Champlain

7/15/13
0900 - We departed from Chipman's Point and headed for Vergennes VT.

For Sale

Duke on the gunwale

 

Daybreak at Fort Ticonderoga

Crown Point Samuel de Champlain Memorial
http://www.historiclakes.org/crown_pt/champlainlight.htm

Daybreak at the new Crown Point Bridge

Fort Ticonderoga was not nearly as impressive from the water.  Today the water was dead calm--no breeze and temps were in the upper 90's.  We ran the generator and the AC while underway.
Seven miles up Otter Creek is Vergennes, VT.  Due to recent flooding, the water is very high.  The lowest water level below our tranducer was 12 ft, ample for most boats.  The free dock had two spaces left, but there was no power available for those two spots, so we had no AC unless we ran the generator.  The current in the creek is very strong due to the  (hydroelectric) waterfall upstream.

Adagio at the free Vergennes dock

We walked UPHILL to town in the extreme heat.  We returned to the boat for a couple of hours, and then returned to Park Squeeze for dinner and a band concert in the park.


Jeanne & Jan at Vergennes concert

Park Squeeze(gourmet food at reasonable prices) is under new management.  In my opinion, it was one of the best meals on the entire loop. 

7/16/13 (Vergennes to Shelburne Farms anchorage)
This was a very easy day.  The weather was great and it was just a short trip to Shelburne Marina for fuel and then on to the anchorage. To cool off, we jumped in the water from the swim deck.

 Kenny and Jeanne invited us to join them for dinner at Shelburne Farms. We were joined by Lexie (daughter of a friend of theirs) and Mark, her boyfriend.  We took the dinghy to shore where Lexie and Mark picked us up.  The Shelburne property was once owned by a Vanderbilt and contains a huge farm and very old upscale hotel. 


Shelburne Hotel

All food is locally grown, but the entrees were very pricey. A scoop of ice cream was the size of a melon ball....not worth the $3. The heat was oppressive and of course this is Vermont....,.no air conditioning. The grounds of the hotel were beautiful. We took several photos there.

Sunset on the Champlain
 

Kenny, Lexie, Jeanne, Mark

 

view of the Hudson from the grounds
 

7/17/13 (Burlington, VT)

From the anchorage, it was only 5 miles to Burlington.  The heat, again, was oppressive.  The heat wave is affecting 2/3 of the US and no relief is expected for several days. Other boaters are here: Schiffli, Charis, Go, Five O'clock, and Grianan.  The last time we saw Grianan was in Alabama two years ago.  Ron and I walked 5 blocks to a laundromat (no AC) and spent a very warm hour waiting for clean clothes.
A former colleague of Kenny's invited all of us to dinner at his home.  Our hosts, Fran and Bill, provided us with a fun evening. They live is a geodesic dome style home which they built in the 1960's.  We would have liked to stay longer in Burlington, but the marina is booked for a sailing regatta and the Canadian Construction Workers Holiday.

7/18/13 (Burlington to Treadwell Bay, NY-25 miles)
This was a short trip for us. Treadwell Bay Marina is a man-made harbor and is very nice.  Jeanne and I spent two hours in the pool to cool off while the guys did some planning for the trip north.  We met an interesting local couple at the pool.  He is a retired optometrist and she is a retired English/French teacher.  90% of the boats here are owned by Quebecers.