Harbor Report 2009 Season

A few early season openings in Burnham Harbor.

WBBM 780 AM ran a news piece on the afternoon news report yesterday regarding slip availability in the Chicago Harbor System. The 'party line' for the Chicago Park District and Westrec is that there is "still a great demand for moorings in Chicago...There is still a waiting list of names over two pages long" is what was quoted as the official response from the harbor management team.

Many boaters in Chicago know this list to be outdated and inaccurate as there are names of people who have already been assigned moorings within the harbor network. The WBBM story interviewed a lady who had been instructed that she would not recieve a slip until 2016. This past week she was contacted and told that her slip was available. The WBBM reporter continued to comment that openings such as this ladies have possibly come due because of the economy and the possibility of there being less people keeping their boats, moorings or otherwise.

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, which is typically the barometer for boating in Chicago and marks the informal start of the season, many boaters have commented that the harbors appear empty. Ask us in a few weeks and we'll let you know as we are still putting boats in for customers. In the meantime- all we can report is a huge rush for boats in the past week from people who have gotten their assignments in a relatively short time.