Much has happened since the last post from Manistee, MI. We got out of Manistee on Sunday, 8/22/2009 and went to Grand Haven, MI in 4-5 foot quartering seas. Not a very comfortable ride for an 80 NM trip. Monday we left with “Potest Fieri” for South Haven, MI but, because of the weather window we went across Lake Michigan to Kenosha, WI. Tuesday we arrived in Chicago, and picked up a mooring in Monroe Harbor. A great spot right downtown, or so we thought. The wind came in from the east at 15-20 knots on the second and third night and it was like sleeping in a washing machine. We decided to get out of Dodge. We left Friday and went down the Chicago River right through the heart of Chicago. This was a great experience.
We had fun in Chicago during the day and saw many interesting things. We had dinner at Morton’s one night and a very nice dinner the second night at the Columbia Yacht Club, a reciprocal privilege.
The next hurdle we have had to deal with is the Corps of Engineers (COE) “Fish Barrier”. This engineering marvel is designed to keep “Asian Carp” out of the Great Lakes. It was to be “tested” on August 17th. They then, without any notice, decided to keep it up and running while doubling the current flow.
The effect of this was the COE banned transit through the barrier for any boat that was not made of steel or some other metal. Fiberglass boats are banned from crossing the barrier for fear of “Injury or Death”. Of course you can get through if you disconnect all your batteries and are brought through by a commercial tug. This tug is under contract with the COE and the transit cost is $600.00. We are presently tied to a river barge above the barrier awaiting our turn to be ripped off.
While we visited some great harbors in the lake and meet many great people we are glad to be out of Lake Michigan as the weather and wave action is was tough.
We are now proceeding to the Mississippi River. This is a downhill ride till we get to the Ohio River. This will be relaxing as opposed to all the conditions we encountered in Lake Michigan.
Stay tuned.
We had fun in Chicago during the day and saw many interesting things. We had dinner at Morton’s one night and a very nice dinner the second night at the Columbia Yacht Club, a reciprocal privilege.
The next hurdle we have had to deal with is the Corps of Engineers (COE) “Fish Barrier”. This engineering marvel is designed to keep “Asian Carp” out of the Great Lakes. It was to be “tested” on August 17th. They then, without any notice, decided to keep it up and running while doubling the current flow.
The effect of this was the COE banned transit through the barrier for any boat that was not made of steel or some other metal. Fiberglass boats are banned from crossing the barrier for fear of “Injury or Death”. Of course you can get through if you disconnect all your batteries and are brought through by a commercial tug. This tug is under contract with the COE and the transit cost is $600.00. We are presently tied to a river barge above the barrier awaiting our turn to be ripped off.
While we visited some great harbors in the lake and meet many great people we are glad to be out of Lake Michigan as the weather and wave action is was tough.
We are now proceeding to the Mississippi River. This is a downhill ride till we get to the Ohio River. This will be relaxing as opposed to all the conditions we encountered in Lake Michigan.
Stay tuned.
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