Wrapping It Up For This Year 9-28-09

Literally and figuratively, that is. We are now hauled-out at the Plattsburgh Boat Basin in northern Lake Champlain after 13 months of living aboard. It has been quite a journey but Mother Nature told us to end now by throwing us 30 knot winds, 3-5 foot seas, rain, fog but not s—w yet, but any Great Lakes boater knows that is not far behind. We will spend the rest of the week winterizing as well as the spring boating rituals of cleaning and polishing before Baby Grand is placed in a shrinkwrap cocoon until we return here next May. Sleep well, dear friend. New boating friends, Larry and Monica on Margo, are parked right next to us and will check on her over the winter. Thanks so much--it will be hard to be so far away.

I was not prepared for the emotion that I felt when I saw her being hauled. Maybe we should just put her back in the water and just head south but I had already given Captain Bob his lay-off notice. We’ve only been off the boat for 7 nights during the whole year and I am not sure I can sleep without the room moving. We have developed such a great rhythm of life onboard together and I don’t want to lose that. We’ve had such fun, adventure and self-discovery these past months, as well as the accompanying anxiety, conflict and drama that have made us each stronger. Baby Grand has been our flawless magic carpet on the ride of a lifetime and we will miss her sorely this winter. We celebrated this chapter of our story ending with a great dinner at Irises.

We will be heading west to Denver soon where another adventure awaits. We sent boxes and furniture there 18 months ago and I have absolutely no idea what I packed to make a new home. Our daughter Kate is there and our son Brian is in Utah so being geographically closer to them is the home I look forward to.

To our RV, boating and Looper friends heading south, we wish you bon voyage and we look forward to reading about your adventures on your blogs. For the rest of us who will have to huddle by the fire to stay warm, let’s hope this winter is mild and gentle, and spring is early and warm.

Let’s stay in touch (peggy8301@hotmail.com) and see you back here next May when we travel the Rideau, Richelieu and Trent-Severn Canals back to the Great Lakes. Or, we will we go to……stay tuned.

Beautiful Burlington VT. 9-25-09

We have been to Burlington plenty of times by land as our son went to UVM and we always wanted to come here by water. This is our 3rd time back here this month and we’re lovin’ it. Burlington is perfectly situated right on the lake with the backdrop of the Green Mountains and a vista of the Adirondacks across the lake which is spectacular for sunset. Make sure to ask for slip #16 for the best view. Here is a view on Friday night, but during the week, we had most of the dock to ourselves, and at a rate of only $25 per night after 9/15, it is a real deal.

There is so much to do here. Take the free shuttle bus around town if you don’t want to walk up the very steep hills. The pedestrian mall is well-planned with artisan stores and apparently was designed by the same architects that did Boulder CO. Everybody here seems to drive a Prius or Subaru with a rack for a bike/kayak, eats organic (reprovision at City Market or Fresh Market) and thinks green. The food is not only healthy but terrific—here’s Bob lining up for the early bird special at Leunig’s French Bistro and we would also recommend Tiny Thai, Skinny Pancake, Single Pebble and Bueno Y Sano.

I rode the itty-bitty bike 20 miles roundtrip on the Burlington Bikeway to the Champlain Causeway where they have a bike ferry during the summer to bring you to South Hero Island. My tush is pretty sore but I loved the trip along the lake but forgot my camera so no pictures to prove that I did it. The bike was a little worn out too and we got it reconditioned at North Shore Sports.

We went to the ECHO Museum right in the harbor and were going to catch the bus down to the Shelburne Museum when Karen and Chris on Karen Marie told us about the free tour of the Lake Champlain Chocolate factory. Museum or chocolate factory—what would Peggy chose? No contest.

Bob’s cousin Maura lives here and it was so great to see her—thanks, Maura.

We ended our time here with a Bahamian sunset salute with a conch shell serenade by Bob.

