Sunday, August 19, 2012

We left this morning at 6:30.  The weather was comfortable, but hazy.  No rain or wind.  Waves only one foot high.  We could see Chicago for more than 50 miles before we got there, even with the haze.  It was another of those perfect cruising days.  We arrived in Hammond, Indiana at Hammond Marina at 1:00, after cruising 57.5 miles.  This marina has a special going on right now, pay for one night, get the next night free.  So, for us it's two nights for $50, not bad.  On the same piece of property as the marina is a casino named "Horseshoe".  We just had to go check it out.  John played Texas Hold 'em, and was up pretty good at one point, but he gave it all back.  I lost 3/4 of my allotted funds, playing penny and nickel machines.  It was fun and not too expensive. 

This is another really huge marina, but even more empty slips than North Port Marina.  The marina office is even farther away than the one at yesterday's marina.  This time no one gave me a ride back.  I guess I got my exercise today. We are now finished with open water.  When we leave here, we will go right to the Calumet River and start toward the Illinois River.  We won't have to be so careful about the weather. 

This is the best (though hazy) picture of the Chicago skyline.

Can you see the white swirlies towards the right center part of photo?  It kind of looks like a roller coaster, but it's smoke from the stacks blowing in swirls.



There were about 25 sailboats just sitting in the middle of the water.  We think they were getting ready for a race.  It looked kind of weird to see them just sitting there.