Crossing Lake Michigan to Chicago

We departed South Haven, Michigan, at 7:30am EST on Friday, 31 August, to make the roughly 80 mile crossing of Lake Michigan. Once again we were a bit apprehensive about this part of the trip, because of the reputation this Lake had acquired over the years for being unpredictable and violent (listen once again to Gordon Lightfoot’s rendering of the Edmond Fitzgerald and you’ll understand what we mean).

Adding to our nervousness were the weather conditions on the Lake on Thursday. We walked to the Lake Michigan shore and we can tell you it looked like the inside of a washing machine it was so rough. It is hard to believe that such a huge body of water can be so rough, and then 10 hours later be calm, but that is what the various weather forecasts we reference were calling for. We have come to have a healthy skepticism of weather predictions, to say the least. However, the rough water did not keep the die hard sail boaters from doing their weekly races.

In any event, we (XPLORER and IRISH AYES) decided to depart South Haven and head to Chicago. Winds were (as predicted) fairly calm and out of the NNE. Seas (also as predicted) were 1-3 feet, which were on the starboard aft quarter. Those seas pushed us around a little bit, but it was not uncomfortable.

We arrived in Chicago at the Chicago Yacht Club at around 2:30pm CST, concluding an uneventful eight hour transit of Lake Michigan. All in all it was a good crossing. We will spend the next few days of this Labor Day Holiday Weekend in Chicago, allowing the flood waters to recede a little more, before we begin our trek down the Illinois River. Stay tuned….