LeeLoo Has Left The Building . . . The Adventure Begins!

We departed Racine, Wisconsin this morning at about 9:15 a.m. for Chicago.  Our weather and water (wave height and direction) apps suggested that if we were to leave at this time we would miss the rain and also that the waves would be 1-2’ laying down to 0-1’ after a couple of hours.  Both apps were spot on and we had a good first day for our adventure! Our trip today was 57 nautical miles (about 65 statute miles) and it took us just under 7 hours.  The last part of the trip was in a thick fog.  Of course the last thing a boater wants to do is to enter the Chicago harbor in a thick fog, given the vast number of tour boats (mostly empty today) and water taxis heading this way and that.  But we found DuSable Marina and our slip in short order and docked LeeLoo right behind another 32’ Nordic Tug named Sea Bear.  The owners are from Sonoma, CA and are close to finishing their loop right when we are beginning ours.

Tomorrow we enter the river system where we will face the dreaded Amtrak railroad bridge and then our first lock at Lockport (naturally).  How far we make it tomorrow is an unknown.  The rain is supposed to clear out by morning so we are hoping for a good day on the river!

Chicago Harbor Entrance Lighthouse in Fog