Orwell, VT

After Jonny went for a long walk with Archie on Thursday, June 29 we went to have breakfast at Historic Grounds, the cute coffee shop just across the park from where we were docked in Whitehall. We had a  hearty and delicious breakfast in the converted bank/city hall building before we took off for the day’s cruise on Thursday, June 29.

We left the town dock by 9:20 bound for Chipman Point Marina in Orwell, VT. It was an overcast day as we entered the last lock on the way to Lake Champlain.  The scenery along this stretch is just beautiful. This part of the lake is more like a sinuous river curving through the verdant countryside with rolling mountains in the distance.

We arrived at the Chipman Point marina which is located on a point of land jutting into the lake.  It consists of two tall 19th century stone buildings that had been used as warehouses.  We had stayed here a couple of times before and we were looking forward to returning.

After a somewhat haphazard docking experience we headed up to the “office” to get the lay of the land.  The owners are very laid back and have a “help yourself and put your payment in the cup” set-up for the various items for sale - coffee, muffins, ice cream, tee shirts, etc. The buildings are very interesting because they are so old. They are maintained well and have lots of charm and interest. Especially nice were the bathroom, shower and laundry facilities on the second floor which are reached by climbing a steep narrow staircase.

We took walks around the area with Archie but the village of Orwell was too far to walk to. To go anywhere from the marina you have to walk up a very steep hill so we just ambled around the immediate vicinity.

That afternoon Jonny did some of the never-ending boat chores and repairs while I worked on the blog challenged by the spotty internet access (or maybe it was user error). All in all, it was a very relaxing stay.  We are definitely following a slower pace on this trip - shorter cruises and less hectic days both of which we are quite enjoying.

That evening we transformed some of our leftover meatloaf into a pseudo bolognese sauce which we had with pasta and salad. It was quite delicious!  Our next “big” decision is where we want to be docked or anchored to get a good view of July 4th fireworks. What a life!

Whitehall, NY

Things didn’t start out so well on Wednesday, June 23, our last morning in Port Edward.  While Jonny took Archie for a walk and I was washing my hair, the water ran out. I called Jonny, who fortunately had his phone with him, and he rushed back. He tried to short circuit the situation by tying us to the shore water but the bilge started to fill with water so we obviously had a leak in the system. We clearly had a problem but it would have to wait until we reached a marina to address it.  So Jonny dutifully ran up to the market and brought back two gallons of water to tide us over.

After that we took off for Whitehall on a very overcast but mild day. We had occasional bits of rain but only once were we forced to go below and that was just for a few minutes.

We went through locks 7, 8, 9 and 11.  Lock 10 had been decommissioned as it was no longer deemed to be necessary. 

We arrived at Whitehall by 12:55 and tied up on yet another free town dock. We had visited this village on the New York side of the canal previously as it is in a strategic location just before the last lock to the lake. We tied up behind the only other boat there, another trawler. Archie was ecstatic because we were level with the grassy park and we could put him on a long lead attached to Zendo.

Whitehall is a very historical place. It was founded in 1759 and is famous for being the birthplace of the US Navy because  General Philip Schuyler had built a small fleet of ships here that was used by Benedict Arnold in the Battle of (nearby) Valcour Island. The remnants of the Ticonderoga are housed in a shed by the waterfront.

Once we settled in the first thing Jonny did was to go down in the bilge to see if he could repair the water problem.  Fortunately, he found the break in the hose connection quickly and was able to repair it. Hooray - our water problem was over! He quickly refilled the tanks and we are back in business.

We then spent some time working on the MTOA website redesign and reading. Later on we went for a long walk through town. Unfortunately, the village has seen better days. Little had changed since we were here last with many of the storefronts on the main drag closed. Some of those that were still open were of questionable character (in our opinion). Nearby homes were not as well maintained as in many of the other small towns we visited. It’s sad to see a place of such historic significance unable to continue to sustain itself as it once had. 

The one saving grace was a very attractive coffee shop called Historic Grounds that was still open. It had once been the town hall and is still a venerable space.  We had a hearty breakfast there on the morning that we departed. 

That evening we had another quiet night onboard.  We’ll be heading to Chipman Point Marina next where we have some packages waiting for our arrival.

