We Can Smell the Salt Water

Bob's View:

Courses:
Burlington to Chipman Point (at the southern point of the lake while it still looks like a lake not a river)
Chipman Point to Whitehall town dock (the start of the Champlain Canal)
Whitehall to Skylerville
Skylerville to Waterford (and just one more lock to the tidal Hudson River)

Distance run since leaving Burlington on Lake Champlain: 128 in 4 days
Distance run since leaving Maine in June: 1,193
Engine Hours since Maine: 232
Locks negotiated since leaving Waterford in July: 58


Below are some pictures we took on Lake Champlain.  The one with the moon set was taken at night just after sunset, and it  is one of our favorite moments this trip.  What a visual treat this area has been for us.

Since we departed the lake, its been a few days of non-stop travel for us.  We prefer to take a day or two off every 2-3 days but we wanted to get down to Waterford (and the free dock and Hannafords and the wine store) so we just kept moving- 4 days without a break.  That really is too many in a row and too far to go daily to enjoy peacefully, and after the first three days, the time at the helm becomes a bit blurry.  But we are back where we started a month ago at the bifurcation of the Erie and Champlain Canals.  I admit both PM and I leave Lake Champlain with a certain regret and nostalgia.


We will miss the clean clear warm water, the friends we met, the scenic beauty of the lake and especially the openness of this jewel of American inland waters.  I would liken it to the North Channel in western Georgian Bay of Lake Huron and have a sense we will linger here again on our way around the loop next Spring.

The sun is setting on our last night at Burlington as we prepare mentally to go back south and to canal cruising.  The open waters of this lake have been a genuine pleasure to explore.  We find new little spots to consume every day and will sorely miss these waters.  We are constantly surprised there are not more travelers on these waters.  Perhaps it is the economy and the deterrent this has been to boating tourists, especially Canadian boaters.  Only one day did we share locks with other boats.  Given the enormous cost to maintain these canals and locks, I hope the future does not see a further reduction in use or the governments may erode their financial support to the point the locks cease to be serviceable.  After almost 200 years of operation, this would be a real loss for those of us who voyage by water.

I asked one of the lock masters how much traffic he has seen compared to last year and he told us it has been dismal this season.  The Erie Canal was closed for several weeks in June and July so many boaters gave up their cruising plans for the summer, and others have chosen not to launch boats due to costs of fuel and the shortened season following the rains of early summer this year.  I do not know what has been the situation in other parts of the loop, but this year has been a dire economic disappointment to many of the marinas we have visited.  Reading the Great Loop Cruising Association blog ( www.AGLCA.com ), I see there is a general dearth of cruisers this year, many in the great lakes have been weeks without seeing other loopers.  We had expected to travel in tandem at least a portion of this loop, but have yet to do so. Perhaps next year will be better.

Travel on the Champlain Canal after the few glorious weeks we were on the Lake Champlain was much less enjoyable, but also less worrisome regarding the weather and navigation. The canal is extremely well marked and other that a few yahoos who felt going 40 miles an hour and throwing up a big wake was their right, we had few issues until we got to Fort Edward. Someone, probably a politician, decided that as GE has polluted the Champlain Canal with PCBs over many yeas of producing stuff, they should cover the cost of dredging the river bottom muck and laying down a gravel substrate.  Many of the locals we spoke with about the project, now in its 10th year, were perplexed why the dredging was needed as it merely stirred up these poisons and nature was breaking them down naturally.  Oh well, it keeps cash flowing to the economy, and gives government another stick to swing at big business.The locks around Fort Edward kept us waiting for several hours while commercial barges and tugs were raised or lowered. This was just what we had encountered on the way north so we planned for the time delay and arrived in Skyler Yacht Basin long after 5 and after almost 8 hours to transit less than 35 miles, a trip that would normally have taken 5 hours plus an hour for the locks. We were able to safely negotiate the commercial operations unlike some we have met who described travel through this dredging area as a "free for all".


The Champlain Canal became the Hudson River on the chart as we moved south.  The river is narrow and is really indistinguishable from the canal above Waterford.  One final Lock at Lock 2 and we arrived at our former berth by 2, an easy and comfortable day on the water.  We plan on a two day stay here (the dock is free and the only charge is for power, $10 for as long as one uses it, and the bathroom key, another $10 but you only get $5 back on leaving; gee-sh, it becomes irksome to get charged for every little thing.  The volunteers at the "Welcome Center" often are different day to day so if we stayed a week, I do not think any one would realize it, even though there is a 48 hour limit.

I did enjoy our time on the canal in some ways: lots of wildlife, easy navigation, calm water, and PM saw a blue heron and snowy egret daily.  We also saw several bald eagles (and what a treat it was to watch these magnificent birds soar on the up drafts created by the warm water of the canal), turtles (including a snapping turtle that PM spotted with a shell over a foot across), and I think I saw a beaver in the water at one point, lots of jumping fish, and myriad wetlands as we slowly made our way south.

So now canal life is behind us, well almost, another few miles until we transit the Federal Lock at Troy, and we are taking a day to re-rig VELOMER for the Hudson River and Atlantic waters of Long Island Sound and the New England coast north of Cape Cod. The radar mast will be erected, allowing our flags to fly again,  and I will be able to reattach the overboard discharge line.  While the information in Skipper Bob is very specific about the need to disable this system while cruising on Lake Champlain, we were not inspected anywhere and I never heard that anyone has been in the past several years.  Perhaps this is old information, but it was an easy job to remove a section of the hose that ran from the macerator pump to the thru hull fitting.   I did discover the ends of one of the hoses is split so its off to the hardware store to replace about 6 inches of hose.  Of the many hoses, fittings, connections, and snaps on VELOMER, this is one I do not want to leak.  I have discovered that a boat is constantly in need of tightening fittings, wires, inspecting hoses, securing wire runs, cleaning surfaces and generally looking at everything as frequently as time allows.  Some things need a schedule of maintenance, like oil and filter changes, but others, like alternator belts, throttle cables, rigging, lines, fenders and fluid levels are managed as need arises.  I have learned to watch for everything and anything as I move about on VELOMER and often find my time before a departure in the morning consumed by one "fix it" project after another.  An old sage once told a newbie "Son, ev'r thang on a boat is broke, you just don' know it yet". How true!

We get back to New York in a few more days and the prospect of seeing Phil and Bettina is a very bright light for us.  We have at times sorely missed family and old friends on this trip.  Next year, we are secretly planning on kidnapping a few so we can share this adventure with those we love.  There is a remote possibility that Phoebe, Erik, Annika and Trigvy can join us for a two day run north from Boston to Maine, but that is unlikely, although a sweet prospect for us.  There are times when we feel a large emptiness in our hearts for the missing smiles and giggles emanating from Anni and Trig, and the warm presence of Erik, Phoebe, Phil and Bettina.  We are feeling the end of this adventure in a few weeks is fast approaching for this season and it is sweet and sad.  Life is so fickle, just when you figure it out, it changes.  The skills we have learned every day on this trip will fade somewhat over the winter, but we hope we will reacquire them quickly once we begin our 2014 cruise.  Besides, we still need to meet Champ.



PM's Perspective:

She is burnt out again on reviewing appraisals, perhaps later.