Day 312: Saturday, July 13, 2013
Port to Port: Porter Bay to Nichols Pt.
Underway: 6:05 am Motor Off: 5:25 pm Miles Traveled: 41/35 Stayed At: Anchor
First Things First: First time we couldn’t get a slip because a marina was full.
Mile 54 to Mile 19: We started just after sunrise on a beautiful calm morning to make the short 18 mile hop to Burlington, Vermont. We had hoped to stay at the municipal marina but it was booked for tonight. We could have gotten a mooring ball but that would mean putting the dinghy back together (and taking it apart again) and remounting the motor. Too much trouble to do laundry and sight-see but not buy anything. We took advantage of the courtesy dock (one hour free and $5/hour after that) for a couple of hours. We walked to the post office, got gas, used the restroom, stopped at the grocery store, perused the farmers market, bought ice and even did some window shopping. This would have been a fun stop to explore but we will have to come back some day when it is not so busy.
Our four-hour detour was productive but we were actually glad to get back on the water and make some miles while the weather is ideal. There were a lot more boats out (hot, sunny weekend) and the wind had started building up some nice rollers sliding under our stern. It was a challenge to hold a steady course but Aurora and Boris did great. This is a phenomenal sailing lake – good winds, deep water and beautiful scenery – and the lake was littered with white sails. After puttering north at about 5.8 mph, we arrived at our chosen anchorage that we ended up sharing with 75 of our closest friends. Actually, we didn’t see any Looper boats but we did find an amazing spot to anchor along the rocky shore on the outside edge of all the other boats in one foot of water – that’s what the chart said – but it actually was 7 feet which is plenty for us. We have our own quiet private cove. There are advantages to a small boat sometimes.
We were shocked to find out we have cell service here in the middle of nowhere so we were able to make a few phone calls and even connect to the internet to do some research. After tomorrow, our phones will not work in Canada so we will probably buy a cheap flip phone for use in Canada. We’ll see when we get there.
After a quick dip in the lake (Cindy chickened out), we had soft shell tacos for dinner, planned our route for tomorrow and relaxed before crashing after another wonderful day on the Loop.
Most Expensive Ice: Burlington Boathouse – $3.29 for 5 lbs. We paid $2 for 20 lbs in Florida.
Deepest Water: 415 feet on Lake Champlain
