Windy City

The name is well deserved.  We have been watching the weather to make our crossing of lower Lake Michigan only to have bad weather hit us at the dock.  We tied up to the dock at Columbia Yacht Club yesterday around 1:00 pm. By 4 pm the wind had picked up and with no protection from a South wind the harbor became very choppy.  We put on a few extra lines and went to bed.  At 10:30 the dinghy banged into the back of Lifestyle II and woke me up.  As I was retreiving the dinghy,  my neighbor in a  new 40' Mainship Trawler yelled for me to come help.  The wind and waves were causing the boat to gyrate to the point it was causing damage to the boat.  The man and wife owners were trying to hold it off the dock and deploy additional dock lines and fenders.  After just a few minutes of trying to aid, I told them to start the engines and get away from the dock.  By the time they moved to a more sheltered part of the dock other people had come out to help.  We tied the Mainship down at a different dock but not before the wave and wind action had torn off the port side rail. The owners were sick but it can be replaced and no one was hurt, so all is well.  Back on board our boat I was thankful for the design of our Marine Trader.  She took the weather without a second thought.  The hull design and the weight contributed to a well balanced boat that can take such weather.  Today, just for safety's sake, we moved to a different spot.  The wind is still coming from the South and it may increase tonight, so we are trying to prevent another boat from getting damaged, ours!!.  Today we enjoyed pizza from a great Chicago pizza restaurant, Gino's East.  We rode bikes in the big city and watched as the Wednesday racers prepared their boats for the Wednesday night Beer Can race.  Some serious racers are here at Columbia Yacht Club.  We hope to start the river system tomorrow just as the heat blows in.  Temps tomorrow may reach 100 degrees.