Kayaking the Chicago River? (Lincoln, Cleveland: rent, school, storage)

[BetterThanAliens]

How do I go about this? Does anyone rent them by the river? There was a picture in the Trib today and it looked amazing! This looks like the perfect summer activity in the city, besides everything else....

[940]

That's one of the things I plan on doing sometime soon also...just moved back here and kayaking near downtown looks like a lot of fun!

Kayak in Chicago - Wateriders

[j33]

I took a class through Chicago Sport and Social to learn how to kayak a couple years back. I loved kayaking the river, there is something pretty amazing about going through the skyscraper canyon in a little rowboat.

That being said, the river is pretty nasty, you don't want to fall in (I was always afraid I would and catch some heretofore unknown disease).

[Drover]

Originally Posted by 940

That's one of the things I plan on doing sometime soon also...just moved back here and kayaking near downtown looks like a lot of fun!

Kayak in Chicago - Wateriders

Sorry about going OT here, but how are you liking Chicago so far?

[RichMonk]

Yeah, I would wanna steer clear of ever touching that water. Here is the EPA report on it Great Lakes Contaminated Sediments: Chicago River - Chicago, Illinois

It isn't safe to swim in or use a jet ski but kayaking would be fine. Though, eventually it might be better thanks to some funding and warning from the EPA, EPA 2007 enforcement reduces pollution in Illinois | Newsroom | US EPA

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

Yeah, I would wanna steer clear of ever touching that water. Here is the EPA report on it Great Lakes Contaminated Sediments: Chicago River - Chicago, Illinois

It isn't safe to swim in or use a jet ski but kayaking would be fine. Though, eventually it might be better thanks to some funding and warning from the EPA, EPA 2007 enforcement reduces pollution in Illinois | Newsroom | US EPA

Yep.

[Drover]

At least we can boast that our river has never periodically caught on fire *cough cough (Cleveland) cough*

[RichMonk]

Originally Posted by Drover

At least we can boast that our river has never periodically caught on fire *cough cough (Cleveland) cough*

Actually, before major changes to create a sewage storage system (deep in the limestone under Chicago) the Chicago River use to catch on fire. Certainly glad that doesn't happen these days, but it might be kinda cool to see in a sick and twisted way

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

Actually, before major changes to create a sewage storage system (deep in the limestone under Chicago) the Chicago River use to catch on fire. Certainly glad that doesn't happen these days, but it might be kinda cool to see in a sick and twisted way

As long as it only happens on the South Side and includes the Cal Sag Channel and the Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Talk about a bunch of dufus sore losers at the game today.

god, did the White Sox get schooled this weekend by the best team in baseball...

[ChicaglandRon]

Check out meet-up dot com. They frequently have canoe and kayak trips down the river during the summer.

I believe there is a company called Kayak Chicago that rents downtown. REI also rents kayaks but they are only in the suburbs (there will be a Lincoln Park store opening in October).