Day 51 - New Buffalo to Chicago - August 26, 2011

The winds diminished over night and the wave forecast was for waves at 1 foot or less.  The course to Chicago is almost straight west from New Buffalo.  We left the New Buffalo channel and were immediately rocked by left over swell from the high winds from the previous days.  And we are talking about BIG swells – some of the left over waves were in the 3+ foot range.  We headed a bit north of our course hoping to minimize the rocking until the swell had a chance to roll itself out.  Not long after we left the waves did abate some and we were able to turn back to our correct course.

One of the most amazing things we discovered on this crossing was that we could actually see the largest (and darkest colored) buildings in the Chicago skyline from over 25 miles away.  We weren’t sure what we were seeing when we first started seeing shapes on the horizon, but we now know we were seeing the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) and the John Hancock Building.  We started taking pictures at 20 miles away and it is amazing what you can see.

We originally had reservations to stay at Burnham Harbor while we were in Chicago, but because of predicted wind direction and velocity, we called DuSable Harbor to see if they had any slips open.  The wind prediction for Saturday and Sunday is for quite strong winds (20 to 30 knots) and DuSable Harbor is inside the outer break wall which will make getting to the lock at the mouth of the Illinois River much easier no matter what the wind and waves are doing.  DuSable had an opening that would fit Boreas, so we cancelled our reservation at Burnham Harbor and we’re safely tied up in a slip at DuSable Harbor.

We had dinner tonight with our friends John and Alice at a wonderful Italian restaurant in their neighborhood.  John picked us up at the harbor and we were able to walk from their house in Old Town Chicago to the restaurant.  It was a great evening and we enjoyed talking about our “Great Loop” route and the things we are hoping to see and do while we’re looping.

            Miles: 43.8      Bridges: 0        Locks: 0

the Chicago Skyline from 15 miles away

the Chicago Skyline from 10 miles away

the Chicago Skyline (the John Hancock Building is the
dark building in the back with the two white antenna towers)

Chicago Skyline (Willis Tower is the dark
building in the back of the photo) 

the Chicago Skyline (south end of the skyline)

the Chicago Skyline (with Navy Pier on the far right)

Chicago Harbor Lighthouse

the fountain at Grant Park
(this is the view as you enter Monroe Harbor on the way to
DuSable Harbor)

Boreas in her slip at DuSable Harbor
(radar and anchor light still on)