Great Scenery in Lake Champlain 9-21-09

We have enjoyed great anchorages and moorings the past month in Deep Bay, Burton Island, Shelburne Bay, Mallett’s Bay, Point Bay, Mile Point Bay and we have not exhausted all the great places to stay yet. We even had front row seats for the World Lightning Sailboat Championships. We have gone into Champlain Marina and North Hero Marina when we ran out of water/ had a full holding tank (wish the reverse were true) or ran out of skivvies and had to do laundry. We are beginning to wind down to our haul-out on 9/28 and savoring enough memories to get us through the winter.

Family Time in Westport (Lake Champlain) 9-21-09

We have been trying to plan a weekend with my sister, Maureen, and her husband, Kevin, but wind and weather did not cooperate on the Vermont side of the lake so we cruised south again to Westport on the New York side to meet them. We enjoyed our first stop there and I know it is a favorite of gold Loopers, Jim and Barb on Golden Lily.

We were rewarded with a beautiful early autumn weekend of calm boating, spectacular scenery, great company and lots of food. Kevin even had the “Colossal Breakfast plate” at Me and My Girls Café, gave it a good try but no clean plate club here. We had tickets for the local Depot Theatre production of Almost, Maine and spent the night laughing and identifying with this relationship comedy.

The leaves are starting to change and the fall produce is lining up at Everybody’s Market. Maureen and Kevin are avid golfers, spend most weekends on the course, but really got into boating and relaxing at anchor. By the end of the weekend, Kevin looked like a pro and was helping other boaters with dock lines.

The Westport area attracts lots of birds and hundreds of Canadian geese are staging there for their flight south. This time last year we were joining them—maybe you are this year. Bon voyage.

Question #3: What Do You Do for Food? 9-19-09

This takes a bit of planning due to the constraints of our small fridge and freezer but we have lots of room for dry goods. I have about 50 recipes from Cooking Light and I wish that I could say that I’ve used all of them like the blogger/chef Julie in the movie, Julie and Julia. I stock up with these recipes in mind and it makes life simpler.

Our 6,000 mile trip has placed us within the vicinity of grocery stores most weeks. The problem is how to get to the store without a car. We walk, bike, have a push cart and about every 6 weeks, rent an Enterprise car to really load up. I should have taken a picture of this as we come back with a mountain of food that has to find a home somewhere aboard little Baby Grand. We discard all cardboard to decrease the bulk and this also cuts down on the chance that we will be taking bugs on board. Our cabinets and bins are organized for paper products, cans, soda, snacks etc., but if you looked inside, it might not look too organized. I keep a list of products we’ve used just like at home so the grocery list is already done. Bread is probably the hardest thing to keep fresh so we use Joseph’s Pitas which have a longer shelf life and are only 60 calories each.

We eat out about 1X per week which is a budgetary decision. Eating out costs as much or more than docking in a marina for a night so we try not to do both. We make it a social occasion with other boaters. The boating community is big on pot-lucks and I have standard recipes (broccoli salad, party bean dip, pasta salad) for these. I will not win the gourmet award with these but I have to accept the limits of my supplies.

We have another week before we haul-out, the food supplies are dwindling and it is time for creativity to use as much in the fridge and cabinets as possible. Here I am making a Boboli Hawaiian pizza with leftover sauce, canned pineapple and ham. Pretty good. We’ll donate all our unopened non-perishable goods to a food shelf.

We have lived well the past year and sharing the evening meal together has been a highlight. There is nothing like the backdrop of a beautiful waterway and good company to end the day.

Question #2: How Do You Live in Such a Small Space? 9-18-09

Most of the time, quite well, thank you. You’ve seen a lot of pictures of the outside of our boat but I don’t think I’ve shown you the inside. Even though we measure out at less than 200 sq. feet of inside space, it is a well-designed, multi-purpose space ,decked out in rich teak wood and totally surrounded by large windows which makes it light and airy. It’s redone in new upholstery/foam and the blue/beige color scheme is nautical and pleasing to us.

