Greetings From Libertyville, IL

[muchmsw]

All;

New to the board, and thought I'd stop in and introduce myself.

I'm an avid sailor and our current boat is a well kept 1977 Columbia 8.7 meter that we've had for 22 years or so. A pocket cruiser, to be sure, but it's a great boat for Lake Michigan.

We've sailed our little vessel all over Lake Michigan and now we're Jonesin' for a larger boat, but will probably have to defer a major purchase for a few years in order to fund our kid's college education. Bummer!

We just put the cover on the boat for it's long winter sleep and we're currently putting together the last few details for our Christmas charter in the BVI.

Happy Sailing,
Steve
S/V Pegasus

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Steve,
Welcome aboard!! Let's see 8.7 x 3.3 equals ? Sorry just can't figure it out. Sounds like something in the range of 28 or 29? Oh well, I guess you know where and when I went to school. Good to have you here. Always wanted to know how you get from the lake onto the Mississippi. Ever done that?
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

Steve:

Small world. I may have seen your boat down by Monroe. Ours is kept at DuSable and as I motor out I seem to recall a Pegasus but I'm sure there is more than one. We are on a Catalina Capri 26 - perhaps the same size give or take.

[muchmsw]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Aloha Steve,
Welcome aboard!! Let's see 8.7 x 3.3 equals ? Sorry just can't figure it out. Sounds like something in the range of 28 or 29? Oh well, I guess you know where and when I went to school. Good to have you here. Always wanted to know how you get from the lake onto the Mississippi. Ever done that?
Kind Regards,
JohnL

Hi John;

8.7 translates into something just a bit less than 29 ft. We usually tell our friends that our boat is 29' but for slip charges, it's closer to 28 !

Never actually gone from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi but it definitely can be done. It's part of a larger "loop" of the eastern seaboard. You can take the Chicago River to (I think) the Cal-Sag canal which empties into the Illinois river. From there, you connect to the Mississippi, the Tennessee, and down the Tenn-Tom waterway to the Tom Bigbee river which connects to the Intercoastal (and the Gulf) in Mobile, AL.

Sounds like a fun trip to me, but I guess you have to have your mast down for bridge clearance a good portion of the way. Sometimes you see boats in our marina preparing for the trip with their masts down and lashed to the deck.

I've always wondered what the cruising was like in Hawaii. It looks like big-water cruising to a land-locked Midwesterner like myself. Other than the other Hawaiian islands, where does one cruise in Hawaii?

Cheers,
Steve

[muchmsw]

Originally Posted by Captain Pre-Capsize

Steve:

Small world. I may have seen your boat down by Monroe. Ours is kept at DuSable and as I motor out I seem to recall a Pegasus but I'm sure there is more than one. We are on a Catalina Capri 26 - perhaps the same size give or take.

Hey Cap'n;

Might have, since we do get down there occasionally -- our boat is an off-white hull, black boot-stripe, and green canvas.

Most of the time we're up near Libertyville, however, at North Point Marina.

Wave as you go by...

Steve

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Steve,
Cruising here is done between the major islands which stretch for about 300 miles. It is bluewater work anytime you cross a channel between islands because of the 20 - 40 knot winds and steep seas. Very nice light winds in the lee of most islands which is the Southwest side of them all if the normal tradewinds are blowing. Trades normally blow 15k from the NNE. There are few good anchorages and fewer marinas so most transits from somewhere to somewhere else is overnight.
It would be a wonderful place to sail if there were more developed marinas. But there aren't because the state government doesn't like boaters. Oh well.
Kind Regards,
JohnL