The crew prepares one of the floating set pieces for Water Fools Photo by Bea Bosco

Mother Nature was not on our side this morning as we began the load-in of Water Fools. A characteristic Chicago torrential downpour began about 30 minutes before our two semi-trucks arrived and continued for the next 90 minutes. The rain itself does not significantly hamper efforts on a show like this—out of necessity, we are prepared to work in all conditions. While staging the trailers to prepare for unloading them, however, one of the trailers became stuck in the recently saturated mud. Two hours later it was free, but it presented a big hurdle to begin to our week!

The rest of the day was spent emptying the shipping containers of the components and beginning the process of assembling the floats—the barges, scenic units and boats that create the world of Water Fools. Simultaneously, we continued our planning for getting the floats (some weighing as much as 850 pounds!) into the water.

The tractor/forklift devices that Ilotopie uses to carry the watercraft to the water when loading from the banks of a river or lake won’t address our significant drop in height from the staging area at the front of the Pier to Lake Michigan. We will need to use a crane, carefully threading the boom through the trees lining the waterfront. The floats will have to be picked up strategically in order to avoid the trees while keeping within the load tolerances of the crane. It’s a new way of working for Ilotopie, so more conversation will take place tomorrow between our respective technical teams before we begin putting the floats in the water.