Hey northern Illinois boaters!

[Villager19]

Hey Illinois friends!

I'm a new Crownie owner here in the western Chicago suburbs.

We are not strangers to trailering. Our favorite spots to launch are Illinois River (Heritage Harbor), Dixon (Page Park launch), Oregon and occasionally the Fox. We do our fair share of WI boating and even Iowa. I've never been up on the Chain of Lakes other than the sea trial of my new (to me) Crownie the other day.

Where are you all putting in? Are there any meetups planned for this summer?

[Randy Andersen]

Mostly on the Illinois River - drop in at Morris and head down towards Seneca near the railroad bridge. Have been to some events that are partially on Lake Michigan, too.
Also, do a fall cruise where we drop in at Henry Illinois and go to Peoria for lunch and the Blue Duck Inn. Look up Illinois River Rats and Chillin the Most on FB, too.

[Villager19]

Thanks Randy! I'll check out those groups. I'm looking at Ottawa this weekend.

[Dave_G]

Depending on where you are in the suburbs, the Mississippi isn't too terribly far. We found it to be a nice way to escape the Chicago Suburb chaos.

[bandana]

Most of our time is split between the Oregon, IL launch and the Rockford Martin Park launch as we have friends on the river there to beach at. Lake Delavan can be nice on a weekday but chaotic on the weekends.