Sailing Lake Michigan out of Waukegan Harbor
On Sunday (14-Sept-14) my brother and I went out for a great fall like sail on Lake Michigan.
Temps were right around 60 degrees F. Waves in the 1-2 foot range. Winds were kind of crazy ranging from 7 to 18 knots and changing direction frequently from SSW, SW, W and back a couple times.
On Saturday (6-Sept-14) my wife, brother, a couple friends and I went out for a sail. The winds were nice for the first couple hours, but then died down to less than3 knots.
The waves were in the 2 – 5 foot range, but the wave length was the longest that I have seen in the 3 years we’ve been sailing on Lake Michigan. They were long rolling waves and not too uncomfortable.
A good time was had by all.
On Sunday (31-Aug-14) my brother and I went out for a great sail. Winds were 8 knots as we headed out and got to 14 knots with waves about 1 foot providing an excellent afternoon on the lake. Winds did die down to about 5 knots late in the afternoon, so we headed back in a little earlier than we would have like.
On Saturday the winds were gusting to 35 knots so we and other sailors did not get out, so on Sunday there was a lot of boats out enjoying the day.
When the winds were touching 14 knots we did dip the rail in the water a few times for brief moments.
On Sunday (24-Aug-14) I went out with my brother and a friend, Mark, on a beautiful day for a sail on Lake Michigan.
I also took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge while sailing.
We headed straight north and ventured into Wisconsin waters.
Our SOG (Speed Over the Ground) was ~6.0 knots while sailing north.
After we tacked and headed south again the wind let up a bit and we were heading into the waves. Our SOG was ~4.0 knots.
Friday 8-August-2014
A single handed sail
Sunday 10-August-2014
My wife and me out for a Sunday afternoon sail on Lake Michigan.
My brother and I took vacation days on Friday and went for a sail north towards Kenosha WI. The winds didn’t cooperate enough to make it all the way there, but we got within 3.75 miles. It was the first time we sailed into Wisconsin waters. After we turned around to head back towards Waukegan, a significant storm grew over the Milwaukee area and was heading south towards us. There was 1” hail in some parts of the storm cell. We kept an eye on it and pulled back into the Waukegan Marina about 30 minutes ahead of the storm.
( Light winds from directly behind us)
(First time in Wisconsin waters)
(Storm front chasing us)
On Saturday, my wife and I went for a sail. The skies we sunny with winds in the 5-10 knot range and waves less than 1 foot. Just the way she likes to sail. There were a lot of other sailboats out enjoying the day on the lake.
(Not a cloud in the sky)
On Sunday, my brother and I went sailing and had a brief unpleasant experience has at one point the wind died completely and 10 million gnats descended on us when we were about 2.5 miles out on the lake. They covered our shirts, hats, sails, deck and were thick in the air. We quickly started the engine and motored away from them. The winds did a 180 degree change and we had a really good day sailing after that.
(Gnats everywhere. This is after we motored away and banged on the main sail to clear them away. You can still see some on the sail and in the air)
(Nice breeze)
On Friday I took a vacation day and went for a single handed sail.
Winds were in the 15 – 20 knot range when I left the marina and quickly started gusting in the 25+ knot range. I had to put a reef in the main and let the jib out a bit. After about an hour the winds calmed down a lot and I un-reefed the main.
Because the weather radar was showing rain heading my way, I headed back towards the harbor, but it turned out to be just a few sprinkles and quickly cleared up. So…I kept sailing and had another couple hours out on the lake.
Check out the YouTube video for the day’s sail. I was playing around with the “slow motion” feature on my iPhone and set the slo motion clips to “dramatic” background audio.
On Saturday, my brother and I went for a sail. Winds were almost nonexistent when we left, but picked up nicely after about a half hour. We had a nice sail 6 miles straight out from the harbor when someone turned off the fan. We tacked back towards Waukegan and didn’t go anywhere due to the lack of wind. We did catch a slight breeze for a while, but it didn’t last long so we motored back in and were all tied up by 4:00.
On Sunday the forecast included a small craft advisory and the winds in the Waukegan area were in the 25-30 range so we did not go sailing.
On Friday, my brother and I sailed from Waukegan to Chicago. We had to motor for about 2/3rds of the way since the wind was right on the “nose”. We were able to sail the last 3rd of the trip on our way to Belmont Harbor.
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(Motoring into the wind and waves)
Even motoring it took about 8 hours to go 27.5 miles because the wind and waves were against us.
