July 11

Chicago River

Dusable Marina

The Columbia Yacht Club

Chicago / Lake Michigan

Women's Laser Regatta - Lake Michigan

With her engines humming and kicking up a beautiful aqua colored wake, the White Label was off & running again.  Under perfect conditions, we headed downwind on Lake Michigan for our 51 mile cruise to Chicago.
The shoreline has now become heavily dotted with a combination of towns, marinas, industry and many lovely residential homes.  About 35 miles out the skyline of Chicago began to emerge from the haze.  Over the next hour or so it was fun to watch it grow before our eyes.  Along the way we came across a women's laser event and paused briefly at the windward mark to check it out.
We have traveled to Chicago by plane and car many times - arriving by boat was by far the most interesting and scenic.  As we entered the Chicago Harbor we passed what looked like a retired cruise ship that had been turned into The Columbia Yacht Club - pretty clever!
The DuSable Marina is located just south of Navy Pier in the heart of the city.  It has a great view of the city by day -  the lighted skyline tonight should be even more spectacular.

Engines humming on the White Label

We spent the afternoon biking along the Lake Trail and also touring the Chicago Merchandise Mart.  It is located on the Chicago River and is one of the many architecturally significant buildings that we will be passing on our river tour of the city
tomorrow.