Day 311: Friday, July 12, 2013
Port to Port: Whitehall to Porter Bay
Underway: 6:34 am Motor Off: 5:03 pm Miles Traveled: 54/52 Stayed At: Anchor
First Things First: First cable ferry – they pull themselves across Lake Champlain using a cable laid across the bottom of the bay; first zebra mussels on the wall at Lock 12 in Whitehall; first time in Vermont – ever; completed our first complete river – the Hudson.
Mile 60/109 to Mile 57: We got up early this morning even though we didn’t know for sure if the lock would let us through before 8 am. Online, it is supposed to open at 8 am but Roger talked to the operator and he said he would let boats through earlier than that. I called right away and the lockmaster said he would get it ready for us. So I ran to the gas station to get ice and coffee and Cindy said goodbye to Roger and Dorothy – at 6:00 am. Hopefully we weren’t too noisy. It gets harder and harder saying goodbye to our new friends – our Loop in rapidly getting shorter and we don’t know when we will see each other again. We will, one way or another.
We flew with the current down the channel and right into the lock ready for our journey onto Lake Champlain. We have a good weather window for several days so we want to make some miles and get off the big water ASAP.
We love cruising early in the morning (yes, even Cindy). The winds are usually light, there aren’t any other boats, the temps are comfortable and the morning light is beautiful. Today was perfect. We had a little boost from the current and wound our way through some amazing scenery. Cindy had to drive because I was taking so many pictures. The water on Lake Champlain is almost at flood stage and lots of trees and lowlands are flooded. This just made the scenery more surreal.
The high, tree covered foothills and cliffs surrounding us gradually gave way to rolling hills dotted with barns, silos and a random cow here and there. The narrow waterway opened up and spread out into bigger bays as we steadily moved north. The haze shrouded mountains in the background reflected different shades of green depending on how far away they were. It was impossible to capture on the camera. You’ll have to use your imagination.
What an amazing place to sail. As we entered ever bigger bays, sailboats were tacking back and forth upwind. The bright sails against the dark granite cliffs stood out like neon signs in the bright sun – the conditions were ideal as long as you didn’t want to go north and had your mast up (which we do and don’t, respectively). After a long but inspiring day, we turned into Porter Bay – a nicely protected anchorage – where we anchored the first time and relaxed with a wine spritzer on ice. For the first time in a long time we cooked a normal meal on the boat – Cindy’s favorite spaghetti and salads. We will sleep good tonight.
