S/V Passage - Refitting a Classic (& Building Our Skills) Before Cutting the Docklines

We are working toward our dream, one step at a time, and are prepared to make mistakes and learn from them so we become better cruisers every day.

Vessel Name: Passage
Vessel Make/Model: 1980 Pearson 365 Ketch #324
Hailing Port: Chicago, IL
Crew: David Cole & Brodi Cole
About:
We started sailing in 2004 when David's dad bought his first sailboat, a 30' Hunter on Lake Michigan. David spent many hours on Lake Michigan and when his dad upgraded to a 42' Hunter, even made several multi-day crossings between Florida and the Bahamas. [...]
Extra:
In early 2010, we made a 5-year plan to pay off our debt, save money, buy a sailboat and take off for the adventure of a lifetime. One year into that plan, Brodi discovered an amazing deal that resulted in us acquiring "Passage"-a 1980 Pearson 365 Ketch-three years ahead of "schedule." We hope this [...]
Home Page: https://www.ouroffbeatlife.com
Social:
14 March 2019
30 May 2012 | Chicago, IL
19 March 2012 | Chicago, IL
16 February 2012 | Chicago, IL
03 January 2012 | Chicago, IL
13 December 2011
12 December 2011 | Chicago, IL
09 November 2011 | Chicago, IL
02 November 2011
01 November 2011 | Chicago, IL
19 October 2011 | Chicago, IL
13 October 2011 | Chicago, IL
12 October 2011 | Chicago, IL
11 October 2011 | Annapolis, MD
10 October 2011 | Annapolis, MD
02 October 2011 | Chicago, IL
20 September 2011 | Chicago, IL
12 September 2011 | Chicago, IL
11 September 2011 | Chicago, IL
04 September 2011 | Chicago, IL
Recent Blog Posts
14 March 2019

A New Adventure!

It's been a while since we posted anything because kids add an unexpected spice to life and our implementation strategy for leaving the rat race has changed a bit. We still plan to 'cut the docklines' and travel the world, but sadly it won't be with Passage.

30 May 2012 | Chicago, IL

Back on the Lake!

The blog may have been quiet lately but we sure haven’t been slacking! After receiving the spring bridge schedule (we can only put the boat in and take it up river on certain days approved by the city), we had a mad rush in April to cut our [...]

19 March 2012 | Chicago, IL

Big News!

We weren't kidding when we said in the last blog post that March would be full of big news...as you may have guessed from the photo, our crew is officially expanding to three! Baby Cole should be joining us around September 2, 2012...just in time to help us winterize Passage! In case you're wondering, [...]

16 February 2012 | Chicago, IL

Winter Update

We haven't been MIA because we're busy with boat projects...sadly it's been the exact opposite. While winter in Chicago has been a bit more temperate that usual, it still hasn't exactly been ideal for boatwork. So we've been focusing on home projects that were neglected throughout boating season...how [...]

03 January 2012 | Chicago, IL

Too COLD for Cruising

We truly thought more boatwork would get done this winter, but now that the holidays are officially over it's hard to motivate ourselves to willingly spend significant lengths of time outside doing boatwork when it's already skipping the freezing point entirely! It's official, January is NOT a good time [...]

13 December 2011

Cool Website

I just found a cool new website, and wanted to share. Love the pic/quote on his main page, too!

12 December 2011 | Chicago, IL

A Month of Updates

It's been a rather crazy month for us, without really any time to even sit down and log our updates. The weekend after our last (and only) post in November we did head back down to the yacht yard to get some more stuff off the boat, and try to figure out our head/plumbing system. Our biggest challenge [...]

09 November 2011 | Chicago, IL

MOTIVATION

Motivation. That one little word has so much "baggage" associate with it, but in my mind truly defines the doers from the dreamers. Ever since Daylight Saving Time ended over the weekend I've struggled to maintain my level of motivation. Between the [...]

