Day 164 Welcome Home

Another day, another port; yesterday we woke up in Ludington, today South Haven.  This has been our journey for the past 13 months.  One more port to go on our Loop and that port is home, Diversey Harbor in Chicago.  The Looper boat next to us, Bespoken, was on their way to Hammond by 8:30 am.  From there they would enter the river system to get to Mobile.  It was cloudy and cool as we had breakfast and cleaned up the boat.

To prepare for our homecoming, the Captain took down the masthead light and secured it to the hardtop.  Doing this took 2-3 inches off our height.  A friend of ours from the harbor had removed his radar in order to clear the bridge over the harbor entrance and we thought we would do the same to be on the safe side.  With the assistance of the First Mate (me!) the Captain tried to take our radar down but it would not budge.   It seems there must be more than the 4 bolts holding it to the hardtop, perhaps some silicon sealant or adhesive.  In any event, the Captain did not want use extra force or tools to pry the radar from the hardtop so we re-secured the 4 bolts holding it in place.  We hoped taking down the light would prove to be enough to get us through.

With the radar reattached and secured, we left at 12:45 pm.  At our normal cruising speed, we could easily make the 3:10 pm green light at the Diversey Harbor entrance as planned.  Because the entrance to Diversey Harbor is narrow and twists and turns as it goes under Lake Shore Drive, there is a traffic light both on the inside and the outside to restrict boat travel to one direction.  The light changes every 10 minutes.  The 3:10 pm light would be green on the outside allowing boats to enter the harbor from the Lake.

A passing fishing boat let us know that it was getting rough out there.  He was right.  Once out on the open Lake, we found that the wind was a little stronger than predicted from the south/southwest.  As a result, the waves, which were running 2 to 3 feet, were right on our bow.  The Captain therefore had to slow down to minimize the spray from the waves.  We knew that the Lake would get calmer the closer we got closer to Chicago. 

About 30 miles from home the Captain began to see the outlines of 3 of Chicago’s tallest buildings – the Willis Tower, the John Hancock Building and Trump Tower – on the hazy horizon.  Fifteen miles out, the Captain began talking to some of his buddies who were out fishing.  They were the first to welcome us back to home waters.  At 3 miles out, we could talk to another one of our friends who was on his handheld radio in the harbor.  Once we were less than a mile out, the Captain stopped the boat to lower our antenna.  At this point we noticed a dinghy coming toward us.  In it were a couple of our friends from the harbor who had come out to greet our return.

 

As we approached the harbor entrance, there were two more dinghies out to meet us.  Due to the rough water we thought we might miss the 3:10 pm light.  Not to worry – one of the dinghies went inside the harbor to block out-bound boats for us!  And as we entered the harbor and the light turned red, a “securite” announcement came over the radio asking all boats to let the Loopers through.  As we entered the harbor “on the red,” there, on top of the bridge stood the “official welcoming committee” with a “congratulations” sign and chanting “Loopers, Loopers.”  Cameras were aimed on us from the bridge above and dinghies below; horns were blowing and everyone was waving.  I didn’t know which way to look; then realized I better look up to see if we could make it under the bridge!!  I was about to get the “feeler gauge” but both the Captain and I saw that we would clear it – hooray!! 

 

 

 

 

Once inside the harbor there were more greetings, horns honking, and photos.  I waved at everyone, so glad to see them, but had to hustle to get some lines out as we had not left any on the dock.  More friends were stationed at our slip to help us in and then the Champaign appeared!  I was overwhelmed and hugged all of them, thanking them for the amazing welcome home!  The party continued in the yacht club and though we had been there often when we were in town over the summer, this was different.  Now that our boat was back we were no longer “visitors”. 

 

We loved every minute of our Great Loop adventure (well, almost every minute) and would miss the excitement of planning, preparing and executing our route.  However, we felt a huge sense of satisfaction because we had met and overcome many challenges as we successfully accomplished our goal.  We also felt the warmth and comfort of our friends and our special place on the lake!!!