Busy Day at Chicago Sailing

Today we were busy with two events taking place. We had a teambuilding regatta in the morning with Deloitte US. This event was great fun with all participants having a blast and really enjoying being out of the office and on the water. Above you can see our pre- regatta training briefing. Here we are informing the group of whats going to be happening on the water. As the sun was so hot we elected to do this under the tent.

Here you can see the teams starting to rig the jib and prepare to sail.

Our second event today was a Bumblebee sail. Bumblebee (pictured below) is our flagship vessel and can carry groups of up to 40. She is proving very popular this season and is on the water as much as she is docked. Today the company OMD chartered her for an afternoon cruise.

Bumblebee has room on deck for 40 + people while she is also wonderfully appointed down below. You can see from these shots taken below prior to the sail that the group sure was going to eat and drink well.


If you would like more information on our Group events please call Stephanie now at 773 871 7245 and she will be delighted to answer any questions that you may have.

'Parvenu' returns to Belmont

Alan Veenstra, Chicago Sailing owner and president sailed his own personal boat 'Parvenu' down from Racine Wisconsin late last night. Alan has sailed countless miles on this beautiful vessel. We are of the opinion that she is one of the most beautiful boats in the harbor and were delighted to see her back at her mooring.

Alan tells us that he plans on doing some 'housekeeping' on her over the next few days. We look forward to seeing her sailing sometime soon.

A calm, quiet morning

Fridays are one of our busiest days for the dock staff at Chicago Sailing. Today is very calm and not too humid, perfect for getting some work done.
Order of business today for all can be seen below:
1. Do a motor check on all engines. Thats 24 engines and 6 spares!!
2. Clean any boats that need it.
3. Check rigging and sails on all boats.
4. Do fuel check confirming that we have plenty for the next 5 days, if not we will go to pick up clean gas.
5. Pump out all larger boats, check all fluid levels onboard, pump out waste tanks and completely clean and sanitize the 'Heads'.
6. Clean the Houseboat/ office inside and out.
7. Grab a much needed beer in anticipation of the busy weekend.

We do love our jobs and are very grateful to be able to work outside... hopefully everyone appreciates the distances we go to enabling us to keep delivering high standards of service !

Verisign at Chicago Sailing

Today we co- hosted a Teambuilding Regatta with one of our sailing partners 'Gel'. Gel and Chicago Sailing work together to bring rewarding teambuilding experiences to companies in the Chicago area. Gel operates nationwide.
Verisign was the company today and we are happy to report that much was learned and gained form their time on the water.

Here you can see the teams preparing to depart the dock and some already departing.

Holiday Weekend at Chicago Sailing

July 4th weekend is traditionally one of our busiest weekends and this weekend has been no different. Below you see a shot of the dock with nearly all of our boats out on the water. The weather was great and everyone was so excited to get out and sail, hopefully we will continue to have good weekends for sailing and fun throughout the season.

Saturday, June 22

The weather is finally where we want it to be......warm and windy! The weekends on the dock have been booked, especially with basic sailing classes. It’s great to see such an interest in exploring this great city from a different angle! Blues fest this weekend has kicked off the summer of festivities. We have many new instructors this year, including a few from Ireland.

June 15th- Racing in before a storm

Today the weather was unsettled which means that we were watching the radar and weather very closely at all times. While we would never send out our boats if the weather is dangerous and unsafe we do of course allow them to depart if the weather is good. Today was one of those days, lovely weather but with a storm forecasted.

In situations like this we inform all sailors of the forecast and make sure that they know to monitor their cell phones and radios. Boats are to stay within 10 minutes sailing time enabling them to return if the weather does turn bad. Once the weather starts to make a change (usually out of the west) we ask all boats to come in immediately.



Here you see a nice shot of some Etchells, who were competing in the World championships also racing back to the dock.


And a quick shot of the sky just before the big rains and winds kicked in. Gladly all our boats were well off the water and put away at this point.