Water We Thinking

Memorial Day Weekend is what many of us wait months for.  It's the beginning of the summer season, and in the northern climates, like here in Chicago, it signals the beginning of the boating season.  Sure, many boats are in the water as early as April and Cygnet was in all year, but it's the time when the weather is usually warm enough to get out and wear shorts, or better yet a bikini.  This Memorial Day Saturday we set out in the evening to celebrate a birthday and just get Cygnet out on the water.  Kevin's mother turned 70 this week so we invited her and her boyfriend along with her brother and nephew out on the water for the first Navy Pier fireworks of 2015. The Playpen in the shadow of the John Hancock Building We started the day in the mid afternoon, just hanging out in the marina, and departed about 5PM for the lake.  We had perfect timing through the lock and made it through in record time.  We love going through the lock for many reasons. ...

First we must apologize for not blogging in a little while, we've both been relatively busy with work (Colette especially) and just plain lazy about writing. On January 17 we spent four hours working the River City booth at the Boat Show .  We did the 10-2 shift which gave us some time afterward to explore the show with our good friends Adam and Holly and their lovely daughter Claire.  In the beginning it was a bit slow, but quickly it filled up and we grabbed people walking through to talk about River City.  Now, let me say that River City isn't perfect, it has some problems here and there, but overall we really like it.  Mostly we like the location and the fact that you can liveaboard year round.  So we put on our happy faces and told people about our "neighborhood." If you were one of the people that stopped by I hope you gained some great information from us and learned more about the marina, if you didn't make it that's too bad because we had a gr...

As you may know, our first boat "Two Wrights" hasn't been doing too well.  She was in need of some parts that are not too easy to find given that she was built in 1971.  As much as we loved Two Wrights and wanted her to live on, we decided it was best to let her go.  We initially posted a for sale add on Craigslist, hoping someone looking for a classic boat project would sweep her up.  After a few months and no bites we looked into donating her.  We spoke to a few different companies and settled on Kars 4 Kids .  (You may be familiar with their commercial jingle.)  They came and picked her and her trailer up and now they'll get her ready to be auctioned off.  By donating we get a $500 tax write off.  They then sell her at an auction. If the sale price is greater than $500 we can write off the final sale amount.  The money earned then goes to the charity.  This is the standard operation of all these donation companies. Sail Away ...