 

Fort Edward, New York

After a fun jazz-filled weekend, we left Schuylerville on Monday, June 26 bound for Fort Edward, NY.  We left at 9:35 for the two and a half hour cruise which would have taken even less time if we didn’t have to go through two locks.  But they are always interesting and in this area, never busy.

It was a cloudy day with a just an occasional sprinkling of rain.  However, when we arrived at the town dock in Fort Edward, it started to pour cats and dogs.  Jonny got soaked but he got us securely tied up right next to a ladder.  The nearby grounds were very pretty with lots of informative signage describing the town’s history.

Shortly after we tied up, our friends Liz and Steve Kemper arrived as planned. We hadn’t seen them since the last boating season and we are always happy to spend time with them. They are the couple we charted the trawler with last year when we cruised the San Juan Islands in Washington.  Once they tied up, we walked into town to have lunch at the local diner.

By then it had stopped raining but on our way back to our boats we got drenched again!

We all spent the rest of the afternoon hunkered down and preparing our contributions to dinner later that night.  Around supper time, they came over and brought a new card game they wanted us to learn called Shwoosh. It was a fun game and even Jonny, who is known for not liking games, enjoyed it.  We had a late dinner together sharing our bounty of pork loin, kielbasa and homemade cole slaw and potato salad.  We even had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for dessert!

We decided to stay an extra day since we are not in a hurry.  On Tuesday mornings I have my Spanish lesson and Liz and Steve took their leave to continue their journey.  It was great to catch up with them and to hear about their travels and upcoming plans.  We’ll be with them again in July when we share an Air B&B with them at the MTOA Northeast Rendezvous in Greenport, Long Island.

We had a very relaxing day on Tuesday working together on the MTOA website redesign and reading our books.  Jonny had already explored Fort Edward a bit with Archie and he wanted to show me some of the most interesting parts. So in the afternoon we walked over to a site where quite a few very old buildings had been assembled to create the village setting of the original town.  

The next picture is where Solomon Northrop, the man featured in the book and movie, Twelve Years a Slave, lived for a while in an apartment.  He was a free black man living in the north who was kidnapped and brought to the south where he lived as a slave for 12 years before he was able to escape.  The movie was excellent and I had read the book which he wrote himself which was even more moving.

Fort Edward was important strategically and historically due to its position commanding the Hudson and Champlain River valleys.  It was the site of a fort as early as 1709 and later it was taken by British forces during the Revolutionary War.  The village itself was incorporated in 1849. The population of the village is currently around 3,375.  It is a pretty place with many attractive and well-maintained homes and very friendly people.

After exploring the area we stopped at the local brew pub for a beer and met the the owners, a couple who were both retired Marines. On the way out we met another retired couple both of whom were engineers who worked on nuclear submarines. I was suitably impressed to meet two women who had successful careers in clearly male-dominated fields -  very impressive achievements!

That evening we had a cozy dinner onboard with our favorite chicken Nona and the leftover potato salad and cole slaw.  Next stop is Whitehall, the last town on the Champlain Canal. 

Schuylerville, NY

We had a short day of cruising on the Hudson on Friday, June 23. We left Mechanicville by 8:55 on another perfectly sunny day with highs in the 70’s. We went through locks 3 and 4, both of which went very smoothly with their convenient hanging lines.

We arrived at the Schuylerville Yacht Basin by noon and tied up comfortably (but unfortunately) next to a roadway overpass.  We had stayed here several years ago and liked the location because it was just a few miles from Saratoga Springs.  That afternoon we caught up on chores (laundry, repairs, etc.) and spent some time relaxing as we had a busy weekend ahead of us attending the Saratoga Jazz Festival.

On Saturday morning the driver we had engaged picked us up and we loaded his trunk with our chairs, umbrellas, lunch and beverages.  We had our heavy duty boat raincoats as well as lighter ones. We were prepared for the worst and very glad we had upgraded our tickets from the lawn to the covered pavilion.  It was already raining when we left and it continued to rain all day long.

But the “show must go on” and all the acts performed on time and with great enthusiasm.  The first act was the Cindy Blackman Santana Band (Carlos Santana’s wife on drums).  They were excellent and followed by Jonny’s all-time favorite, the Cuban pianist Chucho Valdez and his quartet.  They were even better! So much so that Jonny wouldn’t leave to see another of our favorites, pianist Emmet Cohen, who was playing on the smaller stage. We see Emmet Cohen in Miami fairly frequently so it was OK. 