02 November 2011

Hump Day, Quote Day!

Well, he wrote the quote anyway...

01 November 2011 | Chicago, IL

Not MIA!

We went down to the boatyard to see Passage on her cradle last Sunday, and it was amazing that it took just 20 minutes to get there! When we got to the boat, we packed up a few things to bring home for the winter as well as started to look at the holding tank to determine how we will remove it. We also [...]

Winter Storage River Trip

19 October 2011 | Chicago, IL
Brodi / Cooling Off Fast
We went on our big river trip this weekend...taking Passage through the river lock next then 3 miles upriver under 23 bridges to Chinatown! David's best friend, Andre, was in town from LA and joined us for the floating jaunt through the city. They'd gone out for a sail while I was at work on Friday, so Andre already knew his way around Passage's decks by Saturday morning...sort of...but good enough!

We got up early and got to Monroe Harbor around 7:30am, and were off the can by 8 and on our way toward Navy Pier! We weren't really sure how long it would take to go through the lock, or even where it was...so we followed the other boats heading that way and hoped for the best. By the time the Lake Shore Drive bridge raised a little after 9am, there were 18 boats waiting to head up the river to winter storage!

When the river started to narrow after we passed the Merchandise Mart, we quickly discovered that 18 is too many to safely navigate the river between bridges since they don't raise at reasonable intervals for boats to keep moving smoothly along the river. Once the boating caravan turned south, we were basically broadside to the wind and the smaller boats started struggling to maintain control of their vessels. One sailboat ended up being blown into the lowered bridge while waiting for the bridge staff to raise the damn thing.

There were some moments of stress, but overall we pulled it off without doing damage to out boat (or others') and we even managed to see people we knew along the way! Some of David's coworkers came out to wave as we passed the Merchandise Mart and then our friends Brian and Lauren came downtown to see us as we turned south into the second part of our river journey.

In the last leg of our trip, we waited for quite a while for the railroad bridge to raise while we stared at Canal Street Marina next to Ping Tom Memorial Park in China Town. At least there was a lot of open space there, and we were able to raft up to a wall and hang out with the other boaters while the freight trains went over the last bridge between us and the end of the 'road'. By the time we pulled up to the marina dock to check in for the winter, we spent four hours on the river from the time the first bridge went up...that wasn't too bad considering one river trip took boaters NINE hours because the bridges kept breaking down!

We took the sails off the boat and organized it a bit before heading to dinner at a tasty authentic restaurant in China Town. It was a truly exhausting day! To see the pics, check out Passage's Facebook Page!

The next morning, David and I headed back down to the marina to meet with the yard mechanic, Jeff. But the time we got there, he had fixed our water pressure system...something we hadn't been able to do all summer since our water pump made noise so we assumed it worked. Turns out, it didn't work except to make noise...problem solved! He installed the new one and showed us how to empty and refill our tanks (to clean out some seriously stinky, nasty sludge) so we can winterize them and actually use them next summer. Jeff and David also reviewed the process for winterizing our engine, and set a date for David to shadow Jeff while he winterizes our system.

So far, we LOVE our choice for winter storage. Mark and Jackie Riegel, the owners, are so nice and friendly and helpful. Mark is going to connect us with some guys who can help us repair our rub rails and Jeff is going to let us shadow all the work he does so we know how to do it ourselves next time. He also recommended the diesel engine class we want to take this winter because a friend of his teaches it! What a great connection to have...Mark even volunteered to adjust our boat from cradle to jackstands when we repaint the bottom next spring so we don't miss any spots! It's really nice to be able to discuss our plans and have yard staff who are willing to support and work with our goals to learn our boat systems better.

To wrap up a great weekend, our Nature's Head arrived this weekend...now we need to prep the boat for the install so there'll be one less system to winterize! With 24/7 access to Passage, we should have plenty of time to knock out several of our bigger projects...I can't wait for next summer!!!!!
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