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!