Picture #1 shows our main salon or our “great room.” It has his/her matching settees, a drop-leaf table used for dining, desk, or workbench (Bob, make sure to put down the quilted cover). Everything is built-in so every square inch is used. There is storage underneath every space which allows us to stock-up on provisions for at least 3 weeks.

Picture #2 shows our downstairs steering and navigation station. When we dock or anchor for the night, the nav station becomes our TV/reading lamp area. We have Direct TV, XM radio, Wi-Fi or Air Card so are pretty well-connected when we can get a signal.

Picture #3 shows our galley or kitchen. It has a 3 burner propane stove and oven, microwave, multi-use counter space, and a 18”X19”X29” fridge which included a 12”X12”X7” freezer section. How can you live with only that amount of refrigeration? It takes planning-- we can go 3 weeks if I pack the freezer with individual serving sections of meat and plan out our menus a bit. I know a lot of Loopers have standard size fridges plus extra freezers but these take a lot of power to maintain. The one thing we’re really missing is ice cubes and we have been known to walk the docks at Happy Hour, saying, “Please, sir, can I have some cubes.”

Picture #4 is our sleeping area or V-berth as it is literally shaped like the letter V. There is storage below our bed and the closet area is to the left. You cannot be into multiple outfits and coordinating accessories and live on this boat. I am more of an REI uniform gal so the closet space works quite well for me. I like the minimalist approach to clothes but this would not be for everyone. Our bathroom or head is to the left and is quite small but it has a sink, vanity, toilet, and small shower. We tend to use marina bathrooms when we’re in port and it has been quite adequate but definitely not sumptuous.

Picture #5 shows our backporch or aft deck. It offers an additional 8 ft.X10ft space for relaxing and entertaining and there is storage below the entire area.

Picture #6 shows our upper station or flybridge with our bimini down so you can see it better. We have a lot of storage up there (bikes, grill, etc.) and it is a great place to take in the view.

Do I wish we had more space sometimes? Sure. Bob would love a LazyBoy. We’ve done quite well and have shared space pretty well. A small space has to be picked-up and luckily we are both on the neat side.

On land, we have “downsized” to a 1400 sq foot condo in Denver but all we really need is the 10ftX20ft 3 season porch to feel like home.

Frequent Questions about Living for a Year on a Small Boat 9-17-09

I got my hair cut yesterday and the stylist asked me the 3 questions that we’re usually asked. I don’t know if I’ve addressed these in this blog and hopefully we have some answers.

# 1 Question: How do you stand your partner for 24/7?

Bob and I have both been asked this so it’s not a male or female thing. I must admit that I kind of worried about this too. We’ve been married 40 years, get along reasonably well, but for most of those years, large segments of every day were spent working, with friends, parenting and pursuing independent activities. Now for our year on the Loop, we’re going to be shackled together 24/7 on a small boat with no escape---yikes.

We’ve been boaters on 26-30’ sailboats for 30 + years so knew that the small boat part would be less of a problem for us than other Loopers. We did a practice run with the relationship part by taking 2 three week cruises aboard Baby Grand: the first, a 1500 mile boat delivery, 12 hours per day trip from the Chesapeake to Lake Superior; the second, a leisurely 3 week cruise to Isle Royale and the Canadian north shore of Lake Superior. We noticed a pattern—we do really well with the difficult stuff, work great as a team when the engine is misfiring after picking up a bad load of diesel, we’ve lost steering from the upper helm coming into a narrow harbor, or our anchor has dragged near rocks, but somehow get irritated with each other with the small stuff.

