Thats a wrap....2018 season officially over for me.

Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
@Dalliance all them bridges to move has to be a royal pain in the butt how long does that take? what an adventure passing through downtown Chicago. Is there a lock system just to get into the Chicago river? Why not go down the Calumet river, there appears to be many boat yards down that way, although not a real nice area of the Chicago suburbs.
 
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Feb 11, 2017
108
Gulfstar 47 NC
I feel for all you guys. Major amount of work . With the enclosure up, our cockpit is like a little sun room in winter.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I feel for all you guys. Major amount of work . With the enclosure up, our cockpit is like a little sun room in winter.
Pictures of your Winter sunroom would be nice for those of us without one.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
@dirt rd yah, but you don't get the opportunity to really appreciate the warm season like us, we long for that first sail of the season after a long winter break, that longing gets to be fulfilled every spring during that first warm day out on the lake, at least that is what I keep telling myself......
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
@Dalliance
Why is the cradle on blocks? I noticed the boat behind yours is set up the same way. Is this to slow rusting of the cradle or is something else going on?
 
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Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
@Dalliance all them bridges to move has to be a royal pain in the butt how long does that take? what an adventure passing through downtown Chicago. Is there a lock system just to get into the Chicago river? Why not go down the Calumet river, there appears to be many boat yards down that way, although not a real nice area of the Chicago suburbs.
I have taken an architectural boat tour down the Chicago river. It is actually a very beautiful ride in its own strange sort of way. Makes you think you are in Gotham City.
 
Oct 29, 2016
1,915
Hunter 41 DS Port Huron
@rgranger I'll have to try that some time, the boat tour that is. I would bet that the tour boat goes under the bridges though so as not to take the entire day to complete the venue.
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I took the same tour. Ours ended after dusk and we watched the fourth of July fireworks from the boat. Pretty awesome. I recommend it. Chicago has great architecture.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
@pateco

YOU SUCK! :biggrin:(actually this is pure jealousy talking).

That sure does look like a good time. Someday soon, I hope to have a boat in southern waters.

Best,

r
 
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Apex

.
Jun 19, 2013
1,197
C&C 30 Elk Rapids
@Dalliance
Why is the cradle on blocks? I noticed the boat behind yours is set up the same way. Is this to slow rusting of the cradle or is something else going on?
I used to use blocks to allow fork truck to get underneath the trailer.
This year Boathouse pulled No Worries out using the cradle mounted to a special trailer. The trailer then sets the cradle on blocks. This allows the temp crossbeams of the trailer to be pulled out, leaving the cradle behind. So necessary in order to unload the cradle from the trailer. Dalliance yard is then likely blocking the front higher to promote drainage in the cockpit towards the scuppers.
 
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Jan 7, 2011
4,723
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
The season is over for me too. We did the Chicago river trip last Wednesday — one lock from the lake into the river & then 24 draw bridges down to Canal St. I finished my winterizing work at the yacht yard on Saturday and Dalliance is ready for shrink-wrap. The fenders came off after I took the photo. It might look silly to some, but every fender I have goes on the boat for the river trip because after each bridge we pull off to the side out of river traffic and tie up or hang on with boat hooks while we wait for the next bridge to open and some of the walls are in real rough shape - broken wood rails and nasty bolts sticking out of steel sheet piles.

It was a shortened season for me. Launched the boat as usual just before Memorial Day but was in a car accident the first week of June that cost me half the season. Guy behind me on the expressway fell asleep in morning rush hour traffic and rear-ended me. Totaled my car and put me in the ER with whiplash and a concussion. Anyway, the boat didn’t leave the dock again until almost August, but I made the most of the remainder of the season and it could have been worse. That’s my sweet new car in front of the boat.
View attachment 157485
Got to love Beamers and boats!
IMG_1152-sm.JPG


Hauling out October 27...still hoping to get in one more sail

Greg
 
Oct 6, 2007
1,023
Hunter H30 1982 Chicago IL
Will G - I just knew someone would say something about my “tow vehicle” because of where it was parked to load stuff off the boat and into the trunk. It’s a powerful little bimmer with all wheel drive. Are you sure it’s not big enough? Sailboats and bimmers just go together.

DayDreamer41 - Yes, there is a lock between the lake and the river. We get our drinking water from the lake and our sewers drain into the river after going through treatment plants. The Chicago River used to flow into the lake before we had sewage treatment plants, which was a bit of health issue, so the natural flow was reversed by construction of the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal which links the south branch of the Chicago river to the DesPlaines River and ultimately the Mississippi and Gulf of Mexico. It was, and still is, kind of a sore point with folks downstream, and it would never get approved today.

Anyway, the river trip took 3-1/2 hours on Wednesday from the first bridge opening at Lake Shore Drive. That’s about as good as it gets. It took us almost 13 hours one spring when several of the bridges had technical problems and we ran into evening rush hour when they will not open the bridges between 3 and 7 pm. I think it takes 4 to 4-1/2 hours on average. Yes, there are other yacht yards down on the Calumet River, but mine on the Chicago River is about 12-15 minutes from my office in the west loop and about 25-30 minutes from my home on the north side near Wrigley Field. Can’t beat that for convenience.

Sailboats do the river trip in scheduled groups on Wed and Sat mornings in the spring and fall so as not to totally mess up traffic in the city. The bridge tender crews leap frog from one bridge to next. It’s a unique view of the city and I always enjoy it. I highly recommend the architectural boat tours. They pass under the bridges and don’t take as long. The tour boat traffic, water taxis and the occasional barge are why I prefer to get off to side. Some prefer to circle between the bridges, but there is not much room between some of them and I choose to avoid that stress.

Rgrainger - Apex nailed the explaination of why the cradles are up on blocks. It’s the trailer they use to move the boats around the yard, and they like to raise the bow for better deck and cockpit drainage.
 
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Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Rgrainger - Apex nailed the explaination of why the cradles are up on blocks. It’s the trailer they use to move the boats around the yard, and they like to raise the bow for better deck and cockpit drainage.
Thnx that makes sense: BTW: A Grainger was a person who managed the Lord's grain (British). A Granger was a person who managed the Lords barns (French word for barn is La grange). Same profession but the entomology of the name is very different and coincidentally looks similar. People who pronounce their name Grainger but it is spelled Granger are mispronouncing their own name (Think Hermione -- not pronounced correctly)
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
People who pronounce their name Grainger but it is spelled Granger are mispronouncing their own name
How do YOU pronounce it, Granger? (Gran'-ger, Gran-ger' or Grain'-ger)
I had been meaning to ask but didn't know the best protocol for such a question.

-Will (Dragonfly)