Lake Opeka!

aquaman

Active Member
Heard through the rumor mill there may be a new Capri owner in the Chicago area that was interested in visiting my home port of Lake Opeka in Des Plaines, Il. We're just a stones' throw north of O'Hare airport. I'll be sailing there this upcoming Saturday PM in case anybody wants to chat, I've been here 5 years and love it!
 
Hi. I am the new Capri owner. Unfortunately I did not see your post till today. I was sailing on Lake Opeka twice already, but one time the wind was almost to strong and the other time the wind died 20 minutes after we started sailing. I am not sure If I will be visit the lake again this season, but I hope we could chat next year.
Wojtek
 
Yep the wind can be fickle! Here's how I deal with that:
**When no wind I take an easy cruise using my trolling motor. Usually put up my canopy over the boom for shade. Also drop anchor and take a swim, using my stern boarding ladder for access. Also not ashamed to take a nap!
**When winds are strong my reefed main (only, don't even bother putting up the jib!) performs well up to about 20 mph. I can deal with gusts through my years of experiance with Capri. If I ever got knocked over (hasn't happened yet!) the Baby Bob float at the top of the mast would prevent turtling and make boat much easier to right.
**If winds are over 20 I just head down to Montrose Harbor and go out on my buddy's Cope Dory 30!

Now you may want to check into keeping you boat at Opeka next season. It's a super facility and makes things very simple, just drop in the boat and go! Now I do haul mine up to larger lakes sometimes, but Opeka is a great home port for year round storage.
Cheers!
 

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