Office Tour

I've been quiet for a few weeks, partially because it's a slow time at Chicago Sailing. Donny and Kyle are working on the boats. Alan and I are working on brochures, the website and improving our services for all of our members.

One of our recent additions is a video camera. Our web designer is working on building in video for our site, here's my first try at giving you an inside peek of our operations! (You may have to visit our actual blog to watch the video)



What do you want to learn more about?

Holiday Gift Guide

We know that as the holiday season approaches, everyone struggles with finding the right present! Here is our run-down of the top gear for sailors. We've chosen these items to help maximize your sailing time and comfort while out enjoying the adventure.

1. Foul Weather Gear
If this season's weather continues into next season, we're in for a rainy 2010. Foul Weather Gear allows your sailor to take advantage of those peaceful days out on the water when everyone else is scared away by a little rain. It's especially helpful for taking advantage of the start of the season, when the Lake Michigan water is quite cool. You'll stay warm and dry inside your Foul Weather Gear!

2. Fleece
Jackets, pullovers, pants, and beyond - fleece is a sailor's friend! When you combine it with Foul Weather Gear, you'll stay toasty while you extend your adventure in comfort. Just like with skiing, keeping your core nice and warm is the key to thoroughly enjoying your day.

3. Sailing Gloves
Some of our sailors swear by their sailing gloves, others not so much. For the sailing enthusiast, who isn't out on the water every day, gloves aid you in managing lines and pulling them taught. When you aren't out building up callouses through everyday sailing, gloves are the way to go!

4. Boat Shoes
Specialized shoes exist for every sport we can think of. That's true in sailing as well. Boat shoes feature flexible, gripping soles that are non-marking. Designed to wick away moisture, they also keep your feet drier than regular shoes.

5. Stocking Stuffers
There are many small things that every sailor should have - good lip balm, croakies for your sunglasses, a visor or hat, waterproof sunblock, dry bags etc. Why not put together a sailing themed stocking?

All of these items can be purchased in Chicago at West Marine's 627 W North Ave location. Great sources exist online as well. Sail Magazine has an online guide to help you locate the best source.

What else should be on our list?

Houseboat Fall Delivery

Last week we capped the season with our fall trip down the Chicago River. For those aboard the "Squid," it was a bittersweet voyage.

It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon with friends with a view of one of the most beautiful skylines in the world. Visually stunning, I am genuinely awe-struck each and every time I catch a glimpse of Chicago from the water. And to think, every summer millions of people miss out on this experience.

For everyone this marked the end of the 2009 season, the bittersweet aspect of our voyage. After a surprising season, with variable weather and changes a-foot at Chicago Sailing, it was a chance to look ahead towards next season.

Office Staff member Mike Burlando was along with his camera. These are some of his photos.

Season Close

And so it goes. Another sailing season has passed us by.

The harbor is quieting down now, with more and more boats heading to their winter homes. Chicago Sailing still has a few J/22's in the water. You can still take advantage of them, provided you make a reservation in advance and the weather holds.

In the shop, Donny and Kyle have already started getting the boats ready for next year. There is much to do to prepare for the 2010 Season.

Heather is still at the harbor in the house boat. It's gotten a bit cool there and our space heater goes all the time.

The house boat is scheduled to go up the river soon, taking advantage of one of the remaining good weather days. Then we'll really shut down for the season and start working towards 2010!

Winding down

We have gotten a few calls recently inquiring about boat rentals this month. The short answer is yes, we are still open!

To elaborate: Our boats will start departing Dock B next week. Two of the Hunters are going up to Racine, where Bumblebee already is. The T-10 will also be leaving shortly. At some point during the week of the 19th, our remaining Hunters and the J/30 will travel to their winter home at Great Lakes Naval Base.

Our J/22's and J/24's are waiting until the end of October. Chicago Sailing is in the midst of a very big step forward - that we look forward to announcing shortly. On October 31st, if you are downtown along the river, you might get to spot the houseboat make her way to Canal Street Marina.

To take any of our boats out for one last sail this season, just call the office! We are operating with a small staff, but can accommodate most requests with advanced notice.

As always safety is our top priority. Make sure to wear proper clothing when sailing this month. It is significantly colder on the water and rain gear is highly recommended.

Our four-legged companions even practice water safety on the houseboat.


Thank you to everyone who joined us last Sunday for Oktoberfest! The food was delicious and the weather divine.



See you soon!

Oktoberfest!

All season long we have worked with our preferred caterer, AEL Catering to execute flawless corporate events.