Since most of life is the small stuff, we needed a solution. I am a former psychotherapist so, of course, thought of going to a couples group to work on our Venus-Mars communication issues. Bob would rather have a root canal than go to a therapy group and offered a very creative alternative—if one of us experiences the other as not listening to a concern that is then getting bigger, either will say the code word, “reset” to alert the other to “stop (this is important), look (at each other) and (really) listen.” I loved that this was Bob’s idea and it really distilled a lot of very effective psychological tools into a very doable plan. Try it-it really works. This is not to say that we did not each harbor fantasies of having the other walk the plank or cast them off in the dinghy and going on solo. We had to work it out as literally to leave the dock, we have to work as a team.

Let’s talk about the 24/7. The 7 is a given but is it really 24? Bob and I did our daily numbers: subtract 8-9 hours for sleeping/napping; subtract another 4 as I get up early and Bob stays up late; subtract at least 4-6 hours for reading, trip planning, TV, blogging, other independent activities, and miscellaneous and you are down to 5-8 hours--doesn't that sound easier. It helps that we’re both pretty independent, low-maintenance types ,share all of the boat duties and both really wanted to do this trip.

I think that a lot of Loopers spend more time figuring out the "perfect boat" and less time figuring out how to live together. Size really does not matter as much in this. We’ve learned to live LARGE in a very small boat, support each other more, not sweat the small stuff as much and laugh at our mistakes. I hope that we can take what we’ve learned with us.

Love Note to Bayfield, our homeport 9-14-09

Hi everybody! Hope you are doing well and that you will have a warm September to continue cruising. Apple Festival is just around the corner and I can smell the apple pie from the Candy Shop.

It’s been a year since we left beautiful Bayfield to do the Great Circle Loop. We have done about 5,900 miles so far and are now anchored in Lake Champlain which is like a hybrid of a very small Lake Superior and a Colorado alpine lake but I don’t ever have thoughts like “Kitchi-gummi doesn’t give up her dead”—that was last September in Whitefish Bay with 6-8 foot seas, the most stressful crossing of our whole entire trip. If you can boat on Lake Superior, you can do anything.

This Peg will not be back in Lake Superior for quite awhile but we are sending you a new Peg, Loopers Peg Miller and her husband, Dave. You will probably notice their 44’ Tollycraft, Sea Ya, docked in the marina. We have told them how beautiful Bayfield is, how great the boating is in the Apostle Islands and how welcoming all of you are. Stop by and introduce yourselves and ask Dave to tell you about his special Navy escort out of a high security area. Anyone can make a little wrong turn.

Bayfield, the Apostle Islands and the BYC have been the benchmarks for us to measure other ports and we can report to you that you have rarely been surpassed. Even the Abacos in the Bahamas seemed to us like a turquoise blue Apostle Islands minus the bears but way more tiki bars.

It was fun to see Jill and Wayne, Frank, Phyllis and Gretchen as well as Vonnie and Erling in FL and to email with many of you along the way. I probably should have posted our website, and here it is http://www.babygrandadventure.blogspot.com/

We will be doing the Canadian canals next year and coming back into the Great Lakes and taking a few years to explore the Georgian Bay/North Channel area. We’ll keep the website going so join us on our adventure.

Wishing you fair skies and calm seas (We’re powerboaters now)

Peggy and Bob

Labor Day Week 9-09-09

We are moored in Deep Bay in Lake Champlain with 3 sided protection. We are enjoying blue sky days with temps in the 70’s in the northland which is just perfect. The light is getting more golden and there are a few hints of fall with slight color change.

We are not all work and no play as Point au Roche State Park with hiking trials is just a dinghy ride away. There are miles of trails to hike and when we get hot, " just jump in the lake".

Great Labor Day Weekend 9-6-09

We left Burton Island on Friday, 9/4 so we could meet up with Bob’s brother John and his wife, Mary on Saturday at Treadwell Bay Marina. They have a cabin in the Adirondacks and this was a convenient meeting place.

