Rouses Point, NY

This was our last stop before crossing the border into Canada.  We arrived here on Thursday, July 9 for three nights.

Rouses Point is really just a small village but it definitely has its charm.  It’s only one mile from the Canadian border at the corner of New York, Vermont and Quebec.   Gaines Marina, where we are staying, is attractive, efficient, and well-appointed.  Ninety-nine percent of the people who keep boats here are from Quebec so everyone speaks French  and they are very friendly. 

 

The weather has been ideal – sunny with temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s during the day and very little humidity.  We’ve   spent most of the time on the boat cleaning, repairing, re-arranging, and doing laundry. We’ve used Rouses Point to prepare ourselves for crossing the border and for the guests we’ll be having for 10 days.  Steve and Cathy from Sacramento will be joining us from Montreal to Quebec City.  We’re looking forward to their arrival!

Jonny gave Lynn a break from cooking by preparing two delicious dinners which we enjoyed on the aft deck while watching beautiful sunsets. 

Please note:  We will have more limited communication capabilities while we are in Canada.  Our access to the internet will be limited to marinas that have WIFI.  We request that those who wish to contact us do so by text as we’ll have unlimited text capability.  We have a limited voice plan so our phone conversations will be very short and we won’t have voice mail capability.  Whenever we have WIFI, we’ll check our email and respond as best we can.  Thanks for your understanding.

Middle Bay Anchorage, Lake Champlain

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We continued to meander through Lake Champlain heading for Plattsburg, NY on July 9.  As we got closer to Plattsburg, we changed our minds and decided to find an anchorage instead of staying in another “city”.  There were a couple of bays that were supposed to be especially scenic especially in the area of Treadwell Bay.  The first one we looked at was Deep Bay.  Though it was beautiful, harrow and deep,  there were a lot of boats on moorings  and we were looking for something a little less populated.   We cruised back to the much smaller Middle Bay.      

This was it!  Only  three other boats were anchored there. The bay was quiet, surrounded by trees and the water was very still.  We dropped the hook immediately and settled down for a peaceful evening. 

Jonny did some rowing and of course talked to one of the other boats anchored there.  It seems like most of the boats in this part of the lake are owned by Canadians who enjoy Lake Champlain as much as the Americans do.

We are finalizing our plans for the Canadian portion of our trip.  It begins after our next stop which is Rouses Point, NY,  the last marina we stay in before entering Canada!  

Back to Burlington

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Our return cruise to Burlington on July 6 was a short one.  It only took two hours for us to get there from our Shelburne Bay anchorage which was about eight miles south of Burlington.   We were returning to Burlington to pick up the new anchor and chain we were buying.  What a treat to return to this great town.  The only down side is the marina does not have laundry facilities so we’ll have to wait until we get to the next marina to address our growing pile of dirty laundry!

Jonny washed down the boat, which is much easier now that we are in fresh water.  Afterwards, he rode his bike to the chiropractor since his back is still bothering him (even after 3 visits to said chiropractor).   Lynn luxuriated in some alone time having failed to find a nearby place for a pedicure.

 

That evening we met Susan and Brooke (the two women who we met at lunch on Willsboro Bay).  They had offered to help us in any way and in fact they very kindly picked up the new anchor from West Marine for us and delivered it to our boat.  We then walked over to a cool restaurant near the waterfront called The Skinny Pancake.  We spent a very enjoyable evening getting to know each other, exchanging stories and just having a great time together!  What a treat it is to meet such lovely people.  We hope our paths will cross again in the future. 

On  Tuesday we walked into the center of town where Lynn bought some rain pants and a pair of quick-dry outdoor pants in anticipation of cooler and wetter weather in Canada.  We also did our grocery shopping at City Market which is a very cool co-op style market somewhat like Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

Later that afternoon we rode our bikes on a bike trail that wound around the coastline and through some very  pretty parts of town.  We didn’t have time to take it all the way to the bike ferry that connects the trail over Mallots Bay which would have been a lot of fun.  We had to get back because Jonny had yet another appointment with the chiropractor.  

Apparently even men have the  prerogative of changing their minds and that’s exactly what happened with Jonny’s decision about diving for the anchor we lost in Converse Bay.  First he was going to have someone dive for it, then he cancelled the dive, then he found someone else who could dive for it for less money and the dive was on.  To make a long story short, Pierre, the handsome diver, delivered the retrieved anchor  later that evening and  Chip, the handsome marina owner,  delivered the 200 feet of chain we purchased through him.  We spent our last evening in Burlington moving the old (heavy) chain to the aft deck,  loading the new (heavy) chain into the chain locker, and connecting the old anchor to the new chain.  We now feel much more secure about anchoring in the deep rocky terrain of northern Vermont and Canada. 