This season saw numerous team building events, including two 65 person team building events that utilized every J/22 and J/24 in our fleet! Aboard Bumblebee, AEL Catering provided the food for many a cruise along Chicago's lake front. Chicago Sailing took care of three of the five senses for our guests with the sight of Lake Michigan and Chicago's skyline, the sound of a sail catching the wind and the feel of a rope or tiller in their hands. AEL Catering supplied the remainder with the smell and taste of exquisite food. In our minds - the perfect pairing for a day on the water.

As we near the end of Chicago's second summer, it is time to celebrate a season spent on the water enjoying the adventure! Coincidentally it is also Oktoberfest. So we put our thinking caps on and decided it was time to start a new tradition!

Sunday, October 4th join the staff of Chicago Sailing and AEL Catering as we celebrate the 2009 Season and hopefully store up enough memories of a sailing season to hold us through the gray Chicago winter. Rent a boat, go Club Sailing or just stop by in your best German-garb*!



*German-garb is encouraged, but not required. We just want to see you on B-Dock.

Chicago Match Race

This weekend is a busy weekend on our dock, for Chicago Sailing and Chicago Match Race. As Sail-World reported earlier this week, this weekend is the start of two weekends of Match Race competition just outside of Belmont Harbor.

In its first season, Chicago Match Race has kept their portion of B Dock busy! Earlier this season they hosted an international Grade 2 regatta in August. We've enjoyed getting to know everyone involved in the program. Having their headquarters docked behind our Hunters has made for a few tense docking moments though!

This morning we watched as they pulled their headquarters out to watch the action.





On the dock you can see that it's looking a little empty at the end. We have had some renters down visiting us today, taking advantage of our end of season special - 3rd hour free!



As we waited for some of our renters to arrive, we practiced our knots in the office. Kyle showed off his rescue bowline skills.

The fog came in again!

Our nemesis, the fog, rolled back in this morning just after our 9 am rentals left the dock. We quickly called the boats back in and I was armed with an actual camera, as opposed to my phone, to take some pictures.





These were snapped from the dock. I went for a wander and headed up to the breakwall to check out the visibility on the water.





Can you spot the sailboat in the fog?? In the next picture it had disappeared and was behind the fog as a motor boat went on by.

The fog rolls in

This morning as I walked into the harbor, it appeared a little hazy. Just a half-hour later that was a serious understatement! With visibility of only a few docks away from the house boat, we held our morning rentals on the dock and touched-base with the staff members out on the water.

While we waited for the fog to pass, we spotted a flock of geese who have returned to the harbor. We didn't see quite as many in July and August, but they've returned.



As the fog sat over us, you could follow our posts on Twitter for weather updates @chisail. Our staff made their way back to the harbor using the onboard compass to find their way.

After what seemed like most of the day (really just a few hours), the fog finally moved through. Sunny sky's returned! And our boats hit the water.

Air & Water Show Recap

Air & Water show weekend was a crazy time on Dock B. Leading up to the weekend itself, we had a number of events keeping us busy.

Tuesday night was Taco Night! (Greek night is tomorrow.) In total, 8 boats went out on Club Sail. In the food department, all 12 pounds of meat was consumed as folks hung out and got to know each other after sailing.



The following day we had a second 65 person Team Building event! Then it was quickly into Air & Water Show weekend. Saturday's weather was beautiful, with many boats off the dock all day long. Sunday proved a problematic day with gusts above 30 knots, storms and waves.



Many of our J-1 students from Ireland are finishing up their time with us this season. Before we let Hetty leave us, she took a turn on the work boat for a regatta with Jack and Ruadhiri's assistance. Charlie kept the dock in order all weekend long, managing a smoothly operating fleet during our busiest day of the year.

Spotting the planes from the house boat was the best part! What a wonderful weekend on B Dock!

Taco Night!

With smooth sailing ahead in the month of August and an anticipated Indian Summer this fall, we've decided it's time to shake up the Tuesday night BBQ's.

Tomorrow kicks off the new schedule with chicken and steak tacos and all the fixing.

Tuesday, August 25th: Greek Night!

Tuesday, September 8th: Shish Kabobs

Tuesday, September 22nd: Jamaican Jerk Chicken

This Tuesday, instructor Chris Lovas serves as the grill master. We'll let you know who is grilling in coming weeks!

A week of Regattas!

Chicago Sailing has had a busy week. Those of you who follow us on Twitter have received a few updates (@chisail). Monday - Wednesday of this past week Chicago Sailing had Corporate teams join us on Dock B for Team Building Events.

We started the week off with 64 people from Baxter participating in a half-day Team Building program. Using 13 J/22's, 2 J/24's and the T-10 made for a busy day on the dock. In total, 18 instructors arrived on our docks to teach the folks from Baxter a bit about sailing.

As everyone arrived, I watched instructors shake hands and catch up with each other - something they don't always get to do. The boats were rigged in preparation for the arrival of our clients and life jackets were sorted on the docks. Sanjay Singh, Chicago Sailing's Head Instructor, gave a brief chalk talk on the race course and points of sail.

