1st Class Charters Chicago

04/20/2025

Happy and warm Easter wishes to all!

04/18/2025

Getting ready for sailing season is no joke!

04/13/2025

Prepping the boat for Splash Thursday and enjoying Gumbo Day at Skyway!

03/22/2025

Thanks to Chicago’s perfectly lined grid system, the bi-annual equinoxes mark a time when the Sun rises and sets directly in line with Chicago’s east and west streets, causing Chicagohenge!

See for yourself
Thursday, March 20, 2025: Sunrise at 6:53 am and sunset at 7:03 pm
Friday, March 21, 2025: Sunrise at 6:51 am and sunset at 7:04 pm
Saturday, March 22, 2025: Sunrise at 6:49 am and sunset at 7:05 pm
Sunday, March 23, 2025: Sunrise at 6:48 am and sunset at 7:06 pm

Next chance
Monday, September 22, 2025: Sunrise at 6:38 am and sunset at 6:47 pm
Tuesday, September 23, 2025: Sunrise at 6:39 am and sunset at 6:45 pm
Wednesday, September 24, 2025: Sunrise at 6:40 am and sunset at 6:43 pm
Thursday, September 25, 2025: Sunrise at 6:41 am and sunset at 6:41 pm

03/18/2025

Always be prepared.

03/15/2025

The tradition of dyeing the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day started in 1962, thanks to a creative idea from then-Mayor Richard J. Daley. Initially, Daley had wanted to turn Lake Michigan green but quickly realized how monumental that task would be.

Every year, they use 40 pounds of orange-red vegetable-based powder, which is non-toxic and safe for wildlife, to turn the river into a breathtaking shade of green. The exact formula remains a closely guarded secret.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Éirinn go Brach

03/14/2025

A beautiful, clear Chicago sky allowed for a perfect viewing.

02/14/2025

02/11/2025

Celebrating the birth of my paternal Grandfather
(Alonzo) Lonnie Freeman Hackney Snr. Born this day in 1902!

He was eldest of 7 children born to William Freeman Hackney and Nettie Louisa Moore of Hobson, a small farming and oystering community on the Nansemond River in Virginia. Near Suffolk. (Am I related to any of the Moores that I went to High School with?). Virginia's largest city in the geographic area, Suffolk was founded in 1742 as a Virginia Colony port town. Named for the home county of Royal Governor William Gooch, the site had originally been called Constant's Warehouse, after early colonist John Constant. Suffolk is located on the Nansemond River, named for the tribe of Native Americans who lived along the river at the time of English Settlement. He was born 4 years before Suffolk was incorporated as an independent city in 1906.

Named after his fathers' brother, Alonzo Edward Hackney (1869-1919), a street preacher in Norfolk, 'Lonnie' lived his early years working the Nansemond on a "bugeye" with his father, Captain William Freeman Hackney, delivering produce from the farmers to the markets across the James River and leaving school at the ripe old age of 14 to work on an oyster boat as many of that area would have done.

Around 1920 he went to work for Richardson Brothers Ship Chandlers (a Chandler is a retail dealer who specializes in supplies or equipment for ships) moving where the work was from Norfolk to Charleston, South Carolina where he eventually found steady employment with Sanford and Brooks Construction and became a foreman on the Ashley River Bridge project. It was in Charleston that he met his future bride, Angelina Balzano, who lived with her father, mother and 3 brothers, above her immigrant family's' grocery store along the Battery on Bay Street.

In January of 1923, they were married at St. John Rectory Catholic Church in Charleston. My father would be born a little over a year later, followed by his brother Raymond in 1927.
After completing work on Cooper River Bridge for C.E. Hillyer Construction in 1929, he took a job with the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, the nations largest privat

02/06/2025

Happy birthday to the lion of Zion!

02/01/2025

1st Class Charters acknowledges and supports

01/21/2025

Counting down the days to Summer!

Offering up a special Sunday thru Friday price* for early birds.

Call to reserve your charter today or go to www.1stclasscharterschicago.com for pictures and charter information.

*Cannot be combined with other offers and excludes special events


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01/21/2025

Counting down the days to Summer is here!

Offering up a special Sunday thru Friday price* for early birds.

Call to reserve your charter today or go to www. 1stclasscharterschicago.com for pictures and charter information.

*Cannot be combined with other offers and excludes special events

01/01/2025

Cheers to smooth sailing in the coming year. Making new friends and staying connected with old ones!

12/25/2024

Thanks to everyone for making 2024 a fantastic sailing season.
Wishing you and your families peace and love and smooth sailing into 2025!



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11/28/2024

An enormous thank you to everyone who made 2024 a fantastic Charter season. Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

10/23/2024

A fantastic way to end the season with walk-up charters from China and Mexico and local regulars on an amazing 84° October day! Cheers to all who made 2024 an amazing Charter season.