Rouses Point, NY part 2

We ended up staying in Rouses Point for eight nights waiting for the injector pump to be rebuilt and mailed back to us.  We made the most of our time there by renting a car so we could explore our surroundings. 

Thanks to Enterprise who picked us up at the marina, we got the car in Plattsburgh and spent the day exploring that part of the world. There is lots of hiking available and we found a very nice and moderately rigorous trail up to Silver Lake.

To recover from that, we found  Valcour Brewery, named after the island we had anchored next to as well as a famous battle in the Revolutionary War.  We followed that up with, what else, but a visit to a winery and hard cider establishment. There we spent a couple of hours sampling the wares and learning about cider making from the owner’s son, a Long Island transplant.  

On Saturday, we drove up to Montreal to attend the fabulous weeklong jazz festival there.  Just over the Canadian border we passed through lots of farmland.

Montreal is supposed to be one of the best jazz festivals in the world.  There was a lot of music to choose from, much of it free.  The bigger names were scheduled in the evenings and those had a fee.  We took advantage of the freebies and saw a couple of especially good performances.  

We stayed there all day and didn’t get back to Zendo until 9 pm that night.  

We headed back to Montreal on Sunday, this time to spend the day with friends Sarah and Daniel who own a condo next door to Andy to which  they escape in the winter.  They very graciously showed us their beautiful city.  We especially appreciated the drive through Mont Real and the lovely neighborhoods there.

 We visited the St. Joseph Oratory at the top of the mountain. It’s a beautiful church that looks very old but was built in the 1920’s. The interior architecture was quite modern and very different than the exterior.  

They drove us through some charming neighborhoods and took us to the Italian market for lunch and of course we had to stock up on some provisions for the boat.  

Montreal is also known for its bagels so we had to stop for some of those as well.  

That evening, Sarah made a delicious dinner and we had a chance to visit with their handsome son, Stefan.

The weather has been very hot; we are experiencing the same heat wave as the rest of the country.  So we spent Monday at the marina doing boat chores and trying to keep cool. Fortunately, the injector pump arrived as scheduled on Tuesday and Jonny and the local yard mechanic spent all afternoon installing it.  

So finally on the 4th of July, we departed Rouses Point after a sea trial and pump out. Rouses Point ended up being quite a lovely village in which to be laid up.  The people were friendly, the rates were low, it had enough amenities for our needs and it was centrally located just south of the Canadian border and between the Adirondacks and Montreal.  

Rouses Point, NY

On the morning of Monday, June 25 Jonny identified that our battery charger was not working, a significant problem for us.  He spent the morning on the phone with a marine electrician we had been working with to identify some product solutions.  After exploring those solutions and calling vendors, he ordered a new battery charger to be sent to the next marina we were planning to stay at.  Originally we were going to anchor out another night, but with our new situation, we had to get to said marina right away.  So we left our anchorage around noon heading to Gaines Marina in Rouses Point, NY.  The day was windy and cool, so much so that we cruised with the stratoglass closed.  The lake was also somewhat choppy but there were beautiful vistas of the Adirondacks in the western sky and we saw more sailboats than usual.

It took us about  four hours to arrive at Gaines Marina in Rouse’s Pont were we tied up into a comfortable slip right behind the sea wall.  The marina has mostly sailboats and it seems like the majority of them are owned by Canadians.

The equipment we ordered arrived the following afternoon (Tuesday) and the local electrician came by to install the new battery charger. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that our problem was really just a burnt lead that Jonny had missed. This was good (though somewhat embarrassing for Jonny) news and the electrician quickly fixed it. We were very happy to save the $1000 for that part!

Since the floor of the cabin was open to the engine, Jonny proceeded to do more maintenance work.  The yard’s mechanic came on board for a consult and identified a leak in one of the fuel pumps. So we ordered a new fuel pump to be delivered the next day.  Georgio managed to find cozy little spaces to rest in his disrupted living space.  

In the meantime, Lynn walked up into “town” to do more laundry,  While waiting for it to be done, she strolled around the streets which are bedecked with US and Canadian flags.  None of the stores were too exciting, with the local Dollar Store being the only one of any interest!  So much for the charm factor of Rouses Point.  There was a pleasant park next to the laundromat though.