Then it was time to take to the water en-masse!



On Wednesday we hosted a team from Biosite, in town from across the country for meetings. They arrived complete with team t-shirts. I liked the quote they used on the back so much that I grabbed a photo of it.



Thursday we hosted a group of summer interns from Unilever for a recreational sail. Today finishes off the week with a group of friends in town for a bachelor party. They started their Saturday off right with a Regatta!





Despite the blustery weather, it's a busy day on Dock B. Hope to see you soon!

Tracking the weather...

At Chicago Sailing we spend a lot of time tracking the weather. Our captains are better weather guys than Tom Skilling sometimes! A lot of customers call the office inquiring about the weather prediction and winds.

Here's a quick run-down of the sites we use in our office.

The Chicago Tribune has a marine forecast. Click on weather on the right, scroll down until you find the Marine Forecast. Or just follow this link. The Tribune's radar is one of our favorites.

Another bookmark we use quite often is weather.com. Though, this season it has not been so useful for weather predictions. The radar is helpful and easy to use - though always keep an eye on those clouds. This area of Chicago has a number of storms pop up suddenly and travel over Chicago.

When it comes to tracking the wind, our staff is split between two different sites.

NOAA tracks winds off of the crib in Lake Michigan, follow this link for your own wind readings.

Sailflow pulls information from a number of different harbors. We prefer gathering readings off the Chicago Offshore point.

For those with newer phones, there are some apps out there for you!

On iPhones, there is an app for NOAA Weather Service. Set your location to Chicago and you have a mobile weather reading and radar. The next version promises wind readings.

Are there other iPhone apps you are using? I know there is a compass app that can be used, but haven't tried it myself.

Blackberry's app store includes Weather channel apps and Weather Underground for those of you on a crackberry.

The dock today is busy, despite many of our staff member's participation in the 101 st race to Mackinac Island. Best of luck to each of them - though some are competing against each other!


Look at that empty dock. Happy Sailing folks!

Economy or Weather, the boat industry makes the news.

The Chicago Tribune just ran an article on the boating industry in the Chicago area.

For boating, rough waters

The article raises some interesting questions regarding the economy and its effect on the local marine industry. Recently, we were included in a Crain's article regarding the unseasonably wet weather. They created a video portion, that can be watched online.

In the latest weather news, Tom Skillings reports we have seen just 35% of our regular sunlight this month.

On Dock B, we have a very busy July schedule and are hoping August proves to be much of the same. With your support, we are proving that nothing stops a sailor from getting out on the water.

In that spirit, meet the newest addition to our dock - Jag Ed. Recently purchased in Wisconsin and fixed in our shop, we now have two J/24's to offer our renters.


She went out on a test run yesterday with our staff and is ready and waiting for her next trip off the dock!

3rd of July

Yesterday was a beautiful day for Chicago Sailing. Our boats steadily came in and left the dock on charters and rentals throughout the day, as many people were introduced to Dock B.



Staff and customers operated like clock-work throughout the day.



Alex Molo introduced Rich Feffer's passengers to the T-10 as Rich pulled back into the dock.





Bumblebee was shined and ready for it's annual fireworks trip. Ellen Feinberg held her 4th annual fireworks charter!



The J/22's went in and out, taking advantage of the great weather while dodging the motorboats.



As we closed down for the evening, the J/22's were cleaned and ready for tomorrow. We could spot the tops of the fireworks downtown. Every boat with lights was off the dock and downtown for the fireworks, including the Sabre-38. A family in town from Iowa for the weekend, snatched that boat up for a special night on Lake Michigan!

The Pride Parade

Yesterday turned into a fantastic Parade Day! Chicago Sailing participated for the first time, along with nearly 250 other groups.



So far we've spotted these photos on Flickr from other people of the float in action. We were too busy handing out brochures to take our own pictures!

One for the Team

Last weekend one of our captains took out a Bachelor party on a charter. We encourage all of our guests to make an event of their sails, and this group was intent on having a good time.

Apparently they wanted to add some music to their adventure. Unfortunately for our captain they did not bring out a large selection of tunes.

For 2 hours they played the same song over and over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOvaCV6uQp8

Summertime in the City

Summer is finally here! As our 90 degree high can attest to.

A quick couple of photos from the dock this evening.



And on the other side, quite a few big boats are missing.



Don't you wish you had gotten out here too?

Heading back to grilling now!

Is it Sun Spots?

At this point, we have all noticed the unseasonable weather Chicago is experiencing. Yesterday our high was 12 degrees lower than the average temperature. The lake is higher than it has been in years. Over the winter Lake Michigan almost froze over, or so I've been told.

