Headed Home

Troy, NY

The view from Rondout Yacht Basin

I had the pool all to myself!!

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Holly says:

On Tuesday we left Schuylerville and went to Troy, where we stayed for one night. On Wednesday we left Troy and travelled to Rondout Yacht Basin in Kingston, NY. If you didn't hear, on Thursday a 34-foot boat caught fire at Troy after fueling up and was destroyed. They must have fueled up at the dock where we stayed, because I think it's the only dock in Troy. Luckily, the occupants (who had packed for a month-long trip) were saved.

This is our fourth night at Rondout. I spent two glorious days at the pool, paddling up and down to beat the heat. John, never one to lounge, found chores to do instead after taking a dip. :-(

We had lunch at the Kingston waterfront and dinner last night in Port Ewen, NY. Tomorrow, we will travel home down the Hudson River. Thanks everyone for following us on this trip; we enjoyed your comments. It was a great adventure. Next year--the Bering Sea!!!

Signing off...

John says:

Signing off? I don't think so! Trips to come; most definitely. In this boat? We'll sea ....

Whitehall, NY and Schuylerville, NY

The scenic ride from Chipman Point to Whitehall

Whitehall, NY

Entrance to the bathrooms at Lock 12 Marina, Whitehall, NY

More Lake Champlain

Holly at the ready to enter the lock

"The Narrows" on the Hudson River

Fireworks at Schuylerville

Somehow, we seem to be followed by livestock...

Nice blue horse on Main St. in Schuylerville

Holly says:

Here we are at Schuylerville, NY. We arrived last night from Whitehall and the Lock 12 marina. Whitehall is a small town suffering from the economic troubles we've seen in most of the upstate NY towns on this trip. Not many stores are open. We did find a little neighborhood "cafe" for lunch, and the marina has a "fine dining" restaurant. They also have a thriving summer theater. I went into a small shop that had jewelry and all sorts of other items, and the owner was very friendly, taking me on a tour of the building and the restaurant that serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday in her building (she rents the space out). She also knew the couple that owns the marina where we're staying now, so that was a nice connection to make.

Yesterday we traversed Locks 12 - 5 (that's 7 locks; there is no lock 10) without incident and arrived in Schuylerville mid-afternoon. There was a festival going on at the park across the street, which we popped in on, and later fireworks. Again, this is a town with many storefronts closed. They have a couple of restaurants, laundromat, and a pretty good market.

Tomorrow we head for the last locks on the Champlain Canal and will stay at Troy overnight.

Willsboro Bay, NY; Westport, NY and Orwell, Vt.

The view from Rachael at Chipmans Point Marina, Orwell, Vt. (looking at NY)

Along the roadside as we drove to Orwell Village

Wide open spaces in Orwell, Vt.

Another sight from the road

A path on the Chipmans Point Marina grounds

Buxton's Store, where they carry their own brand of salsa!

Willsboro Bay Marina's well-tended grounds

Police Boat right next to us--and why are we under surveillance (AGAIN) ?? :-)

Willsboro Bay; view from the mile-long driveway of the Marina

Another view from the driveway at Willsboro Bay Marina

View from restaurant at Willsboro Bay Marina

Westport Marina

The neighborhood grocery store--a bodega, Westport style!

Westport church

Ballard Park, Westport

Our (very quiet) neighbor from Canada at Westport Marina

Fort Ticonderoga, NY (as seen from the water on the way to Orwell, Vermont)

Holly says:

Well, the photos are not in the order in which they were taken. Our route has been Willsboro Bay, NY, then Westport, NY and we are now in Orwell, Vermont. It's a long story, but moving pictures around in the blog takes a lot of time and I just decided not to move them around this time.

John says: We left Mallets Bay Marina in Colchester Vermont on another beautiful day and we made our way back through the "Gut"--this is a narrow opening which is the only way to cross Lake Champlain mid-lake to Vermont, or vice versa, but I made sure we left early because of the forecast of impending high winds. We arrived at Willsboro Bay Marina after a somewhat mildly windy day but just before the 40 knot gusts. We were pleasantly surprised at what was now a marina that was clean and functional. We had a great dinner in the restaurant overlooking the bay that was very scenic.

We left Willsboro the next day on another beautiful day and crossed the lake again (back through "the gut") with only 5 knot winds. The stereo worked great as we listened to tunes all the way to the Westport Marina in, of course, Westport (NY).

