Welp, it’s about time we get moving south, eh? With all the boat dramas from the last few episodes now behind us, we’re finally making miles south down the Illinois River. And good thing, too, ‘cause winter is hot on our keel.
Oh dear…This one’s for you dreamers out there who will one day become newbie boat owners, just like us. Take notes! Hopefully you won’t have to make these same mistakes. Last episode, we had issues with our centerboard, which were — surprise! — caused by yours truly.
At the end of our last episode, we left you thinking we ran aground. Yeah, we did. Though in all fairness, it was more of a “nudge the bottom” situation. The question was, how did we manage to run aground in 8 feet of water, when we only draft 4?
What lies between us and saltwater sailing? 1300 miles of rivers! Before we can get underway, we need to unstep our mast. For this leg of our journey south, we turning our sailboat into a motorboat.
Do you dream of sailing over the horizon in your own sailboat? If so, one of the biggest questions you probably have is, How much is the boat?
This is it! After years of preparation, we’re finally untying the dock lines, leaving our homeport, and pointing our bow south.
This is it! After years of preparation, we’re finally untying the dock lines, leaving our homeport, and pointing our bow south.
Just one week is left before we depart our home port of Racine, Wisconsin — for good!?! — and take off south down the river.
The river trip is right around the corner, and our preparations start getting serious. The list of boat projects we want to complete (as discussed in Ep 15) before leaving Lake Michigan is LONG.
A leaky marine head can be a very sh*tty situation. At one point during our shakedown cruise around Lake Michigan, we ended up with toilet water where it SHOULDN’T be — outside the bowl.
