www.iFourWinns.com

Zelena,

I am a NW IN boater myself.. I've been in Hammond Marina for 6 seasons (I'm now in Marina Shores, IN), and I have learned a LOT about the big lake.

If you plan to spend time out in open water... If you don't already have one, get a good chart GPS. You will need it. I went out once, the weather changed and I could barely tell where I was to get back. It will also be a great source of comfort at night, and crossing the lake (to MI or WI).

Also, if you plan on navigating out in the deep, get to know your bearings.. Remember buildings, towers, lights, and even the water cribs.. They are all your navigational friends. Take it a little at a time. I did my first crossing during the day in a 20 footer. Now I am comfortable anytime, in almost any vessel.

Get to know the trouble spots and times. The break wall of the Cal Sag claims at least a boat or two a year. Venician Night and the 3rd of July fireworks wreak havoc on the water. A couple of areas on the river are known for floating debris, including railroad ties, barrels, and mattresses. Talk to your boating community, they will ALL have stories to tell. (buy them a drink)

I personally prefer the open water to the river. Less traffic, clean water, and when I want, I can go so far out I can't even see the shoreline. As close to nirvana as I can come in Indiana.

Most of all, like everyone has said before, take it slow.. AND ENJOY!

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2000 Four Winns 248 Vista (Nice toys, no Air)
2001 Highly Modified Yamaha GP1200R (75+MPH)

Jmikula and others:

First of all, I just want to say that this board has been great. I really appreciate everyone's insights. My splash date is May 2 and have arranged to have the mechanic/storage folks show me some things about the boat on the lake and help me through the lock and to my slip(there is not a ramp at River City, who knew, so we will put it in at Burnham Harbor and ride into my slip).

I just installed a GPS (a Garmin 440 I think), but need to read up on how to read it better than I do now (in hind-sight I should have bought a portable so I could play around with it now as opposed to having to wait until I am in the boat). I also have a book with the charts for the Lake with info. re all the marinas. Anyhow, the "admiral" as I see is the approrpriate term for our respective first mates will help out.

I do plan on taking it slow, but hopefully will get confident enough to venture out to your neck of the woods, err Lake, by the middle of the season. I have heard that there are good anchoring areas by the dunes. Let me know which spots you like.

Once again, as an excited new first time owner I can't stress how much I appreciate all of the insights from all of the "salty" sea-men out there. Thanks.

One thing that should be mentioned is when you find yourself on the lake beware of the kenwood / oakland shoals. The area immediately off the shore from about a half a mile south of the mouth of Burnham harbor down to the Promontory point is a very uneven bottom with some very shallow areas. I know two people who have knocked outdrives off their boats in the area (the outcome in both cases was a total loss of the boat). It's skinny enough water in some of the area that you'll see the corner of rocks sticking out of the water.

Once again, enjoy your new boat and good luck.

Ben

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2001 Cruisers 4450
Volvo TAMD-74P 480hp Diesels

OK I posted this on general boating, but it also seemed to make sense to post here:

Well, got the boat delivered at Burham Harbor. It looked great and ran like a champ. It was a nice day and my mechanic and I got it on plane in the Lake, went through the lock and down the river to River City to where I have my slip. But when I got there there was a boat there. I called the guy that I have dealt with (I paid him a fee and wrote a separate check to the condo unit owner that owns the slip). He allegedly tried to figure out whose boat was in the slip. In the meantime I met and spoke with some people in the marina who told me that my contact was not exactly straight and narrow (although they also acknowledged he rents a lot of slips in the marina). However, they also confirmed that there is not really any central contact person for managing the marina, which is crazy to me. After sitting around for several hours one of the residents told me that he knew that one of the slips would be empty for awhile. So, I put a note on the boat explaining the situation and have left it in the wrong slip (I also gave my # to another owner that planned on sleeping in his boat and he said he'd call me if there was a problem). In the meantime, the broker wants me to tie-down outside the wall on the river. This seems crazy to me since the wake from the sight-seeing boats will pound it and the barges might not even see it at night. I told him he needs to get rid of the squatter in my slip and suggested moving that boat to the outside if it is a legit spot. Obviously this is not a good situation. In the next few days I will either move it into the spot I leased (and have already paid for) or ask my mechanic to trailer it back to storage and try to get back into the Harbor system. I am not willing to "trade" for a spot outside the marina. Any thoughts and/or advice on a weird situation? What a welcome to the boating world! Thanks.

Hey, so far it is a happy ending. I got an e-mail today demanding that I move the boat from the slip I parked it. By the time I had arrived the police were there. I had showed up with a guy that taught a Coast Guard Auxilliary course, which seemed to help a lot. Bottom-line is the squatter's boat is out and I am in my slip. Very happy!

Zelena,

You could only be referring to "Captain Patrick." Though I've never met him myself I've heard some very colorful stories about him. I've also heard some concerning things about River City's floating current issues. Most recently I believe they're getting better but you should pay careful attention to any corrosion. Hopefully at this point you can deal directly with the owner of the slip and cut out any middle men. If I were you I might work with the owner to figure out towing arrangements in the event someone decides to just park their boat in your slip. I'm at Marina City and on more than one occasion have come back to my slip to decide someone else thought it looked like a good spot to leave their boat. My boat is 50' LOA so I can't exactly tuck it anywhere. I've had some heated "conversations" with owners of boats when they return to their boat in my slip. I have to say the temptation to let them float free is overwhelming, though the liability usually brings me back down to earth.

Ben

_________________
2001 Cruisers 4450
Volvo TAMD-74P 480hp Diesels

Ben:

Thanks for the tips re River City. I spoke with a guy there who said last year the was an issue re the level of the river due to some lock problem downstream. Not sure if that impacted you or not. For now, all is well. You obviously have been around the Chicago boating community because you were correct re my contact, but as I said, hopefully, I will not have any problems moving forward. It seems some people at River City actually put chains up in their slips to deter squaters. Not sure if that happens by you. Anyhow, I still need to take you up on going through the lock together. I am going to practice around the river for a bit, but look forward to joining you soon. Take care.

--- Steve

Ben:

I realize that you were referring to "current" in the water issues. Suppodesdly, the marina is making all boats do an inspection to reduce stray current. I installed an anode-type system last month to try to combat current, but I will keep an eye out for corosion. Thanks.