9/10/2017

Well we are at Three Rivers Marina/Yacht Club.

THREE RIVERS MARINA

We left Michigan City on 9/8.  The fridge was left behind in their dumpster.  Getting it out required more maneuvering than I care to recount.
 It was not an ideal lake, but nothing Craic couldn't handle.   After some reflection, we nixed the Cal Sag & decided on the Windy City.  It took about 2.5 hours to reach Chicago.  We decided to stay on a mooring ball.  It was cheap & right in downtown.

CHICAGO, VIEW FROM BOAT

NIGHT DESCENDING ON CHICAGO

 A tender was just a hail away to take us in to land.  We spent that day on the river walk.  We have been to Chicago many times, but always in the winter, so we never saw it from that prospective. It was fun & worth the trip.  That night was a different story.  The wind switched around & came out of the ENE.  We were rocking & rolling.  Difficult for humans to get on the tender let alone Riley.  & he was the one that needed to go to Land!  No sleep that night.  We were literally being tossed around in bed.  When the sun came up, it was clear it was not going to get any better.  The waves were crashing over the break wall, but we didn't care.  We had to leave.  One must traverse a lock from the lake to the Chicago River.  Not knowing what to expect & wanting to be prepared, Tim tied fenders on port & starboard.  Risky business with the boat being tossed around like it was, but he managed. The boat was ready.  All that was left was to release us from the mooring ball.  My job.  Simple enough.  Except it wasn't.  With all that bouncing around, the line got caught up in the anchor.  I had to lay down  & hang over the bow to disentangle.  Luckily it went well.  We were free!  Now for the trip to the lock.  5 footers & we were taking them broadside, but we finally made the lock.  Fun fact:  All must were life jackets in the locks.

RILEY SPORTING HIS LIFE JACKET

 We were in the lock alone & it went quickly.  What a difference on the river.  Smooth & little traffic as it was early Saturday morning.

BRIDGE ON CHICAGO RIVER

 We saw several water taxis & several sight seeing excursion boats.  There was only 1 bridge we couldn't clear & of course it was down.  We waited about a half an hour for it to open.

RAILROAD BRIDGE

 It was a long day on no sleep.  10 hours.  We went thru 2 more locks, which I neglected to time, but they accounted for at least 2-3hours of the trip.

IN LOCK TIED TO BARGE

MINDING THE LINE IN A LOCK

 The locals tell us we made good time.  When we arrived at Three Rivers it was just about sundown.  The owner & yacht club members were there to help us in, offer food & invite us to their bonfire.  It was a little nerve wracking as it is off the river & the water was covered with what looked like Lilly pads.  At times the depth finder read 00, but we took solace knowing it was a mud bottom & seeing some big boats tied up at the docks.  We docked without problem.  First impression:  I thought we were in the New Orleans swamps.  I looked around & all I could see was water, Lilly pads & demolished docks. (The docks were demolished in a flood some years ago.)  I asked if there was any land as Riley NEEDED to go out.  Harry, the owner. pointed to a line of trees & said Riley would find plenty of land on the other side.  The man probably thought I was crazy! The upside, a great club house & awesome people. They treated us to breakfast Sunday morning.   The town is 11 miles away, but Harry has offered to take us to town to shop.  We will take him up on that as we will be here until Wednesday waiting for the new refrigerator.