Monday, September 8, 2014

BLOWING BY THE WINDY CITY

We have been very busy little sailors.  In Waukegan we took off our mainsail in preparation for taking our mast down.  Thought it would be a good idea to try to get that done.  Sunday morning was beautiful and while we did have to motor some, we sailed under genoa past the city of Chicago.  

And that takes a while!  It is such a different perspective from the water.  So nice, no traffic - although I would say we saw at least 200 sailboats.  There were different races taking place all over the bottom of the lake.  
 
Water Intake just off city
Passing by the Chicago skyline
Navy Pier
 Then it was off to Hammond, IN.  Not exactly the garden spot of Lake Michigan but we will be moored there for the next week.  We got our other sail off, folded it and called it a day.  Today is a big day on the calendar for us.  This morning we go down the Calumet River to get our mast pulled and turn Free Bird into a power boat.  There is a lot of prep work to do so I must sign off.  Hope it all goes well today.  At least the weather Gods are cooperating so far - yay!

3 comments:

  1. We believe the heron is a Black-Crowned Night-Heron.
    We have some Mast questions. How tall is the mast? Is it all one piece? How much does it weigh? How long is the truck that will carry it for you?
    Are you doing any fishing? For fun or food?
    How long will it take you to get home to get Molly? What kind of cat is she?
    We love the pictures of the skyline. Some students have been to Navy Pier.

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    Replies
    1. VERY GOOD!!! It's either the Black or Yellow-Crowned Night heron as far as we can tell. We were lucky to see them both since they don't normally fly in this area.
      Mast - 58' tall, all one piece, not sure about weight - probably about 500 lbs. The truck will be about 60' long.
      Fishing - we don't fish. Many sailors do and we might once we get to Florida. If we do it will be for food. We bought a fishing net but it is to scoop up Molly in case she falls overboard!
      It will take us just over 4 hours to get home to Molly. She is a cat we rescued from the Maquoketa Humane Society. We don't know that she is any special kind of cat but she is about 4 years old and a really special loving girl. We will be telling lots of stories about her in the weeks to come. We weren't lucky enough to have children so she is like our little girl and we love her tons!

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    2. We just went to the gym and laid out yard sticks to see 60'long. Wow that is long. But 500 pounds isn't that much weight. Is the mast metal? Is it hollow?

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