(Hello Chicago)
I had called to make a slip reservation on the Monday before we left, but when we arrived (about 7:15 pm) there was a motor boat in the slip that was assigned to us (D08) so I pulled into the next empty slip. I went to the Harbor Master to let them know about the issue and after a half hour of checking this and checking that and confirming D08 was my slip, but no one was onboard the boat in D08 to move it, they assigned me to slip E29. When we got to E29….yep there was another boat in that slip. They were onboard and said that E29 was theirs and they have been there all season. So we pulled into the next empty slip (E26). Another trip to the Harbor Master found the office closed (by now it was after 8:00pm), but I found one of the staff who brought me into the office. The girl who reassigned me to slip E29 must be dyslexic, because she wrote E29, but meant E26.
On Saturday, my wife, brother, and a friend and I sailed the Chicago lake front and got to see the Chicago to Mackinac racers start the race. It was pretty cool seeing a forest of sails as hundreds of sailboats where across the horizon. Shortly after putting the sails up and turning the motor off we had to turn the motor back on to maneuver out of the way of the racers. They all turned west right out of the “gate” to head up the west coast right passed Belmont Harbor.
(Chicago to Mackinac Racers)
(more Chicago to Mackinac Racers)
Sailing the Chicago lake front inside the breakwater is always enjoyable and picturesque, if not crowed with a lot of wave action and little wind. Once we got south of the breakwater the wind picked up nicely and were able to sail ~ 4 knots.
I had planned to sail as far south as the new 31st street harbor, but as we got close and I had gone below to get a drink, I smelled fuel. Checking the engine compartment I saw a fuel line slowly dripping fuel. It was a simple and fast fix to tighten the fitting, but when I came back on deck and looked overboard I could see the bottom of the lake. We had gone a bit further south than planned and were in very shallow and rocky water (Morgan Shoal). We immediately came about to head back the way we came in and did touch bottom briefly during the turn.
(We sailed a little too far south)
After that little excitement we sailed back inside the breakwater area where the wind died down again. We enjoyed the view some more and then tacked to head outside the breakwater to find some wind. Once outside the breakwater the wind picked back up and we sailed back to Belmont Harbor.
It was a very nice day.
One Sunday my brother and I sailed back to Waukegan with much more favorable winds that the trip down. We were on a beam reach for the first 1/3rd of the trip and a broad reach the rest of the trip (except for the last 2 miles when the wind was at our backs and we sailed wing and wing). The return trip only took about 6 hours.
Along the way we did a couple small projects including installing the new lifeline covers I bought on eBay. They are designed to go over a “pool noodle” and provide much needed comfort when leaning against the lifelines.
(Goodbye Chicago)
(Sailing comfortably on a broad reach)
(Bro relaxing on the foredeck)
(Sailing wing and wing)
My Brother and I got to go sailing on both Saturday and Sunday. Time out on the lake was great.
Saturday was fairly consistent in terms of sky, winds and waves.
Sunday had a small craft advisory in effect, but we didn’t see winds nor waves to warrant it. Though, the winds did pick up towards the end of the day enough to get the rail-in-the-water.
On Saturday my brother and I had a great day sailing on Lake Michigan.
Skies were partly cloudy, winds 15-20 mph with waves 2-4 feet.
The waves were pretty choppy and had the occasional 6 footer with white caps as we motored out of the harbor. We considered turning back, but once we got the sails up and away from the harbor things settled down a lot and the sailing was great.
Before heading out we took care of a few tasks.
We installed the new stainless steel counter/back splash in the new galley.
To get the new counter going I took a lot of measurements, drew it up in AutoCAD, printed it full size and brought the full size print to the boat to make sure it fit properly. After a couple iterations to insure the CAD file was perfect, it was laser cut from 16 gauge, #4 finish, 304 stainless steel. The counter/backsplash and tray were cut in the flat and the sides were formed.
Laser cut, but the back-splashes not yet formed.
Installed. (Still need to finish trim the galley.)
We also reinstalled the original shelf that was just inside companionway that my brother refinished and slightly redesigned. Now we have a convenient spot for the binoculars and hand held wing speed gauge.
We installed the self adhesive 1/8″ rubber neoprene to replace the non slip that was on the companionway steps that I bought on eBay.
My brother had oiled and varnished the cabin sole and cabinetry over the past several weeks. It looks great.
We now have plenty of cup holders on board. We added one each to the stern seats and friends gave me some really nice clamp-on ones for Christmas.