The marina was OK but the women's bathroom left a lot to be desired and if you are wondering how I know, Holly told me. We spent two days here wandering around what is called a town and resting. I know, do we need more rest? Anyway it was time to move on so we left for Chipmans Point Marina in Orwell, Vermont. This ride again was excellent with bright sun, warm air and almost no wind. There were stretches that looked just like the Hudson River only with more homes right on the water's edge and may with private docks. I ponder the life on the lake and then remember the winters we have and I don't give living on Lake Champlain another thought.

The Chipmans Point Marina is very nice. It is very old but well preserved just like the woman who owns and operates the marina. She loaned us her car and we got to see some of the Vermont countryside again and this time it was much more rural and much more picturesque as Holly's pictures will attest. We are grilling steaks on the aft deck for dinner and will be moving on tomorrow for Whitehall New York, bidding a fond farewell to Lake Champlain while toasting the good marinas and forgetting the not so good ones. Now its time for the last 12 locks of the Champlain Canal and I am sure this set of locks will be as different and interesting as all of the other locks we have traversed. I will let you know ...

Mallets Bay Marina--Colchester, Vermont

On the way to Mallets Bay

Sunrise this morning

Rachael at Mallets Bay Marina

Church St., downtown Burlington, VT

Church St.

One of many cows along Church St.

They are presented by Citizens Bank

The campaign is called, "The Cows Come Home to Burlington"

City Hall

Oops--there's a cow here too!!

Marina at Ferry Dock in Burlington

Holly says:

We arrived at Colchester, VT yesterday afternoon after a really calm and beautiful cruise. This afternoon we took a cab into Burlington to walk around and have an early dinner. The main drag in Burlington is Church St., where they had many stores (Macy's, Eddie Bauer, Mac, etc.) along the street, which is closed to traffic. They had the requisite musicians playing for tips. We encountered many cows along the street (some pictured above). The cows are provided by Citizens Bank, decorated by local artists, and displayed to encourage tourism as well as provide a walking art tour. In October the cows will be auctioned off to benefit The Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger. which has several programs involving improving school meals, providing out-of-school-time meals for low-income children, teaching nutrition to the parents, etc.

If you're thinking about purchasing a cow, or want more info, visit www.vtcows.com

There is a part of town that seems to have seen better days (I guess that's everywhere). We ate at a place on the waterfront that had been recommended by someone we met at the Lighthouse Point Marina. So-so.

We'll be moving on tomorrow.

Rouses Point, NY and Plattsburgh, NY

Marina at Lighthouse Point, Rouses Point, NY

Marina

Sunset Weds.

In town, Rouses Point, NY

Tank donated by the Vermont Army National Guard at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Rouses Point

Lake Ave. , Rouses Point

All streetlights in town are decorated with hanging baskets of flowers and US and Canadian flags

This end of town shows some decline

Moored boats at the marina next to us

Lake Ave., Rouses Point

Ahh, another sunset
Snug Harbor at Old Valcour Marina--Plattsburg, NY

Holly says:

We left Rouses Point this morning and headed for Snug Harbor Marina. The lake was choppy starting with 3-4 foot waves and building to 4-6 foot waves (yikes!) Every time we bounced hard on a wave, I got a drenching on the left side of my face. When we arrived at the marina we discovered that it was another god-forsaken place--docks are decrepit, we're bouncing all over the place, and there's no cell phone service here!!

In answer to Digger's question about going through the locks--usually, when you arrive at the first in a series of locks, either you call on the radio or the lock operator sees you and puts on the green light when you can enter the lock. From there, at each lock the lock operators will call ahead to the next lock to let them know you're coming. This is also a way they can tell if you're speeding, because they know how long it should take you to get to the next one. If you're not going on to the next, you let the last lock operator know and the next lock will not be expecting you. On the Chambly Canal, we locked through with another boat on the second lock and from then on, we locked through with that boat. Each lock expected us to go through together. If one boat gets there ahead, the lock operator will hold them to wait for you. There are also some swing bridges that operate in conjunction with the locks. At one point, we were told to speed up to get closer to the other boat (so we could both go past the open bridge at roughly the same time and they wouldn't have to keep the bridge open an extra long time).

We are 3 miles from downtown Plattsburgh, so there was no walking to town today. Tonight we tried to have dinner at the restaurant attached to the marina. We were promised a table in 5-10 minutes. After one hour waiting at the bar, while we watched others being seated, we decided to come back to the boat and eat here. We can't wait to get out of here tomorrow!! Unfortunately, the marinas in Burlington, VT are all booked for the weekend, so we'll be staying at Malletts Bay Marina and hopefully going to Burlington via bus or taxi.