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Crossing the lake Home
Spring 2023, our 1st BIG trip of the season
Staying in downtown Chicago for 2 nights at Monroe Harbor was amazing! We successfully crossed Lake Michigan, navigated and picked up a mooring ball for the first time. We saw a lot of the downtown in 2 days, ate great food, but didn’t sleep much due to the motion of the mooring field.
I’m learning that with boating – just like life – there are highs and lows. We’re trying not to get too excited or too discouraged, but living more in a neutral state where we’re always growing and exploring…
The morning that we were leaving the wind significantly picked up from the Southeast, a direction that is not protected in the harbor. This made the process of hooking up a temporary snubber and removing our permanent snubber in preparation to leave difficult and dangerous with 2 – 3 foot waves building. Together, Kara and I got ourselves and SV Zeke E Boy prepped. The time came to leave, so Kara slipped the line off the mooring ball as I powered up the engine and headed out to Lake Michigan.
The wind was on our nose and sailing was not going to get us home in a timely manner, so we motored the whole way. For the majority of the trip (at least 3/4s of the way home), we were in 3 – 5′ confused waves – the wind was blowing 12 – 20 knots from the South, but it was blowing all night from the North, so the waves can come from any direction at the same time! This may be nothing for you salty, or “unsalted” seadogs, but remember we’re still newbies. Our boat can handle way more than what our minds can handle … at the moment.
So we bounced and plodded our way across Lake Michigan. The weather finally calmed down enough for Kara to drive, but after about 30 minutes the engine bogged down, lost RPMs and eventually quit! YIKES!!!
Our biggest fears were coming true – we’re floating in the middle of the lake without our engine working. Fortunately, we’ve heard this before (read about our journey bringing SV Zeke E Boy home to New Buffalo last year), so I knew exactly what was wrong, what needed to be done, and THANKFULLY, we had the spare parts onboard to be able to fix it.
After being sloshed around for 6 hours, all of the crud in the bottom of our fuel tank clogged up the fuel filters, which starved the engine of fuel and it shut off. Rather than fight to restart the engine, I decided to swap in a new fuel filter out on the water. On the second try, she came back to life and we continued on our way back home – safe and sound!
And now we have another #LessonLearned in the process – always change the fuel filters every year, and always keep multiple spares on the boat … just in case! Once you use a spare, you no longer have one!
In addition to learning to sail, I’m also learning diesel engine maintenance. I’m also planning to tackle the dirty fuel and will share updates on that project.
Other than a tough exit at Monroe Harbor, the waves on the way home and the fuel filter issue, our 1st trip crossing the lake to Chicago was awesome! To see the Chicago skyline come into view from the water, spending 2 nights in the harbor with skyscrapers in the background, visiting city attractions and eating amazing food, un-mooring and crossing back with a memorable story along the way – that’s all just part of our sailing adventures on SV Zeke E Boy! We’re so thankful for God’s protection on our journey.
Tell us what you think
Let us know what you think of our sailing adventures by sharing your feedback in the comments below. How do you build your courage to overcome staying in your comfort zone? Also, if you have any suggestions on engine maintenance – we’re all ears! We’d love to hear from you!
– Kyle from Zeke Life
Live like Zeke
You’re such a good boy!