The following day we took a cab to return the new anchor to West Marine, where we now have several hundred dollars of credit which will probably not take long for us to spend!  We walked to the University of Vermont Medical Center where we caught the free bus (again) back into town.  We had our last meal (for now) in Burlington at a popular and packed breakfast/lunch place called Mirabelle’s.  Another good meal in this very attractive town.  We definitely recommend Burlington as a place to visit especially in the summer!  

Shelburne Island Anchorage, VT

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On the 4th of July, we left Valcour Island for our next port.  Today’s big decision was not to dive for our anchor but instead we would buy a new one.  Jonny found the one that he originally wanted to buy (but didn’t).  It’s now on sale at West Marine for just a little more than the cost of the dive.  We now have even more time to explore beautiful Lake Champlain because we can’t pick up the anchor and chain until Monday or Tuesday.  So we headed up to Willsboro Bay where we had to traverse a narrow passage among the islands on the way to that scenic bay.  We were drawn to explore it because it was described as a dramatically wild, fjord-like body of water unlike any other on the lake.  While we found it to be beautiful and scenic, it did not quite meet our visual image of the guidebook’s description.  We found a little lakeside restaurant that we docked at for lunch.  There, we met two women, Brooke and Susan,  who had also motored there for lunch. They were very interested in our boat and our trip. We invited them onboard to see Zendo up close. They were most appreciative and offered to help us in any way when we returned to Burlington. 

 

As we continued our cruise, we headed to Shelburne Bay and we’re again on the Vermont side, just south of Burlington.  We found a very nice anchorage there and set our hook.  Amazingly, we were the only powerboat in the anchorage and we were surrounded by beautiful sailboats!  As soon as we dropped the hook, it started to rain, then it cleared up and then it got cloudy again.  We were anchored pretty close to a sailboat and due to our lack of a chain we started to drift so close that we almost hit it!  We had to put our fenders out, just in case!  So we pulled the anchor to move to another spot.  As soon as we did, a huge thunderstorm descended on us  and we had to circle around and around until it let up and we could safely anchor. 

The next day we spent walking to and touring Shelburne Farms which had been highly recommended to us.  Shelburne Farms was developed by one of the Vanderbilts and is still a working dairy farm that produces great cheeses, has a lovely inn and a big focus on education and conservation.  They were hosting a concert the night before for the 4th of July but it was rained out due to those massive storms mentioned above.  The tour we took was very informative and the farm with its surrounding countryside, meadows, inn, barns, and gardens were designed by the same architect who designed Central Park in New York City.  It was just beautiful and made for a very enjoyable day!

 

We spent another quiet evening at anchor though we had to move our anchorage yet again because we were anchored too close to a private mooring field instead of the one available to the public!

Valcour Island Anchorage, NY

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Since we need to stay in Lake Champlain a bit longer to wait until our new anchor and chain come in, we took the opportunity to explore some of the attractive anchorages in the central part of the lake.  Upon leaving Burlington, we cruised to nearby Valcour Island, a completely uninhabited island with 7 miles of hiking trails and 1000 acres of publicly owned forest.  It is designated as a New Your State Primitive Area and neither motor vehicles nor bicycles are permitted on the island.  It was also the site of one of the major naval battles of the Revolutionary War where troops led by Benedict Arnold attacked the British who were on their way to Fort Ticonderoga.  Arnold’s attack failed but it was successful in delaying the Royal Army’s march and creating time for Fort Ticonderoga to prepare itself for the British attack.  After losing this battle, the British were forced  to withdraw to Quebec for the winter. That set the stage for their defeat at Saratoga in 1777.  

We anchored off of Valcour Island in lovely Spoon Bay, its shape described well by its name.  We dinghied over to the island and went for a long hike through the woods.  Our goal was to hike a trail across to the other side of the island but due to heavy rains this season, the trail got too muddy for us to proceed beyond a mile or so. 

There were quite a few boats anchored in the bay as it was July 3 and a holiday weekend for Americans and Canadians.  In fact, most of the boats were Canadian; we are only a few miles from the Canadian border.  As more boats arrived, there were two sets of four boats each that rafted onto each other and created their own floating parties!  We learned from talking with some of the Canadians that they prefer to keep their boats in the U.S. because of  Canadian taxes and the great cruising on Lake Champlain.

