August 5-27
Since leaving Jersey City in May, we had not seen any faces
from home. That changed when our dear
friends Joe and Terry drove up from Pennsylvania to join us for three days in
Essex on the New York side of the Lake.
We enjoyed dining out on the water while a full moon rose over Vermont;
we walked the historic town -- all of the Village of Essex is on the National
Historic Register -- enjoyed buying goodies at the Farmer’s Market and caught up
on each other’s news. We loved
reminiscing with Joe over early morning coffee ... there is always a lot of
laughter when we are together.
In beautiful Mallett’s Bay, we stayed at Champlain Marina and promptly made a new friend. Cindy noticed the hailing port on our transom and came to greet us. She and her husband, Guy, have a house in Cambridge MD and we will be getting together again once we are all back on the Chesapeake in October.
As we hop scotched around the Lake, we had a few near misses
with Rich and Susan, a couple we met back on the Erie Canalway and who live in Southern
Vermont. Lake Champlain is their home
cruising territory. We also kept missing
Elizabeth and Jim. They are from Gibson
Island MD across the Bay from us and we first met them at Hyde Park. In Rouse’s Point, we were docked next to their
boat Heron but they were at their cottage in Maine. Then we missed them again when they left
Basin Harbor a day before our arrival.
When we checked in at the marina, there was a note and a jar of
Elizabeth’s yummy homemade Maine wild blueberry and cranberry jam. We
also had a near miss with Susan and Rich at Basin Harbor as we were motoring to
the Resort and they had just left after pulling in to see if we were there.
We were on our own for three days in Burlington VT to resupply and enjoy this waterfront college town. The laid back charming town, with a pedestrian mall down the center of College Avenue, is home to Ben & Jerry and Bernie Sanders. If any of our readers “feel the Bern” we noticed T-shirts and mugs sporting “Bernie 2020” sentiments. Here are a couple views of Burlington Harbor; also, Kapt Karl was very taken with a nearby workboat, MISS PIGGY.
We
left Burlington to join Karl’s brother and his family at The Basin Harbor Club
in Vergennes VT. Many families have been
coming here annually for over forty years reserving the same cottage for the
same week each summer. The boys had a
ball and have already requested their parents plan a repeat visit next
summer. The twins are seven while their older brother is two months shy of becoming a teenager. Each of them stayed a night aboard on
SANTORINI mostly, we believe, to spend some quality time with Clio. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at anchor in a
beautiful cove while the boys fished and to their delight, caught a couple of
sizeable bass. At the resort, they
enjoyed more fishing from the dock, bicycling, swimming, and paddle boating,
meeting and playing with other kids.
Many thanks go to Elizabeth for suggesting this location as a family
rendezvous, it was a big hit for the kids and the adults!
Sadly, on August 27, it was time for us to head out of the Lake
and towards the Champlain Canal. As we were
cruising slowly around a bend toward Champlain Bridge, we were suddenly hailed on our radio. It was our friend Sue! She and Rich were anchored on
their Ranger Tug, HILLANDRA, just before the bridge and just happened to see us. We turned around and anchored near them and
enjoyed a beautiful afternoon aboard their tug, including a barbeque dinner. It was great to catch up on the details of
each trip since we parted company on the Erie.
After leaving Rich and Susan, we spent a quiet night at
anchor across from the Fort at Crown Point. The next leg of the journey will take us down the Champlain
Canal and back to the Hudson River at Waterford, NY.
