[Rhodes22-list] Rhodes22 spotting

Mon May 3 00:57:56 EDT 2004

Rafe,

 I have driven by Jackson harbon many times - it looks like 
a nice, cozy place.  We live in Oak Park so Monroe harbor 
is much more convenient - I can get on the el two blocks from 
my house and be at the harbor in 20 minutes.  We also have 
a family house in Michigan City. I kept the boat in trail 
creek there last year.  The back yard there is large enough for 
us to store the boat so we keep it there in the winter.  I trust 
my trailer for the 2 mile trip to the ramp but not enough to 
navigate the Chicago expressways.

I have only made the Chicago to Michigan City trip once so 
far.  That was two years ago when I was in Monroe.  It 
was interesting.  The first 6-7 hours was in light winds 
and we covered the first half of the 40 miles.  The wind then veered 
by ~ 180 degrees from southwest to northeast and picked 
up to 20-30 knots.  It seemed like it happened within 5 minutes.
The rest of the distance  took about 3 1/2 hours. We were 
on the rail the whole time - pretty exciting with spray coming 
over the rail and the genoa and main partially rolled up. One 
mistake I made was that I had not really sailed very much in 
those conditions when close to home so I was not as confident of 
the approprate sail combination as I should have been - it wasn't 
the best time to experiment - but we made it. 

So after that experience I will certainly be very aware of the 
weather predictions.  I am hoping for a slightly calmer trip this 
time. It should take 8-10 hours - racers make it in 6.  It should 
be a bit shorter from Jackson Harbor - a good long day sail 
if the wind is right.  Perhaps we will sail down there for a visit 
later this summer.

Ron

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rafe" <rafe00 at ameritech.net>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 10:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Rhodes22 spotting

> Ron,
> 
> We keep our boat in Jackson harbor which is straight
> east from Michigan City.  They have one star dock
> which we like better than the walk ups.  I am not
> sure, but Jackson harbor might cost less than Monroe. 
> You might want to check it out sometime.  There is
> some sort of Yacht Club, but we have never signed up
> for it.  We keep a dingy there, but when we have
> guest, we just take the boat right up to the dingy
> dock - the water is about five feet deep there.
> 
> How long does  it take to sail from Michigan City?  I
> guess you have been doing this for a few years now. 
> Do you always sail down?  Do you live in Michigan or
> are there other reasons for storing your boat there?
> 
> After what we got caught in today, I would be very
> careful about the weather for your sail down.  On the
> up side, the longer it takes you to get your boat
> ready the better the weather will tend to be.  I think
> there are weather buoys that might help you.  The
> closest online one to you I could find just now is:
> 
> http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.phtml?station=45007
> 
> and Dial-A-Buoy which can give you up to the hour 
> wind speed and wave hight:
> 
> http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/dial.shtml#howdo
> 
> There probobly are a few more.  Some day I want to
> take a fairly long sail trip on Michigan - so I guess
> I need to start collecting these resources.  A couple
> of things nice about Dial-A Buoy are the up to the
> hour reports and the fact that you only need a cell
> phone.  
> 
> Rafe
> 1988 Rhodes22 "Roo"  -- my last email tried to change
> the boat name to RoRoo and something else - The name
> has not changed since I got the boat: "Roo".
> 
> --- Ronald Lipton <rlipton at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > Rafe,
> > 
> >   Where did you motor to?  I am in Monroe harbor
> > this year 
> > but I keep the boat in Michigan city.  I plan to
> > sail down to
> > Chicago either next weekend or the one after,
> > depending on 
> > how much work I need to do to finish preparation and
> > how 
> > much help I have.  
> > 
> > I will pay attention to the weather reports. It is
> > not good to 
> > get caught 20 miles from the nearest harbor when the
> > 
> > weather turns.  The lake can get pretty nasty when
> > there 
> > have been a few days of North winds with the full
> > 300 mile 
> > fetch.
> > 
> > Ron
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Rafe" <rafe00 at ameritech.net>
> > To: "Rhodes22-list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 8:43 PM
> > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Rhodes22 spotting
> > 
> > 
> > > While motoring up the river we saw a lighter green
> > > Rhodes22 at Crowley's Yacht Yard in Chicago. 
> > Anyone
> > > on this list? 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > Sunday May 2 - Lake Michigan knocked us around
> > > alalotoday.  With the mast down we had no choice
> > but
> > > to motor.  Every 6th wave was a huge wall of water
> > - I
> > > found it better not to look behind us.  A couple
> > times
> > > we had a wall of water right in front of the boat.
> > 
> > > The boat would just start to  nip into the wave
> > before
> > > the wave would move on.  When you are in the low
> > part
> > > of one wave looking up into the high part of
> > another,
> > > 4 to 6 foot waves look very large (they look like
> > 8 to
> > > 12 foot waves).  We only took one big wave on the
> > side
> > > and RoRooook it very well.  I got splashed just
> > that
> > > one time - very dry boat, but I am going to start
> > > paying much closer attention to the
> > whweathereports. 
> > > Sometimes you just have to wait.  
> > > 
> > > Rafe and Amy
> > > 1988 Rhodes22 - RoRoo
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> > www.rhodes22.org/list
> > __________________________________________________
> > Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help?
> www.rhodes22.org/list
> 
> __________________________________________________
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