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!