Recently we heard rumors that this was going to be the summer that Chicago didn't get a summer. Crain's Chicago is even doing a story on businesses being affected by the weather!

The going theory on this weird weather is Sun Spots. Being sailor's, all we know is that any pocket of good weather we get - we're hitting the water!

Hope to see you during the next spot of sunny weather.

The Sailor's Forum has returned!

Sailing is a social sport. We love watching new and old friends reconnect on B Dock while sailing. That's why it became so important for us to relaunch the Sailor's Forum.

Take a tour of the topics we have created already. Let us know if there are topics you would like to see. Some of these topics were created in direct response to some of your survey responses.

A month of images

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say. I'm hoping that the below pictures help cover for our general lack of blog updates recently.

This May saw a lot of action on B Dock.

Unilever came out for a Team Building event in the middle of the month. A little bit of the Irish luck helped us out, with a break in the rain that day allowing just enough time for the teams to go out and do some sailing. Despite the cold weather and waves - everyone returned to the dock with a smile on their face.



For each of our Team Building Events, the work boat goes out to monitor the race course, sound the starting horn and determine the winner. Prior to starting a race, boats have to sail in the area by the starting line being careful to not cross the line before the starting horn. If you accidentally cross the line too early, you're disqualified!





Off they go for a great event!

Basic Sailing has been very popular this season. We have over 60 sailors this week alone!





Recently a pair of sunglasses took a bath so Charlie and Alex went looking for them. Life is certainly interesting on B-Dock.



Already this season Chicago Sailing has hosted two successful marriage proposals, continuing our 100% success history. An unsuspecting girlfriend was led to the J/24 and greeted by a bouquet of roses and chocolate covered strawberries. Her day of surprises continued as they went out for a romantic charter than ended with a ring.

FINALLY! Some great sailing weather...

I arrived at B Dock to find the winds out of the west at 10 knots and our boats already heading out with classes on them. After three weekends of cold, overcast weather punctuated with sun and winds of 40 knots - today is a very good day.

Summer might finally be on its way.



Other sailors have caught on to the return of summer, as you can see the harbor is starting to show a little more life. There are still a lot more boats that need to return. Soon this will be a bustling place.



Tom Macku started teaching a new group of landlubbers how to sail this morning. We're thrilled to have him back along with our other returning instructors.

In a couple of weeks Chicago Sailing will host US SAILING's own instructors as they lead an instructor training course. Many of our new instructors are taking part along with others from around the city. There was so much interest that US SAILING is scheduling another course later this season with us. Belmont Yacht Club (the bigger, white and green houseboat just north of us) is providing the classroom space. A big thank you to them for their assistance in holding this course!



Ryan and Alex met while taking Basic Sailing at the start of this season. They endured the cold and passed with flying colors, now they are practicing their newly learned skills. In another week, Sanjay will be joining them for Intermediate Sailing. I'm excited to see this team and their friends all summer long.

There's one week left for free check-outs and an extra free hour for your rental! It's time for you to return to the water.

Feedback from You

We have had a busy few weeks to the Chicago Sailing season. I actually looked forward to coming in today and the boats going out with their students. A moment of quiet time to catch up on our blog and other activities.

Sitting next to my desk are the course evaluations from our first batch of converted landlubbers. The sentence that sums it all up for me is, "Best sailing class ever!"

WOW - you can't buy better marketing.

Now in the digital age you can see all sorts of feedback online. Entire sites are devoted to user reviews, such as Yelp. These reviews help us do our jobs better. We hope that you will share your Chicago Sailing experiences with others and if you ever have an experience that does not match your expectations please tell us.

Tax Day Savings

Just a few discounts from us to you from now through May 10th.

* All seasonal check-out fees are waived with your first rental
* Get 1 additional hour for free with all 2 hour rentals
* Food and coffee to keep sailors warm on the weekends

Boats are available, call 773-871-7245 to make your reservation today.

Opening Weekend 2009

Friday I arrived at B Dock to find the guys hard at work.



Bucko was washing off the boats.



Charlie was working on the rigging on our J/22's.



Donny was painting.

They made sure all was ready for our season start yesterday. We had 5 eager landlubbers arrive before 8:30 am to start their sailing adventure.



Rick Reed started his second season of instruction this weekend.



Sanjay Singh, who has been with us longer than the office staff can figure out, was also on hand to make sure our new sailors received expert instruction. Sanjay is helping Chicago Sailing train a new batch of instructors while Ronan is in Ireland.

As I write, we have one boat coming back in the harbor, a crock pot with sloppy joes to warm you up and a pot of coffee on. The view doesn't get much better than this, with the Hancock and Trump towers in the distance and a harbor that is waiting for the boats to return.