Back on Lady E again after a nice break , first in New York to see the Wheatleys Jnr and then home to Lakewood Ranch.Great to catch up with family and friends in person.
Our trip back from Tampa to Saugatuck proved to be the trip from hell however!
Big delays, first in Tampa and then again in Washington, D.C. airport at Dulles meant we arrived back to the boat at 1.30 am in the morning instead of 8 pm of the previous night.Pilot judgement on the second flight caused us to sit on the runway for 1 1/2 hours , only to turn back to the airport and try again several hours later .Have you ever heard of a pilot deciding for the passengers that it's too hot for us to get on the plane, knowing there is a big storm system about to hit the area ? If we had left on time and got our planned flight slot , we would have been up in air and avoided the storm altogether! Passengers were pretty unhappy with the young man!
Enough said! Flying is not what it's cracked up to be!
Anyway , it was great to get back on our cosy boat and plan our next adventure!
The next morning 18 th August, we got up and decided we would go back over to Douglas the nearby town for a quick visit before heading off for Chicago.As we walked into the closed main street of Saugatuck , many stalls full of sales goods ( cash only) had been set up by the local stores and Erica just had to pick up a few bargins including a nice cream colored lace dress for $19 !!!
We picked up our bus for the princely sum of .50 cents each again to get to Douglas.
We stopped at a couple of the art galleries and then headed to the big supermarket to stock up.
No sure what would be available in Chicago city. Back on the bus , and we were away by 11.30 am heading out of the Kalamazoo River and into Lake Michigan. The weather was fine and breeze not too bad, but as we got further into Lake Michigan, it became very choppy waves varied between 2 to 4 ft not the expected 1 to 2 ft. We bounced our way across the 80 plus miles to Chicago. The waves were frequent with a short interval between and it made for a hard ride. Depth varied and in the middle it was between 300 and 400 ft.
Only saw one other power boat going in the other direction and one large container ship in the distance. On reflection, Erica would recommend going further down and around the coast , stopping at the nice small marinas , before making the much shorter journey across the Lake.
Got into the inner Monroe harbor , to the Chicago Yacht Club , five and half hours later.
We have reciprocal YC rights to dock here. Sharon from our CYC in Chesapeake Bay , had kindly written a letter of recommendation as was required.
Colin met us at the slip and we were soon tied up and ready to get off the boat. The Yacht Club sits right on the edge of the Lake Shore Drive and the City, beside the walking and bike trail which goes around the edge of the Lake . Lots of wonderful high rise buildings to look at this being an city of Architectral delights! We decided to take it easy and after checking into the yacht club we relaxed til dinner time by checking out the guide books of things to do here. Finished up with a delicious dinner on the patio looking out over the many sailboats tied up on mooring balls in the harbor with a glass of wine and soft music from a live jazz band playing in the background.It was soothing for the soul.
This was followed by a early night and bed.
Over and Out,
E and G.
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