I awoke on Saturday to the smell of strong coffee, cigarettes and the sound of French. I truly did not know where I was and wondered if I had lost a year as we plan to travel to Montreal and Quebec next year. I learned later that Treadwell Bay is 60 miles from Montreal and that the marina is occupied by 90% French Canadians. I love the lilt of the French language but why is it that I only remember Spanish words when I try to speak French. I think that I have some work to do this winter.

Treadwell Bay Marina is an interesting place which makes you work hard to get to the pool and the good restaurant. Notice the steps to the left side of the picture—41 total and we did them numerous times with groceries and 4 loads of laundry with dock carts. I asked a Montreal boater how he copes with this and he noted, “You get used to it and can drink more wine and eat more food and still stay in shape.” Hardy people.

We had a great time visiting with John and Mary on our boat. We tooled around Treadwell Bay made easy with a crystal clear blue sky day, 70 degrees and moderate winds. John even wore boat shoes and looked more nautical than Bob.

Bob and I love this lake and had seriously thought of retiring here. In 2003, we looked at a dilapidated property in which we saw great potential but our offer was refused. We cruised up Alburg Peninsula on Sunday to see what happened to it. Somebody bought it and transformed it into the Vermont “camp” we would have created.

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying an anchorage in LaMotte Passage. Hope you are having a great weekend also.

A Year Ago Today…. 9-4-09

Hard to believe that Bob and I started our Great Loop trip a year ago today. Big events always have a time distortion—seems like yesterday/it was another lifetime ago. After a whirlwind few months of selling the house in St. Paul, finding a condo in Denver that will be our home, and retiring on 9/2/08, we started our trip of a lifetime on Friday, 9/5/08 in Lake Superior.
Here I am this morning watching our gold Looper burgee and sunrise over the Green Mountains in Vermont on Lake Champlain. It’s been an incredible year.

I asked Captain Bob to crunch some numbers to give you a rough outline of what we’ve done. My blog has been woefully inadequate in this department so here it is:

Total statute miles in 1 year: 5883
Gallons of diesel fuel used: 1462 for an average of 4.02 miles per gallon
Engine Hours: 795
Boat Travel Days: 131, avg of 45 miles, 6 hours per day
Nights in a Marina: 323
Locks: 37
Boat Parts Replaced: engine room blower, boat water pump, macerator,
impeller, inverter panel.

Some of these numbers surprise me as I thought that we travelled more days and anchored out more. We started to do our Favorites list (best beach-Clearwater; best place on the Loop-Bahamas; best anchorage-Statue of Liberty……) but then we would remember other great places and start again. It was a great way to revisit our trip and play “remember when….”

We have learned so much this year about ourselves, each other, what’s important and what’s not. We have learned to live LARGE in a very small boat. We remember the anticipation and anxiety before making a hard crossing but also the sense of accomplishment when we did it. It has made us stronger. We have appreciated the community of boaters that we’ve met along the way and shared so much with.

There is one more category. Regrets: none.

Burton Island 9-1-09

I’ve never been here before but it is so familiar. Substitute granite for sandstone and I am right back again in the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. We have the place practically to ourselves until the working masses arrive on Thursday for Labor Day weekend.

I finally kept my word and jumped into the clear cool waters. I never felt that way in FL or the Bahamas—something about thinking too much about fish that could kill me.

We are enjoying our time here reading, relaxing, hiking, biking, kayaking and having campfires as well as getting a few boat projects done. Life is good.

Tourist Time Between the Drops 8-30-09

It’s almost like Mother Nature knows that kids have to go back to school so she throws in some cool weather and rain to end summer abruptly. Locals here don’t even feel that they’ve had a summer with all the rain and they want a do-over. We have stowed our portable air conditioner, but where did I put the quilt?

Vermonters love their Green Mountain coffee, dogs and bikes. We did have one glorious fall-like afternoon of bike riding along the Lake Champlain Bikeway trail which is relatively flat. If I were to do some serious biking here, this decaf gal would have to get all caffeined-up and rent dogs to mush my way up the BIG mountains on my itty-bitty bike.

