We left Kingston early in the morning, having decided to make the run all the way to Waterford without an intermediate stop. We’re both eager to get to some new territory, which is just ahead on the Hudson, so found ourselves pushing on. We like Waterford, and were anxious to see how it looked after all the flooding last summer.
We pulled up to the Welcome Center in Waterford, and docked in front of a 41’ American Tug, Honey Girl. The captain kindly took our lines, which always makes docking easier, and we had a nice chat with him. They’re going through the Erie Canal, since their air draft is too high to make Champlain. Our boat really is the perfect boat in so many respects: water draft, air draft, overall size, literally all the comforts of home…we really love her, and feel great about our choice of her! She sure looked tiny in front of that 41!!
The next day we headed north on the Hudson for the Champlain Canal. It is really beautiful! The weather was gorgeous, and the scenery bucolic. The canal goes through an area that is full of history, and there are many forts and battlefields from the revolutionary war as well as 1812.
Saratoga is just one of the many historic places we encountered.
Here’s some of the incredibly peaceful, beautiful canal we traversed.
Our first stop was at Fort Edward, which the cruising guide made sound very attractive. We found that there was not really much to the town. The best thing they have going for them, aside form the very friendly people, is the lovely park and facilities they’ve got on the canal for the boaters: nice wall to tie to, free power and water, and new restrooms. We did our best to spend some money in the town, going out to both dinner and breakfast.
One of the nice things that came of our stop in Fort Edward was the making of some new friends. We’d been on the dock for a while, and I spotted another boat, Abigail, coming in. As others always do for me, I strolled over to see if I could catch a line for them. After I helped them dock we got to talking, and they offered to let me use their computer to check things on the internet, since we were still without our Verizon-capable computer, and there was no WI-FI at the dock, and the library was closed for the holiday weekend.
John and Sue, on Abigail, ended up inviting us for a beer and internet hookup in the late afternoon, and we happily took them up on it! They are from Burlington, VT, and so are almost home. We had fun visiting with them, and arranged to go to breakfast with them in the morning. Roy and I went on to dinner at a small local place that was offering two for one dinners at the amazing price of $7.95! We couldn’t afford not to go! The food was quite passable, and we were fat and happy at the end of dinner.
The next morning, John showed me the cruising guide that he uses for Lake Champlain, St. Lawrence, and the Champlain Canal, and it is one I’d really like to have for this trip. He and Sue were stopping in Whitehall, where we were also going (we’d decided we’d pretty much exhausted Fort Edward), so said we’d be in touch when we got there. He suggested a place where I might try to find the guide in Whitehall.
It was another lovely day on the canal, and we got to Whitehall in very good time. We tied at the free wall in town, while John and Sue went on to the marina they always use when they’re there. Once again, we had free power and water, although no restroom facilities at this stop.
After we were all settled, I walked past the lock to the end of the canal, where it joins the lake, which is where the marine supply store is. Unfortunately, they were sold out of the guide, and wouldn’t have any more until mid-week. We’d be long gone. Oh well, I had a nice walk, anyway, and saw what there was to see in the town. There’s a bit more to it than our last stop, but I still have the feeling that these canal towns, as with the eastern Erie last year, are pretty depressed. They’re clean but poor, and many storefronts are empty. It makes me feel very sad.
I got back to the boat, and the phone rang. It was John, telling me he’d found the guide at the marina where he’s staying, and would I like him to buy it for me? YES!!! This was great! He offered to walk it over to the boat for me, and I gladly accepted. Not long thereafter, Roy comes back to the boat, carrying the aforementioned guide! He’d met John along the way, and they’d made the swap (money for guide). We’d also received a dinner invitation, which I quickly called and accepted.
Dinner that night was great, at the restaurant that’s part of the marina where John and Sue were staying. The food was really good, and we had a fun time with our new friends. They offered to get together when we’re in Burlington and help us out with their car, etc., so that will be really nice. We parted that night looking forward to meeting again in Burlington.
