Friday Skipper Bud's brought a hydraulic trailer to haul my 320 from Harborside Marina in Wilmington IL to their facility at North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor IL. The distance between these two points would have been a little over 100 miles if they could have haul my boat on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) but they couldn't. Instead we had to take a 189 mile circuitous route on predominately state and county roads through places like Oswego, Naperville, Barrington, Fox Lake, Antioch to get to the Lake. The first picture is at a truck stop 12 miles from the start because the driver wanted to get some Gatorade for the 4 hour route. The second picture is the view from my truck in close pursuit protecting the rear of my boat from some moron on their cell phone or texting. I have to admit it was somewhat surreal going through downtown areas with the boat canvas barely clearing overhanging tree limbs on some of the streets. The third is the new 25,000 lb fork lift at Skipper Bud's North Point that picked my 16,000 lb boat up like it was a toy. They told me this lift can be use for up to a 340 and has a negative drop so that boats can be launch in a travel lift well using it. Lake Michigan is about 500 feet behind the lift. The fourth photo is from underneath to give an idea of how high this thing can lift a a boat and shows off my fresh bottom paint.
The fifth photo is of Prairie Harbor Yacht Club, just 1000 feet or so to the North of Skipper Bud's just across the Wisconsin State Line, which will be the final destination. The dock pictured is where my boat will be and had been moved to the East for dredging. The white tipped poles are center pilings that would normally be in the front of the slip instead of the back as shown in the picture. Lake Michigan is down a foot from last season which is hard to believe with all the snow we got. As a result, the extra dredging will delay the opening of the marina until Aprill 22 at the earliest. The drop in the Lake level has not only affected my marina but also a number of municipalities that take their water directly from there. Intake pipes in some cases froze shut over the winter due to the lower lake levels that were too shallow. Chicago by comparison has its intake cribs about 1 mile out so this is not a problem. So, I am now officially at Lake Michigan just not in it!!:smt038
The fifth photo is of Prairie Harbor Yacht Club, just 1000 feet or so to the North of Skipper Bud's just across the Wisconsin State Line, which will be the final destination. The dock pictured is where my boat will be and had been moved to the East for dredging. The white tipped poles are center pilings that would normally be in the front of the slip instead of the back as shown in the picture. Lake Michigan is down a foot from last season which is hard to believe with all the snow we got. As a result, the extra dredging will delay the opening of the marina until Aprill 22 at the earliest. The drop in the Lake level has not only affected my marina but also a number of municipalities that take their water directly from there. Intake pipes in some cases froze shut over the winter due to the lower lake levels that were too shallow. Chicago by comparison has its intake cribs about 1 mile out so this is not a problem. So, I am now officially at Lake Michigan just not in it!!:smt038