Rather than slog through the rain on the boat, we rented an Enterprise car for $30 per day to tour Fort Ticonderoga and the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. So much of our early history as a country happened here and I finally understand some of it.

The 13 British colonies were surrounded on all sides by French territory and these two superpowers had a go at it in the mislabeled war, the French Indian War. If Britain lost that one, we would all be speaking French right now. Both countries had huge war deficits so England raised taxes on the colonies and the rest is history.

These mountains and waters are alive with the daring Revolutionary War exploits of Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold before he became a traitor. How could you fight a war when only 1/3 of the population was solidly with you; 1/3, were neutral and would not really help; and the other 1/3, conspired against you? It’s amazing that this country got born at all.

We were going to tour another museum but then the sun came out, we were passing the Shelburne Vineyard and their wine tasting sign beckoned us. The wine is very young and they have relied on some very hardy vines from Minnesota vineyards. I don’t think France or California have anything to worry about but it was a lovely afternoon here.

We loaded up the car with groceries and fall boat provisions. It’s time to change/drain all the fluids to winterize the boat and I have boat waxing and varnishing to do. I have so much sanding to do that I will probably erase my fingerprints.

Gold Loopers Bill on Transition and Mike from Golden stopped by to say "Hi" and reminisce about looper time.

Revisiting the Fork in the Road of Life 8-27-09

Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you had made the other choice? I do. Maybe it’s because I have had too many rainy days lately to think about stuff. Most likely it is due to the fact that we are back in the Lake George/Lake Champlain area where Bob and I spent our early years recreating as a couple.

We travelled here as twentysomethings with our trailerable sailboat to island hop and enjoy the cool clear healing waters. It’s almost like we’re passing our young selves along the way and nodding “hi” as having a liveaboard boat was our dream even back then.

So why did we up and leave and move to Minnesota in 1976 if we were so happy? I think we are hard-wired for adventure and have a bad/good case of wanderlust. Is it because 3 or our 4 parents are immigrants and set up a pattern to move—they did so because they had to; we do it because we can.

We have had a wonderful 30+ years in Minnesota and then we up and leave for Colorado. Again our lives have been wonderful there filled with great friends and a great life, but it’s like a 30 year time bomb is counting down and we have to move on. Doing the Loop is a great segue into that and I must admit I love being in new places and trying on new experiences.

As I sit by Lake Champlain tonight watching the beautiful sunset, I realize that if I had stayed in the New York/Vermont area, I would probably be right here on these very shores enjoying this very same sunset. Life’s funny that way.

The Narrows of Lake Champlain 8-24-09

We left Westport Sunday (8/23) to explore the western palisade section with steep granite cliffs and secluded tree-lined anchorages but the north wind and storms kicked up and we had to cancel our plans and head across the lake for the protection of Point Bay and picked up a mooring ball.

Here is our rainbow appearing through a light rain and sun as we swung on the mooring and are surrounded by sailboats with their gently-clanging halyards and rain falling softly on our bimini. It is a great time to read until the light fades or get lost in your thoughts with the help of the hypnotic power of the rain. If I become one with the rain, will it stop?

The sun peeked out and the seas calmed down on Monday so we decided to travel 7 miles up Otter Creek to Vergennes. For our boating friends, I will note that flat calm is helpful to navigate the entrance which has some shallow shoals to the south so you don’t want to make a mistake. The creek is about 50 yards wide, has depths of 14-20 feet in the middle except for an 8 foot section by Dead Creek, and has ½ knot current. Deadheads are marked creatively with milk jugs. It is home to osprey and water fowl and is dotted occasionally with small houses and private docks.

When we rounded the last turn, we not only found the sun at the end of our rainbow, but also a spectacular waterfall display. Vergennes welcomes boaters with a free dock with electric and water and has a number of restaurants, small grocery, shops, liquor store, pharmacy and summer playhouse. Its City Hall is located in the Old Opera House which still functions as a theatre in the upstairs area. With a town green and Farmers Market, it is a delightful New England place to visit.

