Empty Docks at Chicago Sailing....

Today was a wonderful day for a sail, upon our return to the dock we realised that we had a practically empty dock. This is great for everyone, our dock staff are happy as they can catch up on some workshop and maintenance work while our office staff have time to continue with our scheduling. The instructors love it as they are on the boats out on the water.

Mother's Day at Chicago Sailing

Mother's day was special for us all at Chicago Sailing even more so for these lovely folks below.
Here we see Anne with her daughter Melinda and husband Kent. They had a wonderful charter aboard one of our J30's - Bonzai. We are happy to report that Anne said that her cruise was 'the best mother's day gift ever' and that she can't wait to go sailing again.

Here we have Dyson and Kimo with their mother Johanna. Johanna and these guys along with their father also had a nice cruise on Mother's day... we hope to see them all down here again soon.

Congratulations to Annie Miller's class on their successful graduation from Basic 101. We would like to wish them all the best in their future sailing adventures and are looking forward to seeing them out on the water this season.
Here we have Annie (in the yellow) with her class that was made up of Scot, Murali, Phililp and Jeroen. You can also see Annie's dog Layla tugging at Philips rope that he was using to practise knots.

There really is something about early morning

One of our favorite times is the calm before the storm.... that peaceful time of the day in the early morning when the sun is just rising, the birds are awaking and people are about to get out and about (and the phones have not started ringing like crazy yet!).

Here we have a shot taken early this morning, although the harbor is still filling up you can see many boats already in their docks. After Memorial Day we expect to see many more.

First off this morning was Brent Breithaupt and his crew aboard our J24. These guys had a reservation for 8am and were anxious to get on the lake early to watch the city come alive.
If you fancy early morning cruises or sails we will be happy to open up our operations earlier, just ask.

We were graced with one of our four legged sailors also today- Bella. Bella is Stephanie's dog. Stephanie is our new Marketing Coordinator who is away in Vegas for a wedding this weekend (maybe her own, she has been quiet so far!?). Bella is our designated Guard Dog this weekend... she will lick you to death if you are not careful.
Here you see Bella before she went out sailing for the afternoon.... yes dog's are allowed here at Chicago Sailing.

Lessons Continue in Mid- summer like conditions

Today we had some private lessons take place and one Basic 101 which is running each morning from 9 – 12. The instructor for both classes is Alex and he has been reporting light wind conditions more like mid June with winds between 2 and 10 knots each day. Tomorrow is forested for 15 – 20 out of the North so we have a feeling that the classes are in for some serious fun sailing tomorrow.

Here we have Alex and his evening private lesson going through a little theory before they venture out on the water.

They were on the water from about 5pm - 8pm and were lucky enough to get a great view of the sunset from the vantage point of the lake.

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Glorious J30 Sailing!!

What a wonderful day Tuesday was! We had winds from the South west between 9 and 20 knots with very small waves. The cooler was full and the crew were anxious to get out on the water for the first time in 2007.


As always we asked our sailors to take loads of photos and be sure to email them to us.... and guess what? This time they did!!

Here we see the crew sailing towards Michigan which was their initial plan until they realised that the beer would not last all the way.








The crew told us of 'Glorious Sailing' and of how great it was to be out on the water again. 'Sailing makes the summer in Chicago' was one comment.

We would have to agree with them on that point. It really is great to be able to get out on the lake in T-shirts and shorts in early May. Let's hope that this is a sign of the summer that lays ahead.

Nothing beats being out on the Lake!!

This is our favorite shot... just like the Corona add running at the moment except that it is more realistic..... the bottle is empty!



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A proposal, a swimming instructor and great sailing

What a day we had today! Sunburned happy faces, smiles, laughs and good times at Chicago Sailing.
It started off bright and early with three full boats going out on Club Sails. All boats returned (we always like when that happens) and the reports were of some amazing sailing conditions. 'Awesome', 'Amazing' and 'Far out' were some of the many good terms used.

Here you see our J22 'Catach' sailing back into the harbor. This boat was out for a private lesson with Rob as the instructor.

While we normally advise against sailing in the harbor as Rob was onboard we didn't mind too much and also as the boat was out of gas they really didn't have much of a choice. Imagine my surprise when i saw Rob fall off the back of the boat while he was instructing. As is normal in these situations it had happened before i even realised and Rob was back onboard even quicker than he had fallen off! It may have something to do with the frigid water.

Luckily for me i had my phone with me and was able to capture the moment as he got back onboard.

Typically when someone falls overboard (especially at this time of the year) they do not stay in the water too long. Once I saw that Rob was safe and uninjured the laughter came... and did i laugh!! Well done Rob, and congratulations on the first instructor swim of 2007.



This afternoon we had another proposal, this time onboard one of our J22's. Congratulations to Jeremiah Lange and his new fiance. We would like to wish them all the best in their future. Hopefully they will always have fun memories of Chicago Sailing and come back to sail with us in the future.
For the record (and for those of you that are thinking of popping the question) we have a 100% record for proposals at Chicago Sailing.... not one declined yet.

We had a french invasion this afternoon with the arrival of one of our long time customers
Thierry Faure and his crew of fellow french sailors taking out one of the J22's for a spin this afternoon... Thierry promised to take along his drapeau tricolore next time to fly off the backstay.

Early Sunday morning.... gotta love it!

This shot was taken at about 7am this morning.... we think its one of the nicest times of the day at Chicago Sailing...... the calm before the storm.