We spent most of the time at our seats in the pavilion though we did see a couple of the acts on the smaller stage (with a limited number of covered seats).  The crowds were a lot smaller than expected, most probably because of the rain.  We left before Snarky Puppy, the main act on Saturday night, as it had already been a long day and we were ready for a break.

Oh, and as you can see, we brought Archie. He was the only dog we saw in the two days of the event - only service dogs were allowed  - but we were surprised that there weren’t more there.  He was well behaved and seemed to enjoy (or at least tolerate) his first concert experience!

On Sunday morning, we awoke to sunshine and it stayed that way all day in spite of the prediction of thunderstorms. Jonny took Archie for a long walk down a nearby trail.  We are in a very interesting  part of the country next to the original and historic Champlain Canal.

Our driver picked us up at noon and this time we traveled lighter.  We arrived just in time to see the first main act of the day, Pat Metheny.  The crowds were much bigger than the day before with people sitting all over the lawns between the two stages.  We meandered back and forth between both stages throughout the day.  Of particular enjoyment were some of the (new to us) acts on the smaller stage including a young women named Samara Joy, a great jazz singer, and an Afro pop band called Jupiter and Okwess who had us on our feet dancing!   Also, we definitely enjoyed Bonnie Raitt, the main act on Sunday night.  We saw several more acts on both days but the ones I mentioned were our favorites.

The weather was beautiful all day until the concert ended and people were walking back to their cars, when all of a sudden we had a torrential rainstorm.  We had to wait for our driver who was running late so we found shelter under an overhang until he arrived just after 9 p.m.  We were very happy to get back to our cozy abode on board Zendo!  It had been a very busy and fun two days and we were ready for a little tranquility!

Mechanicville, NY

Jonny had a conference call on Thursday morning, June 22, so we didn’t leave Coxsackie until 9:50.  It was another beautiful sunny day cruising on the extremely calm Hudson River.  As usual there was very little boat traffic as we headed for the free town dock in Mechanicville.  

We cruised past Albany and Troy, much bigger than the little towns we’ve been staying in.

We had to go through three locks before reaching Mechanicville. Federal Lock was the first one. It was just before where the Erie Canal splits off from the Hudson.

Federal Lock was followed by the first two locks of the Champlain canal system.  All three lockings went smoothly for us as we reacquainted ourselves with the process.  Interestingly, the Federal Lock, the biggest of the three, had no lines hanging down to hold.  We had to set our own. But the locks on the Champlain canal had hanging lines that we could grab onto.

Archie wasn’t sure he liked the locks. He was whining a bit and wanted to be right next to us. I guess being at the bottom of a narrow “canyon” with tall, dark, slimy walls was not his cup of tea.  He felt much better as we rose to land level and he could see grass and sky!

We arrived at the Mechanicville town dock by 4:30. It was a very nice set up. Not only was the docking free but there was electricity and water, as well as restrooms with showers (though we didn’t use them).  All this in a very pleasant park setting with lots of grass, trees and benches.  Somewhat surprisingly, we were the only boat on the dock, maybe because it was still mid-week.

After one of our favorite dinners of escarole (from the farmer’s market) and beans (cannellini), we walked into town.  We weren’t too impressed with Mechanicville, charm-wise, but it did have Walgreen’s and an auto parts store, both of which we used to stock up on some needed supplies.  Of note, Mechanicville is the smallest city by area in the state of New York.  Its name is derived from the occupation of early residents and it has a population of around 5,000.  

That evening we watched a couple of episodes of The Wire before going to bed. We were slow to the draw and missed this series when it was popular.

The next day we’ll have a short cruise to Schuylerville where we’ll stay for three nights.  It’s eleven miles from Saratoga Springs and we have tickets for the Saratoga Jazz Festival on Saturday and Sunday. We’re excited to go because there are a number of great performers like Bonnie Raitt, Chucho Valdez, Snarky Puppy and some of our local favorites like Emmet Cohen.  Unfortunately, rain is predicted so we upgraded our tickets from lawn seats to pavilion seats.  We haven’t been to a festival like this for years, so it should be fun!