Day 310: Thursday, July 11, 2013
Port to Port: Fort Edward to Whitehall, NY
Underway: 7:40 am Motor Off: 1:50 pm Miles Traveled: 24/23 Stayed At: Free Dock
First Things First: First time Cindy lassoed a bollard on the first toss.
Mile 37 to Mile 60: After waiting until 8:45 am for a barge to get through Lock 7, we locked through with two other sailboats and a power boat and started a beautiful cruise toward Lake Champlain. The sun stayed hidden behind puffy white clouds keeping it cool, the humidity was down 10 points, a gentle breeze cooled us off, we were going with the current finally (6 mph – woohoo) and the scenery was amazing. One of the boats we locked through with – Wind Spirit 3 – gave us some wonderful advice on getting through the bad current near Montreal. He did it years ago in a 22’ boat with an 8’ hp motor so that helped ease our worries.
We made it to the Whitehall Town Dock faster than expected and we were happy to see our friends Roger and Dorothy on Slow Churn waiting to catch our lines – again. What a fun reunion. We never thought we would get a chance to see them again. They had wanted to stay at Brewerton for a while around 4th of July but couldn’t because the Erie was closed. They have been exploring the Champlain for a while and are now heading south again.
We chatted for a while and caught up on their adventures and took a break to get some boat projects done before dinner. I walked to get gas and we took free showers at the town dock courtesy building. The bathroom facilities are in the running for the cleanest and nicest of the whole trip. The dock even has electric and water available. Whitehall is trying hard to attract visitors any way they can to try to boost their downtown. I bet you didn’t know that Whitehall is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy in 1776. Like many of the small waterfront towns we have visited along this trip, Whitehall is struggling to stay afloat – literally and figuratively. There are more buildings empty or for sale than ones with businesses in them. The architecture is beautiful but that doesn’t pay the rent or taxes. I hope these towns figure out a way to preserve these old buildings and build new economies around them.
After our errands, it was time for dinner on Slow Churn. Dorothy slow cooked a retread or retired or something-like-that chicken they bought from a street vendor to make BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches. It sounded sketchy (just kidding Dorothy) but was tender, tasty and amazing. We ate dinner and shared stories sitting on the fly bridge as a cool breeze kept temperatures perfect and the sun slowly set over the hills. We all decided ice cream sounded good so we took a scenic hike to the Stewart’s store across the channel and sat outside sharing a couple pints. We closed out our wonderful reunion back on the fly bridge until the sun set and a few bugs showed up to break up the party. We are going to miss them. We have learned so much and hope to follow in their adventurous wake someday.
Total Miles: 4,201