Roy and I stayed in Whitehall for another day, doing laundry at the town laundromat, and whiling away the rather soggy day. We’d been cautioned about Lake Champlain and heavy winds, so we were checking the weather carefully for the next day, which looked like it was going to be fine.
We left early the next morning, Memorial Day, and decided to go ahead to the marina in Westport instead of anchoring. The southern part of Champlain is really more like a river than a lake, and anchorages aren’t very plentiful. With the winds that were predicted, we felt better getting to a marina than staying in a fair-weather anchorage.
Lake Champlain is absolutely gorgeous!!! It lies between the Adirondacks in New York, and the Green Mountains in Vermont. Every way you look, you have beautiful, breathtaking views, like this one:
It is really stunning country!
We had an easy ride north to Westport, NY. The lake level is high right now, and the marina doesn’t have all their floating docks in place yet as a result. We got one of the last possible spots available! It was windy coming in, but this is a marina that knows its business, and not only did Roy do a great job, but the dockhands were very helpful, and we got tied up with no problems.
The little village of Westport is beautiful. It reminds me, in some ways, of Northeast Harbor, Maine, where I used to spend time in the summer as a kid. There are lots of park areas where you just might want to take a picnic on a nice day, and the whole town is neat and clean and in bloom! Here’s the town library:
Isn’t it beautiful? I spent a considerable amount of time there our second day, working on my journals and leaving Roy in peace on the boat. It worked out really well. They have a room with a long table and very comfortable chairs where I was able to alight and plug in my computer and spend as many hours as I wished. It was a wonderful place to get some work done. And since they also had WIFI, I was able to catch up on all the internet stuff that I needed to do.
After two lovely days in Westport, we took the short ride to Vergennes, VT. This little town is about seven miles up the creek, literally! Because the water is high, we had no trouble with the creek being narrow and shallow, something that the cruising guide had warned about. We took it as slowly as Mer Sea could go, and had a lovely ride. It was more like being in Low Country marshy, swampy land than New England. And very beautiful.
The cruising guide says that Vergennes was the third city to be incorporated in the United States. There’s a falls at the end of the creek, where the American naval fleet for the war of 1812 was built. The falls provided the needed power for the sawmills and forges. The 730 ton brig, Saratoga, was launched only 40 days after the first tree was cut! Amazing! Here’s Mer Sea at the dock with the falls in the background:
We really loved Vergennes! We’d heard that it’s a great little town, and it’s true. It’s not really a summer “resort” community, so there’s a bit more activity this time of year, just normal activity, than Westport. Lots of shops and restaurants, including a bone fide French country bistro! We, of course, had to check that one out, and it was excellent: great food, wine, ambience, and service! Yum! Hail to the Food Slut!
One thing about these towns, and it’s a good thing, is that they’re all uphill from the lake. We’ve gotten considerable exercise, much needed, walking up the hills to explore the towns. Since it had worked so well in Westport, I decided to spend some time in the library in Vergennes to get some work done. Roy then met me for lunch, and I went back to the library afterwards and worked some more, taking a chocolate chip cookie to the librarian who had watched my knapsack while I was gone. I know how to make friends!
I had fun exploring the shops in Vergennes. I actually bought an item of clothing at one of them, something I don’t do very often! There was a great looking wine shop that I didn’t even bother to enter, as we are so limited as to how much alcohol we can take duty-free into Canada, and I didn’t want to tempt and frustrate myself. My favorite shop, however, was called, now get this, Daily Chocolate. No kidding! Now there’s an idea!! Standing on the sidewalk outside you can smell the aroma of chocolate, and when you walk inside, it’s incredible. She makes all her own chocolates, mostly “barks” of every imaginable creation, mostly with dark chocolate, and she has free samples. It’s a wonder I ever left!! But I didn’t get away without buying a small selection of her wares! I’m savoring them – a little every day.
We’re looking forward to checking out some of the anchorages on this great lake after Burlington, and looking forward to seeing John and Sue when we’re in Burlington. Stay tuned!