The Adventure Begins

            Steve and Mary Chase aboard Dream Chaser

In this blog, we will be sharing our adventures while on our cruise of the Great Loop aboard our 42' Ocean Alexander yacht, Dream Chaser. We don't have sails, but the rest applies.

                                                            Throw off the bow lines.
                                                       Sail away from the safe harbor.
                                                     Catch the trade winds in your sails.
                                                           Explore, Dream , Discover.
                                                                             
When did we first think about living on a boat?  In 1978, while on our honeymoon in the Bayfield, WI area, we explored the area and found ourselves in the Bayfield Marina.  A Grand Banks trawler was being readied for a cruise by a newly retired couple. We eagerly responded to an invitation to tour their boat.  Steve had endless questions and of course toured the engine room.  He was so impressed that when he returned to the car, he announced that someday he wanted to live on a boat!  Mary was not as enthusiastic, at the time, but now sees it as a great adventure.  Thirty five years later, here we are living it!

In the Spring of 2012, our son, Ryan, told us about a website for the Great Loop.  We went online and researched the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruisers Association) and boating websites, we attended the AGLCA Fall Rendevous in  Rogersville, AL in Oct. 2012, and read "Honey, Let's Get a Boat".  Boating and the Great Loop became the subjects of our constant reading material. We were hooked!   So, we started looking for our boat.

We bought our 42' 1995 Ocean Alexander 426 Classico Sedan in December 2012 in northern WI.  We stood on the boat deck in snow drifts, bundled in winter gear, and tried to imagine the boat on a bright summer day.  Due to  very late Spring, it took a lot of imagination!  In order to work on the boat while it was "on the hard" on Madeline island, we had to take the ice road across the bay from Bayfield, WI to LaPointe, WI.  As the Spring thaw began, the ice road was closed and the ferry was still not operating, so our son, Nick, flew us from Minneapolis to the local airport on Madeline Island.  After boat surveys, normal maintenance and repairs, hull painting, buffing, new electronics, new spare parts to everything, new camper top, and updating the interior, etc., Dream Chaser is feeling like home.  There are still projects and fine tuning, but we're underway.    

 The Great Loop is over 6,000 miles of circumnavigating 1/3 of the United States and portions of Canada by water.  The popular route is Lake Huron to Lake Michigan and down to Chicago.  South from Chicago to the Illinois River, Ohio River, Mississippi River, Tennessee  and Tom Bigbee Rivers, across the Gulf of Mexica to Ft. Meyers, along the intracoastal Waterway, along the eastern US coast, up the Hudson River and Erie Canal, through parts of Canada and the Great Lakes.  There are thousands of bridges, over 150 locks, large cities, small remote towns, breathtaking vistas, and lots of interaction with multitudes of wonderful people.  Most loopers take one year to several years to complete the loop.  We plan to take one to two years at this point.  With no set itinerary, we will plan week to week, and move the boat with the seasons.  The blue lines on the map shows the Fall and Winter routes. The green line shows the Spring route, and the red lines are the Summer route options.  There are many popular side trips, such as: the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, St. John's River, New York State Canal Systems, and many others.

On Saturday, August 3, 2013 at 6 a.m., Capt. Steve, Admiral Mary, and First Mate Greg left port at Madeline Island Yacht Club.  Greg Fall, a good friend of 40+ years, was familiar with cruising the Great Lakes and volunteered to join us on the Great Lakes leg of the trip to Chicago.  Although, he was given first mate status, he happily refers to himself as second bilge rat, fourth class.  Our plan was to get to Chicago as quickly as possible with a two week window and spend more time on Lake Michigan when we return in a year or so. The day started with light winds, calm waters, and clear skies as we motored 11 hours across Lake Superior to Houghton, MI and docked for the night at the Houghton Municipal Marina.  The dock master, Craig, was friendly and extremely helpful in providing local information and suggestions regarding our trip over the next few days.  From Houghton, Michigan, we motored 26 hours, passing thorough the Sault Ste. Marie locks and the St. Mary's River to DeTour, MI.  On Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 at 7 a.m., we officially joined the Great Loop at Detour Michigan, way ahead of schedule!  Now as official "loopers" with our AGLCA flag proudly flying on our bow, we continued through Lake Huron and down the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan.  After driving all night through a rough thunderstorm, we arrived in Sturgeon Bay at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, August 7th and slept for a few hours.  At noon, we cast off the lines and arrived at Port Washington, WI at 10 p.m.  We were all very grateful to Auto (autopilot), Radar, and Stabs (stabilizers) for making the trip much more enjoyable! On Thursday morning, August 8th, we refueled, left Port Washington, and headed towards Chicago.  After 4 hours of rough water, we pulled into Milwaukee at 11 a.m. and docked. The day was spent doing laundry, getting provisions, and working on boat projects.  Our longtime friends, Bryan and Diana Whitehead, drove up from Lake Forest and took us for a wonderful dinner at The Sandford Restaurant in Milwaukee.  What a treat! 

On Friday, August 8th, bright and early, we left port for "Chi-town" or "the Windy City".  We were very grateful to have Greg aboard during this first leg of the trip.  His knowledge of the Great Lakes and boating in general was extremely helpful.  He assisted in numerous ways, but manning the helm periodically during those long stretches and taking over during the thunderstorm in Lake Michigan were greatly appreciated!  Long periods of time on the boat allowed us to catch up with things happening in our lives and with our families.  While Greg was manning the helm, there was time to relax, enjoy the beauty around us, and realize that we really were on our way!

In Chicago, we docked at the DuSable Marina just south of Navy Pier.  With sunshine and temps in the high 70's, we played tourist and walked Navy Pier along with hundreds of other visitors. Since we knew Chicago fairly well from numerous prior visits, we weren't interested in any of the downtown tours, etc. Our daughter, Ari, was in Chicago and joined us for a walk to Millennium Park where we saw the Crown Fountain, Lurie Garden, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and Cloud Gate (the "Bean"). We celebrated our very successful first leg of the trip (motoring the Great Lakes) with a great dinner at the Friendship Chinese Restaurant on the wharf.  At 10:15 p.m., we watched fabulous fireworks over the waters of Lake Michigan from the upper helm of the boat. 

Saturday morning, August 10th at 6 a.m., we started the 57 mile trip to Joliet, Illinois by way of the Chicago River,  Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Des Plaines River, and Illinois River.  This route took us under many bridges, two locks, an electrical fish barrier, and some heavy barge traffic.  Radio communication with the barge and river captains became Mary's job.   Reports are that river captains of boats and towboats on the river respond much quicker to the female voice which appeared to be true!