1 Sep 17
The alarm went off at 07:00, so we rolled out to get ready for the run to Milwaukee. It was rough as hell outside the harbor early, so we delayed our departure to see if things would lie down a bit after noon. The rest of the morning was spent doing laundry, buying replacement gear cables for one of the bikes and tidying up the boat. The sea state did indeed calm down a bit after lunch, so we decided to risk the 21 mile run down to Milwaukee. It was still lumpy outside, but manageable. We motor-sailed at 8.0 knots all the way down to the entry to Milwaukee Harbor. We were tied up at the Milwaukee Yacht Club just after 16:00, where we parked right beside “Lady Rae”, a Beneteau 50 we were dock-mates with a few times over on the Michigan coast of Lake Michigan. Diane and Bob from “Islandia” are parked in the marina next door, so they came over for cocktails and we all went to dinner later in the yacht club; it was good to touch base with them after a month’s separation. They are headed on south tomorrow, whereas we have decided to leave the boat here for a couple of weeks and fly back to Houston to help friends and relatives with the clean-up operations after Hurricane/TS Harvey.
43-03.052’N, 087-53.162’W; Log = 22.5, Sum (2017) = 2033.4 N-m
2 Sep 17
We were up early again for no particular reason. I spent the morning rigging up our hurricane lines to the 4 corners of the boat. We have decided to try to sell the whisker pole and both kayaks, since we have not used any of them in the last 3 years, so I also got them ready for viewing and made up some “For Sale” flyers to post at the yacht club. We fly back to Houston in the morning, so this will be my last blog posting for a couple of weeks.
3 - 12 Sep 17
Wow! The impact of Hurricane/TS Harvey on south-east Texas in general and greater-Houston, in particular, is impressive. Maximum of 52” of rainfall, in NE Harris County, and more than 30” on average throughout the county, is a lot of water. Not only did they experience wide-spread flooding, but the entire county was depressed or deflected downward by more than 2 centimeters by the weight of the water. My brother’s house in Kingwood was flooded out (27” of water inside the house), along with every single house in his neighborhood; the scenes in the neighborhood a week after the water went down were just unbelievable - the entire front yard of every home is completely covered to a depth of about 5 ft with ruined carpet, sheetrock, furniture, cabinets and appliances. It will take months to pick up all this rubbish and haul it to a landfill, and the local landfills are all going to fill up.
The Admiral and I spent 3 days helping my brother demolish flooring, baseboards, sheetrock and insulation and cleaning all the mud and other (“very not good”, to quote our fearless leader) stuff out of the house. This was physically exhausting work, but after 3 days we had done as much as can be done; now, he has to wait until all of the wood framing and floors dry out - which could take between 3 and 6 weeks. Only after they obtain a “dryness” certificate from the city inspector can reconstruction commence. Then, it will be a mad rush to find building materials and competent, honest contractors. It will probably be a year before they are back to “normal”. We had several other friends who were also flooded out, along with 150,000 other homes in the greater Houston area.
After the demolition work petered out, we spent a few days re-connecting with friends and relatives in the Houston area, then flew back to Milwaukee on the afternoon of Tuesday, 12 Sep. By happy coincidence, we discovered that the Taj Mahal/Keb Mo Band were playing a concert at The Pabst Hall in downtown Milwaukee, so after we dumped our bags on the boat, we walked into town, bought a couple returned tickets on row H, center section, had a quick dinner at the Rock Bottom Brewery on the outdoor patio overlooking the Milwaukee River and went back to see the show. They put on a great show for 2 hours without a break, played a bunch of our old favorites and a few new ones. We got back to the boat just before midnight, worn out, hoarse from shouting and with sore hands from clapping.
13 Sep 17
On Wednesday, 13 Sep, we walked over to Collectivo Cafe for a late breakfast alfresco, then up to Whole Foods to reprovision. With this chore completed, we walked over to the nearly adjacent Milwaukee Art Museum, with its iconic wing-like sun-shade structure; this museum houses an impressive collection of modern and traditional art, as well as an excellent exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright memorabilia, such as plans, stain glass windows, furniture, carpet samples, etc. We thought about going to the ZZ Top concert in town, but at $140/ticket, opted to go to a Brewer’s game at Miller Park instead. After a late lunch/early dinner at Mo’s Irish pub, we caught the express bus from their front door to the front door of the ball park. As we were walking up to the ticket counter, a woman offered us free surplus tickets, which we greatly accepted. After the game, we got a bus back to within about 1/4 mile of the yacht club. Total cost of the ball game was the $8 we spent on a day pass for the buses. The Brewers beat the Pirates 8 - 3.
14 Sep 17
We slept in a bit this morning, but after breakfast and lunch on the boat, mixed with a few deferred boat chores, we caught the bus into town to visit the Milwaukee Public Market (a small version of Pike Place Market in Seattle or Granville Market in Vancouver), followed by a walk around the historic Third Ward along the Milwaukee River. Then, we caught another bus up to Whole Foods to buy some more groceries. We walked the half mile back to the boat for a relaxing happy hour and dinner aboard, for the first time in 12 days. This city is really cool: excellent public transit system, zoning, architectural controls, incredible museums, a developed river front, nice mix of well-maintained bohemian neighborhoods and brand-new mid- and high-rise condo developments, beautiful parks all along the Lake Michigan lake-front and never a hurricane. It is about the closest feeling to the vibe of Vancouver we have seen in a city of its size. If only it was not freezing cold for about 6 months of the year, one could consider relocating here. Well, you can’t have everything.
We did a bit of forward planning, as well. The La Grange Lock on the Illinois River is still closed for repairs during the day (although open from 17:00 to 07:00 daily), but is supposed to be repaired by tomorrow. Also, we now hear that Lock 52 on the Ohio River is also completely closed for repairs, with no completion date in mind. These two events may have a significant plans on our ability to get south on the rivers, at least according to our original schedule. Ah, well, ARF.
15 Sep 17
Happy Birthday to me. I won’t say how old I am, but I will say that it is now only one year to go until Medicare controls my life. Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m XX? Whoever thought that age would apply to me?!? We awoke to another beautiful, unseasonably warm day in Milwaukee and to the news of a terrorist bomb on the London Subway; we hope all our friends in London are OK. After breakfast, we walked up into town and caught the bus to the Grohman Museum on the campus of Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Grohman displays art dedicated to engineering, craftsmen (glassblowers, potters, steel foundries, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, wainwrights, sailors, fishermen and the like) and artisans, so of course all the art is brilliant! (Not a single Twombly to be found anywhere). Then, we caught another bus down to the Public Market to pick up a slice of chocolate birthday cake. We caught one more bus back up-town and were back on the boat for happy hour and dinner aboard. Latest news from the river authorities is that both the La Grange Lock on the Illinois River and Lock 52 on the Ohio River are back in operation, so we should be able to get past both these obstacles on our way south. We plan to make a short run down to Racine, WI tomorrow.