Wild Thyme Sailing

  • Our first trip to Milwaukee, WI in 2015

    The summer of 2015 was our first full season with Wild Thyme and we planned a trip up north. The goal was Milwaukee, but we had no real plans. We left Chicago late on Friday, and made our first stop in Waukegan where we met a powerboater who fed us scotch and cigars all night long. The next morning we took off and decided to see where the wind would take us. We eventually ended up in Racine, WI where we stayed for a few nights. The weather looked good so we decided to continue north and headed for Milwaukee. After staying there for a night, we really missed Racine, so we sailed back south and stayed there for the remainder of the trip. Racine's marina is one of the best we have been to, with a pool, two hot tubs, impeccably maintained docks and a great restaurant. We had to leave Racine a few days later and we made a straight shot back to Chicago.

  • Our first trip crossing Lake Michigan to South Haven, MI in 2016

    After owning Wild Thyme for 2 years, we were eager to make the 65 nautical mile trip accross Lake Michigan to South Haven, MI. We left Chicago at 4:00 AM hoping to make some distance before the sun came up. Winds were not the best so we decided to aim for St. Joeseph, MI and spend the night there. Leaving St. Joseph, we were being chased by a storm covering the western side of the lake but were able to make the 22 mi trip to South Haven just before the storm arrived. Due to some extreme heat in the forecast for later in the week, we decided to head back to Chicago early and go straight across. We did the 65 mile trip in about 13 hours. For many of those hours, there were no boats or land in sight.

  • Our second trip accross Lake Michigan to New Buffalo, MI in 2017

    In early June of 2017, we decided to take a four day trip to New Buffalo, MI, which is about 45 miles east of Chicago. This was our first trip towing our new dinghy, nicknamed "Toshi." We had a great south wind for a leisure sail but decided to stop in Michigan City, IN for a night. We left early the next moring and sailed the ten miles to New Buffalo. There, we hopped in Toshi to explore the large marina and the adjacent river. On the morning we were planning to leave, the winds were strong from the north east creating some large waves. We waited until the evening, hoping the waves would calm down enough for a straight shot back. We made it about 15 miles away from Chicago when the winds picked up again and we were forced to backtrack two hours and head to Michigan City. There we waited two days until the laked calmed enough for us to return home to Chicago.

  • Going back to Wisconsin in 2017

    After skipping a trip to Wisconsin in 2016, we headed back in August of 2017. This time we had Toshi with us and had the protection of the newly added bimini. We had a great sail up north and decided to pull into Kenosha, WI for a few nights. While looking for a dock, we started getting stuck in weeds. After some tough time maneuvering, we made it over to the fuel dock and stayed there for night. In the morning we discovered the extent of the weed problem and got out of Kenosha and headed up to Racine. There we were welcomed with clean, clear waters and ample dock space. We met up with some friends and stayed at the marina for six days enjoying the beach and many bars. On Friday we headed back to Chicago with a great western wind which allowed us to average a speed of 6 knots.