Rainbow At Belmont Harbor!

This morning's rain turned into something special, a rainbow! I was hoping I'd see one after sitting in the rain with blue skies directly overhead, and I got my wish.

It's been a long time since my last post. School has started so I'm up early taking boys to school (which makes going to the boat after work harder). The days are shorter--it's dark at 6:30 now. It is easy to let other activities compete for my time, plus it's been cooler than normal for September.

I plan to get at least one more good sail in before Donnybrook goes to her winter home at Crowley's mid October.

Verve Distance Race Results

After a postponement due to storms, we started close to 1:30. Race Committee shortened course so it was a one leg race, 12 miles north to the first mark. It was too long for the wind.

We started in variable wind and barely made way. We deployed "Blue", our cruising spinnaker, but were making only two to three knots. We bobbed for two hours only to get decent wind, out of the northeast, for the last hour.

Several boats withdrew. We stuck with it until the race ended at 4:30. No boats finished.

Provisioning for the Verve Distance Race (Why I'm planning to be slow)

The Chicago Yacht Club's Verve Distance Race is today! As other boats are lightening their boats, we're provisioning for a race AND a day at the airshow Sunday (we have 10+ people coming over). Remember, Donnybrook is a cruiser first.

Combine with the forecast light winds I'm anticipating a slow race. With my fantastic friends and crew (Brian, Mike, Bob, Roxray, and Carlos) we'll have a great time no matter what happens.

Smokey Sunset Over Chicago

It was a better than usual sunset tonight, thanks to the fire in Cicero filling the sky with smoke.

I took co-workers Larisa, Noey, and David for an after work sail tonight. We sailed on a reach straight out about 4 miles and returned. Larisa was looking for the moon to rise, but it wasn't coming up until 8:40. We had do return to dock before then because of Noey and David's train schedule so she had her husband take her to Montrose Beach after the sail (parking is better there).

This was a fitting end to three days on Donnybrook: Pizza with the family and a sleep over with Conor Sunday before his first day of sailing lessons, a day off work Monday for boat chores (interrupted by a few work conference calls) and a solo sail, and finally a very pleasant after work sail with co-workers tonight!

Sailboat vs. Ship

I saw this on Sailinganarchy.com.  If you ever wondered what happens when a sailboat doesn't yield right of way to a large ship, see this.  The pessimist says it's ugly.  The optimist says it could have been a lot worse!

There are a lot of comments on the Sailing Anarchy forum.  My favorite:  "A freighter captain told me once, you know what they hear on board when a freighter hits a sailboat: nothing. "


The Hanne Knutsen in this video is 870 feet (265 meters) long.  The sailboat is about 36 feet.

Cruisers--Can You Go The Distance? Verve Distance Race

UPDATE:  The 2012 Verve Distance Race is Saturday, August 11.  See this article for information, or visit www.vervecup.com.

The Chicago Yacht Club Verve Committee has been working hard make the second running of the Verve Cup Distance Race attractive to sailors who don't feel competitive in windward/leeward course racing, including Cruising Sailors.

This year's race will be an approximately 24 mile course against the backdrop of the Chicago Air and Water Show.  There will be Offshore, Mac "Cruising", and Jib and Main sections for every type of sailor.  Rafting at Monroe and Verve Cup social events are included in the modest $2.50/foot entry fee (after August 5 there will be a $75 penalty).

Social events include live entertainment, a competitor party sponsored by Karma Yacht Sales, Mount Gay Rum, and Modelo Especial (NEW) Samuel Adams beer, a casual grill, full use of the Chicago Yacht Club Main Dining Room and Bar, chair massages by Equinox Fitness, and displays from the Verve Cup's co-sponsors, Audi and SLAM.

Fourteen boats are already registered.  Please consider participating in this great event.  To register, go to the the Verve's Yacht Scoring Site and select Online Entry Form / Application.  You’re registering for the Verve Offshore.  When prompted for your Racing Course/Class, select ORR Saturday Distance Race ONLY.

See Chicago Yacht Club's Verve Cup Distance Race for my impressions of the race!

Arrival at Belmont Harbor

Bob and I arrived at Belmont Harbor Friday night at 11:43 pm. Surprisingly no one was on the docks and we only saw a couple of boats on the water. It's a cool night in Chicago, at least on the lake, so I expected more people to be out on a Friday night.

We motored or motor-sailed the entire trip across Lake Michigan. We averaged 6.3 knots over the 93 miles from Grand Haven. Donnybrook's Universal M25XP diesel engine ran flawlessly all day.

The trip total is almost 700 miles since the 2011 Mac race started two weeks ago. We traveled 343 miles since leaving Mackinac Island 9 days ago. Most of that was with the motor.

Bob went home so I'm spending one last night on the boat alone. I'll be up early cleaning and putting things away to get Donnybrook back to Karen's high standards.