on the internet about a possible solution to this situation, and, if it turns out to be a possibility, we will make a decision tomorrow about what we might do.

8/25 - Holland, Michigan

Our 12 day trip hiatus back to New Jersey allowed us to check on Pat's mother (who is doing very well), enjoy our home (which needed some outdoor weed maintenance), celebrate George's birthday, and to catch up with family and friends (dinners, visits, and phone calls). We, however, were anxious to return to our "second home" and happy to find "Reflection" waiting safely for us at the dock. We had a 13 hour drive to Michigan and the rental car was almost completely filled to capacity with items we brought back for the next leg of our Great Loop journey. Though tired after the drive, unloading the car, and doing some unpacking, we enjoyed a fun dinner at the New Holland Brewing Company, a restaurant that makes its own beer, wine, and spirits on premises.