Common sense tells us to dress in warm layers for winter.
But that didn’t stop folks from stripping down for a hot tub boat ride on the Chicago River.
“Is it summer? What the hell?” one woman asked as she passed the boats in the Chicago Riverwalk on Friday.
Setting off from near Marina Towers, two of the first boaters enjoyed a 90-minute self-piloted cruise.
“I’ve driven a boat, but I’ve never driven a hot tub,” John Hailer, of Geneva, said on the first day on the hot tub boat rentals by Chicago Electric Boat Co.
He and his wife enjoyed drinks and a respite from their children.
A group of friends ride a hot tub boat as a person wearing a winter jacket rides a ferry on the Chicago River on Friday. Chicago Electric Boat Co. is offering 90-minute rentals ranging from $278 on weekdays, $350 on weekends and up to $418 on holiday weekends.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
“We have three kids, so we don’t always get a chance to just talk. So we talked and had a drink,” Chantel Hailer said.
The new boats drew gawkers from the Riverwalk and atop bridges, curious about the low-profile crafts that only show its passengers’ heads and arms sticking out only a few inches.
“It’s hard to miss,” said Eric Rosenberg. “We’re walking and see what looks like a couple of heads and no one’s driving.”
Rosenberg wouldn’t hesitate to try the hot tub boat himself. But, walking with him, Terry Ann Cunningham considered the affair “a little exhibitionist.”
“People are staring,” she said.
Passersby in coats and jackets stroll on the Riverwalk as a couple go for a hot tub cruise on the Chicago River on Friday.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
The first two boating groups said they reserved tickets after seeing promotions on Instagram. They were the first paying customers, after the influencers took rides earlier, one employee said.
For those wanting to take a hot tub ride themselves, trips are booked through the middle of January, but they run through March.
Rentals range from $278 on weekdays, $350 on weekends and up to $418 on holiday weekends. The electric hot tub boats hold up to six passengers, and the tub water can reach up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Gabrielle Nolan, who took the first Chicago tub cruise with three friends, was grateful the weather on Friday was comfortable with temps in the 50s. Some of them perched on the edges of the tub, above water.
John and Chantel Hailer ride a hot tub on the Chicago River Friday. The Geneva couple enjoyed the cruise, which gave them a respite from the kids.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
“It’s a great easy way to spend time with friends,” said Nolan, 22. “I think if it was snowing, we would have been fine.”
Nolan’s friend Delaney Langston, visiting from Birmingham, Alabama, appreciated the views of architecture.
“I haven’t been to the city in the while, so to cruise around is awesome,” she said.
Hot tub boats have been around since as early as 2012, but it’s only been in the few years that they’ve shown up as rentals in cities like New York City, Washington D.C., Portland and Seattle.
John and Chantel Hailer have a date on a hot tub cruise on the Chicago River on Friday. The vessel is self-piloted. “I’ve driven a boat, but I’ve never driven a hot tub,” John Hailer said.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Contributing: Pat Nabong