Orpah Looking For A Good Home!

aquaman

Active Member
I posted this last fall, but just for grins here it is again. Mod 2 Capri has been sitting unused for a few years now, owner finally decided to sell. It's based at Lake Opeka in Des Plaines, Il., (near north suburban Chicago) which is right next to O'Hare. The lake is park district operated, they have nice launch and clubhouse facilities. Also year round storage is an option, reasonably priced. if you're Chicago based and want a low cost and convienient sailing arrangement, this is a perfect place. And no crowds to deal with on the weekends either! If anybody's interested let me know and I'll look up the owner's contact info.......
Cheers!
 

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That's great! It's a diamond in the rough, I've watched it sit in hibernation for quite a long time. Where do you plan on storing it?
 
Ok so you're a far south sider! Now about the only small user friendly lake I know of down that way is a Forest Preserve facility called Saganaskee Slough Boat Launch. 107th St. in Willow Springs. 800-870-3666 fpdcc.com and you can see it on Google Earth. Hopefully deep enough to handle the 4.2' draft of the Capri with board down. Let me know what you find out! And my 1986 is definately a Mod 1........
 
Not your boat, you said in your first post the one I bought was a Mod2 ?? I guess a typo. The sign on that slough says kayaks, canoes, and row boats, with no mention of small sailboats, what's up with that?? Also there is a small lake 10 minutes away, Whalon Lake, with a ramp and dock.
 
Yep about the only thing I know about those lakes way down south is that they are there. There's a lot more action up north. I have a launch pass at Diamond Lake in Mundelien, it's much larger than Opeka with decent facilities and a few nice restaurants within walking distance. And Opeka is also great, a bit on the small side, but then our boats are small too! And northern Lake County/ borderline Wisconsin also has lots of opportunities, but that's too much driving for me.
Just for grins I threw in a few pics taken at both of my lakes! Let me know what pans out down your way, just curious.....
Cheers!
 

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I'm west of you, but I know that Blackwell Forest Preserve has a nice ramp and allows sailboats, but I've never actually launched there.
I've used Jericho lake in Aurora (which is more appropriate for kayaks) and Shabbona lake in Shabbona (which is nice but so far west of you that you might be better off just going east to lake michigan instead).
 
I dropped mine into Lake Michigan first season I had her, 6 years ago. Weather called for light winds so I wanted to get a taste of the big lake with my little Capri. Motored out from the launch with my little Minkota and got ready to hoist the canvas. Sure enough I get out a ways and winds started to pick up. Waves started growing into 2 foot rollers as I got up the jib and the way things were going I could see this maybe wasn't the best idea! Wind was pushing me downhill from the launch area so I struggled to motorsail back to the sheltered launch area, pinching the jib as best as I could. Managed to get back, only to have to compete with the traffic of much larger boats. Hoping my battery would hold up thru the severe usage, which it barely did. By now the launch area was starting to pulsate with the inbound waves bouncing off the steel sheeting. Only with the help of a few fellow boaters was I able to dock up for retrieval, they saved my boat from getting beat up at the pier.
Got her out and left with tail between my legs! Went to my nice medium sized lake, dropped in there, and had a great sail for the rest of the day. Now I used to have a Catalina 22 in Belmont Harbor, which I aggressively sailed on the big lake for many years. That was the perfect boat, small enough for trailering behind my beefed up car (air shocks were a must), yet large enough to take on the big lake. I love my Capri, but she's definately not up for the big water. Maybe the fixed keel version with a gas motor, but after all, it's still only a 14.2' boat.
I would be interested in hearing any stories from Capri folks about using our small boats on big lakes!
 

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