On Wednesday, Jonny and the mechanic installed the new fuel pump, but in testing it they discovered an additional leak in our injector pumps - a much bigger issue.  Now, Jonny and the yard manager had to research a shop that could rebuild the injector pump in short order. The local Cummins dealer said it would take 7-10 days.  Fortunately, the yard manager who had spent most of his career in Port Washington, NY knew of a shop on Long Island.  They said they could fix it and turn it around in a couple of days.  All this is occurring as we approach the weekend, Canada Day on July 1 and the July 4 holiday!  So they removed the injector pump and Jonny strapped it onto his bike to ride to the local drug store which was also the local UPS  site in this zero traffic light sized town!

We are now stuck here in Rouses Point for the foreseeable future.  The best case scenario will be that the injector pump is repaired and we receive it and get it reinstalled on July 3.  Worst case is it doesn’t happen until July 5 or later.  In the meantime, we will rent a car and explore the area near Plattsburgh, NY and the Adirondack Mountains. We’ll also drive into Montréal, about an hour’s drive from here where Jonny’s brother Andy has friends, Sarah and Daniel, who have generously offered to show us Montréal.  We’re also excited because the Montreal Jazz Festival is going on and it’s considered to be one of the world’s best!

Valcour Island, NY

The morning of Sunday, June 24 started with Mike Goldfield arriving early bringing special bagels and cream cheese from a popular Montréal baker. Jonny set out a plate of lox and sliced cucumbers and we had ourselves a nice breakfast onboard Zendo.  Mike kindly invited us to his home in Dorset, VT and stay the night, but we thought it best to continue our journey up the lake to Canada.

After saying our goodbyes to Michael, we got ready to leave Burlington, but first we had to stop for fuel and the all important pump-out.  By noon we cruised around the Burlington breakwater passing some rowers in dragonboats and headed north.  

Our destinations are much closer here on Lake Champlain and it only took us two hours to reach Valcour Island.  The cruise was a smooth one with very calm waters but it was a bit chilly!  

We looked at a variety of anchorages but because the wind was coming from the north, we wanted to find one that would provide protection from that direction.  We found what we thought would be a perfect one at Bluff Point South on the southwest shore of Valcour Island.  It was next to a park with dinghy access and lots of good hiking trails.  There were several sailboats already anchored inthe bay and rather than be crowded among them, we found a lovely spot a bit further up and closer to shore.  Since it was misting on and off, we did not take the dinghy to explore the enticing parkland and instead stayed cozy inside and read and worked on the Burlington blog entry (a long one).

After our usual cocktail and nibbles (still enjoying the salami and cheese from the Italian market in Philly), Jonny made a delicious dinner of leftover rotisserie chicken and the wonderful vegetables we got from the farmer’market in Burlington.  We decided to watch one of the movies that Andy had lent us.  In the meantime, all that afternoon and during dinner, more and more sailboats arrived to anchor (at least 25 that we could count).  

We were glad we had anchored further away from the madding crowd.  

However, as it started to get darker it seemed as if we were closer to shore than we felt comfortable with.  Jonny kept peering at the very rocky shoreline and checking our anchor line.  The wind was picking up and although we weren’t dragging, we were concerned that if we did drag being so close to shore would give us insufficient time to react and correct the situation.  So we both put on our heavy raincoats and pulled up anchor to move Zendo out of that part of the cove and further away from the shoreline.  We found a safer spot behind two sailboats in 35 feet of water (a lot for us as we usually seek between 8 and 15 feet of water to anchor in).  We felt much more comfortable in this spot.  By this time it was getting late so we skipped the movie and called it a night and slept much better than if we stayed in our first location!