We spent some time cleaning up all the bugs that had descended on our boat the last couple of days. We’re not sure what they are, but they are a nuisance, though thankfully they don’t bite.  After we finished dinner, we could see some fireworks in the distance.  Lynn was a little disappointed to miss seeing fireworks close up, but we wanted to avoid the madness of hundreds of boats floating next to each other if we had found a close-in viewing area.  At least we saw a few in the distance and our rafted-up neighbors managed to shoot some off as well!

Burlington, VT

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A quick two hour cruise brought us to the wonderfully cool and vibrant city of Burlington, Vermont.  Unfortunately, it poured rain the entire trip.  We took a mooring ball at the Burlington Community Boathouse thinking that because we were arriving on July 1 we would be able to stay through the 4th and see the fireworks.  We knew that the marina was booked for the holiday but hoped that the first come first served mooring balls would do the trick.  No such luck – it’s the only time of the year that the mooring balls are reserved – so we would have to find another place to stay on July 3, the night of the fireworks.

Jonny had two doctors’ appointments in Burlington so our plan was to dinghy in, take the free bus to the University of Vermont Medical Center and explore the town. Nature did not agree with our plan since it continued to pour.  As we donned our “wets” we decided that it was ridiculous for us to dinghy in the pouring rain, come back to a dinghy full of water and take it back to the boat at 7 p.m. when we were done.  Why not just stay at the marina?  So we took off our rain coats and headed into the marina. Wouldn’t you know that as soon as we arrived the sun came out!

That evening and the next day we explored Burlington on foot. It’s a great town with lots of cool outdoor sport stores, great restaurants and a thriving craft beer culture.  The downtown area has great architecture and a pedestrian-only street a la Lincoln Rd. in Miami Beach. The people are very friendly and diverse. There are several colleges in Burlington so the presence of lots of students also adds a youthful vibe to the city.  

This is also the home of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, which of course we had to sample.  Ben and Jerry’s is such an institution in town that there’s a street named Cherry Garcia!

 

On Tuesday, we met Michael Goldfield for a beer.  Michael is an old friend of Lynn’s who she’s known since junior high.  They hadn’t seen each other in years so it was a real treat to catch up with each other.  Michael invited us to meet him and his girlfriend in their home in Acadia National Park in Maine when we get there. Definitely something to look forward to!  While we were waiting for Michael we saw a seaplane land and dock at the marina  - a first for us!

We ate at two very good local restaurants in town and look forward to returning in just a few days when we have to pick up the new chain to replace what we lost with our anchor.

The next morning we headed out for more explorations of beautiful Lake Champlain.

Essex, NY

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We left the Westport Marina after lunch on Tuesday June 30 heading for a marina in Essex, NY.  It was somewhat rainy and as we got closer to Essex, we decided that rather than stay at another marina, we would anchor in nearby Converse Bay which was a highly recommended anchorage.

Upon arriving in Converse Bay, we tried to set our anchor three times at the spot that was recommended.  But the anchor wouldn’t hold and each time Jonny pulled it up it was covered with weeds the size of a Christmas tree!  So we moved to another part of the bay and dropped our hook there.  It seemed like it was going to hold but to be on the safe side, Jonny asked Lynn to put the engine in reverse  and rev the motor to a high level of RPMs .  All of a sudden we heard a loud POP!.  The line and chain that that held the  anchor broke with a bang.   Our new  anchor  was now lying  at the bottom  of the bay 20 feet deep along with 75 feet of chain!

Shocked, we hit the man overboard button on the GPS to mark the spot and headed back to Essex, this time to stay at the marina there.  Actually, there were two marinas in Essex. Lynn called the one that had slightly better reviews but they told us their docks were underwater due to all the rain and advised us to go to the other marina which we did.  They kindly accommodated us while we tried to figure out our next steps.  These included a decision to see if we could find a diver to retrieve the anchor and chain.  After making a few phone calls, we needed a drink and went to the one local (and quite good) restaurant in town to recover. 

Our plan evolved over the next few hours which takes us back to Chip at Chipman’s Point Marina.  Chip is also a diver and he agreed to dive for the anchor but couldn’t do it until Sunday or Monday. We were also able to order our new chain through him.  Jonny had been wanting to transition to all chain for the anchor but hadn’t done so yet.  This was all it took to convince him to do so. We are particularly concerned to have chain as we travel through the deep waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway where we’ll be in many more remote areas with fewer services than we have in the states. 

So we finalized our plans for the next few days which included heading up to Burlington, VT to see that great town, visit an old friend of Lynn’s and get Jonny in for a couple of doctor’s appointments.