Bob and I have had a running discussion about how to pronounce “Vergennes.” I took a little French years ago so I did an Inspector Clouseau pronunciation; Bob thought that the “g” should be pronounced with a “j” sound. I was passing the library so ducked in to consult the reference librarians about this burning question. I explained the above and the 3 female librarians noted that “Vergennes” is pronounced with a “j” sound but I should not tell my husband “as you know how men get when they get one thing right.” I am letting you in on this little secret but don’t tell Bob.

We spent a wonderful evening with boaters from Chipman Point and got lots of helpful information about the lake. Nightcap for the evening was the falls being lit with rainbow colors. In the still of the night, the cascading falls roared like the ocean and lulled us to sleep.

Lower Lake Champlain 8-22-09

I went for a walk early on Thursday (8/20) and saw a small runabout in the canal. I assumed it was waiting to lock through at 7 am, but found out later that vandals had cut its dock lines and it had drifted perilously close to the dam adjacent to the lock. This type of thing happens so rarely but can be so dangerous.

We locked through #12 and entered the lower end of Lake Champlain, but with its narrow width and army green water, it did not look much different yet from the Champlain Canal. As we rounded its twists and turns, it reminded me of an amusement park kiddy boat ride---wheee.

Then the Green Mountain of Vermont on the east side and the Adirondacks on the New York west side came into view and we knew we were entering another world. Lake Champlain is 120 miles long and 10 miles at its widest and missed designation as the 6th Great Lake but it is next in line. It has 70 islands (ok-that includes some rock outcroppings), secluded anchorages, wildlife preserves and parks and clear, deep water when you journey further north. It seemed to us like a hybrid of a small Lake Superior and a large Colorado alpine lake.

You are going to have to take my word on that for now as we again have less than optimum photo conditions with fog, haze, humidity and/or rain. Didn’t we just have a month just like this in the Chesapeake? Locals assure us that when Hurricane Bill passes and the stalled wet fronts can roll through that the sunshine will return.

Here’s whose sharing the lake with us today. The Peckinpaugh is a 259’ historic canal barge making its way south to celebrate Samuel de Champlain’s European discovery of this lake in 1609. It’s not getting as much press as Henry Hudson’s voyage but some local college kids were intrigued and are doing Lake Champlain on a homemade raft.

We had hoped to anchor by Fort Ticonderoga but those darn t-storms were threatening. Look close in the picture and you might see also that Colonial soldiers were setting the cannon to fire and we were right in their crosshairs so definitely time to move on. The book 1776 comes alive in this area when you realize the amazing feat of young Nathaniel Greene and the ragtag Continental Army who moved the cannons from this fort overland to Boston in the dead of winter to turn the tide of the war. We’ll be coming back here by car to visit this fort as well as Fort St. Frederic and Fort Crown Point. It’s amazing how many battles took place here on these quiet shores.

We pulled into Westport Marina on the NY side on late Friday morning (8/21) and were greeted by the Carroll family. This is one of the best run and friendliest marinas on the Loop with the entire family (Mom, Dad, grandparents, kids of all ages and extended family) making sure you have a good experience in the marina, gift store, and restaurant, and if you need engine work, Larry is your guy. The town of Westport is also worth a visit and has 2 vintage small grocery markets that reminded us those in the Bahamas where you can find a little bit of everything. The town reminded us a bit of Bayfield, our home port in Lake Superior, with its hilly streets, one of a kind shops and a great bakery café, Me and My Girls.

Time to get some work done also between rain showers so we put up the mast, cleaned the fenders and started some wax projects. Poor Bob had to redo our whole computer which crashed for unknown reasons and our Verizon Air Card and Wi-Fi were not working either. We’re back online so the fix worked.