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Burlington, VT

We arrived for our third visit to Burlington after leaving Vergennes at 7 a.m. on the morning of Friday, June 22.  The waters on the lake were absolutely calm and placid so we had a fine cruise.  Lynn miscalculated the distance so we arrived earlier than planned at about 10:30.  That was fine with us because  Burlington is such a cool town and there’s lots to do.  We also have two sets of friends that we were looking forward to seeing.  The first thing we did once we got settled was laundry (which isn’t too exciting).  Unfortunately, Burlington Boathouse, the City Marina where we docked, does not have a laundry so we had to schlepp it half a mile to the laundry.  Jonny got to help with that and, fortunately, we found a great place for lunch (August First) just around the corner to help pass the time.

After that, Jonny took a bike ride on the Burlington bike trail that runs along the lakeside for many miles.  He went to pick up some prescriptions at Walgreen’s.  Along the  path he found a Stonehenge-like earth clock that marks the equinoxes and solstices.  Very cool!

Later in the afternoon, Skip and Jane Brown met us at Zendo.  Skip is the brother of one of Jonny’s old prep school friends, Paul, who has since sadly passed away. Jonny had not seen Skip in almost 20 years.  They treated us to dinner at their neighborhood food truck festival and we brought our goodies to their fabulous penthouse condo overlooking the lake and the Adirondack Mountains in the distance.  It was a wonderful evening learning about each other’s lives, reminiscing about Paul, comparing travel adventures and generally having a grand time. They are intrepid travelers and we enjoyed hearing about their past and upcoming excursions.  

As it started to get dark, we walked back to the boat and saw the most amazing sunset from the dock.  It can aptly be described as a truly psychedelic sunset!

The next day was Saturday and first thing we did was go to the excellent farmer’s market just a short walk from our marina.  There we stocked up on so many fresh vegetables and other items, that we had to be creative to find places to store them.  At one of the stands, we met the pony-tailed Lt. Governor of Vermont, David Zuckerman, who is a local farmer and owns Full Moon Farm.  He was very engaging and, of course, we bought some veggies from him!  

That afternoon, we got to spend with one of Lynn’s oldest friends, Mike Goldfield whom she’s known since junior high.  Michael lives in Vermont and we visited with him on our last trip. This time he spent Saturday taking us on the grand tour of Vermont where he has lived since he got out of college.  We visited Richmond, the lovely town where he raised his boys (and the unique Old Round Church there).  

 Driving up Mount Mansfield, we visited Michael’s son Steven who lives in a wonderfully rustic, remote and homey cabin in the woods.  He has created quite a haven for himself there.  Michael is grooming him and his brother Aaron to take over his construction management company.  We also got to see quite a number of  projects that Goldfield Construction Management built over the years including restaurants, office buildings, homes and even the Jewish Community Center in Stowe. He has truly left his mark in this beautiful part of the world and it looks like his sons will carry on his legacy. What could be better than that?

More noteworthy places he showed us were Stowe Mountain and its expanding environs, Alchemy Brewery where we got to sample the legendary Heady Topper beer and of, course, buy a case.  For those who don’t know, Heady Topper is quite a legend in this part of the world.  It’s a delicious well-crafted IPA that originally could only be purchased at the pub where it was made. Since its popularity has skyrocketed, they have have expanded the size of the brewery and it can only be purchased there.  

We swung by Ben and Jerry’s, which was too crowded for us to stop for the tour (maybe next time), then up to Smuggler’s Notch were we hiked to see the caves that were used to smuggle potash during the War of 1812.  

We also hiked up to to Bingham Falls, a set of dramatic waterfalls on Mount Mansfield where Mike  had spent many days swimming and hiking with his sons when they were boys.  Both sights were just beautiful.  

We were lucky because even though the day was cloudy and became increasingly so in the higher reaches of the mountains, that didn’t stop us from enjoying every minute of our tour.  We were able to fully appreciate the great beauty of this part of New England. 

Unfortunately, Mike’s wife, Melina was unable to join us this time but we look forward to seeing her this winter since they have been coming to Miami Beach a couple of times each season to get a break from the long Vermont winters.  We got back to the boat at about 7 p.m. with a promise to see Michael in the morning for breakfast before heading out to continue our journey.  Burlington is just a great place to visit  - it’s small enough to be very walkable and it’s surrounded by incredibly beautiful country-side. And best of all, we are so fortunate to have such great friends who make it so much more enjoyable!