Chicago and more

Downtown Chicago is better than the last time we took the trip!  The view of the skyscrapers from the canal is unbelievable.  Enjoy

One of many bridges in the big city.

Chicago Lighthouse

Navy Pier

Pictures of Chicago skyline

Finally made a new state

After leaving our home port, we were hampered by some rough seas and Lake Michigan was not as kind to us as we would have liked.  After a lengthy stay in Holland, Michigan we forced the issue and made it to South Haven (this was the choice as the first mate was a little green).  Then we traveled to New Buffalo with much better seas.  As you can see by the pictures, we are anchored in Chicago Harbor about 200 yards off the Lakeshore Drive and right off the Sears Tower.  Plans for tomorrow are starting the locks, downtown Chicago, and on to the Illinois River.

Dock Lines are gone

We left Muskegon on August 15, 2010 just before dawn.  Lake Michigan was a little lumpy but it was building through the morning.  We traveled to Holland, Michigan and are at anchor in Lake Macatawa.  We will be sitting here on Monday the 16th as Lake Michigan will be very windy with waves 3 to 5 feet.  That seems like a good idea to us to just sit tight.

As you may have already figured out, we changed our route to go the inland waterways through Chicago and down to Mobile Alabama and then ICW to Western coast of Florida.  So basically it was left turn as we moved out of the channel at Muskegon.

The pre-trip to our great loop adventure was a trip to the northwest to visit our west coast children and grandchildren. We flew commercial airline into Sea/Tac and slept in the airport till morning. Then we were shuttled by bus to Lake Washington where we boarded a Kenmore Air seaplane into Prideaux Haven. After a few passengers are dropped off, the pilot heads north and we enjoy the beauty of flying in a small plane. The San Juan Islands are so massive and beautiful the plane ride is too short even though it takes a couple of hours. Our son Mike picked us up at the plane with the dinghy, yet another first for us. We joined our delightful daughter-in-law and grandson at the boat.
We had the pleasure of cruising with this wonderful family for a little over a week. It was outstanding. Some of the highlights are captured on film here. We are always intrigued by the wildlife and the sea creatures. We anchored the entire trip with the exception of one mooring we snagged at Montague Bay (which we had visited the year before). Since this trip was farther into British Colombia than we had been before, everything was new and amazing. Our first night on the boat was very restful and we stayed the first day with no travel but sunny and warm, swimming, and shrimping. The men folk even caught a couple of fish. We traveled to Teakerne Arm with a beautiful waterfall. We hiked (scaled) up the island to check out Cassel Lake, it was great! The 3 amigos (father,son, & grandson) decided to harvest some oysters and as you can see by the pics, it was a feast. This was just a stop off as we went on another vista that day.
The entire week we were blessed with warm and sunny at times hot weather. The seas as well were kind to us and we had little worries as we sailed the Black Pearl. This amazing boat has been a source of pleasure for this family and now as well for us. Lynette has cooked some amazing meals for us and she seems to do it effortlessly, but I learn cooking tips each time I observe. We traveled to Nanaimo and were surprised at how metropolitan the town is. We took the dinghy to the shore of New Castle Island which is a nature preserve and hiked a portion of the island, it was good to get some exercise.
Another highlight of the trip was Ladysmith, B.C. A charming small town which was celebrating one of the three summer holidays in Canada. We took the dinghy to shore and watched a horseshoe tournament, hiked to a maritime museum which was complete with restored boats, small art exhibit, and french fries with gravy followed by mini deep fried donuts. We went back to the boat to enjoy the cool breeze as it was hot in town. We sat on the deck and enjoyed a logging show with chain saws and a daredevil climbing the pole and zipping back to earth. That evening a barge pulled up in the harbor full of fireworks. We had a front row seat to a fantastic fire work display. Jordan, Lynette, and I spread out blankets on the front deck of the boat and laid on our backs to watch the show. It was up close and personal.
This was the perfect vacation and prep to begin our long adventure on our own boat. To be continued……..