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.

Beloeil and St. Jean Sur Richelieu

Marina du Phare at Beloeil, with Mont St-Hilaire in the background. Rachael can be (barely) seen all the way on the left, midway up.

Old Beloeil

View from the restaurant balcony , Beloeil

Park of the Patriots
Evening view from the Boleoil Marina du Phare

Holly ready for a rainy ride to St. Jean-sur-Richelieu
Along the way

This riverboat from Vermont that had some problems (mentioned below).

Old manually-operated lock on the Chambly

Lock attendants doing their thing
Rue Champlain, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu

St. Jean-sur-Richelieu is the Hot Air Balloon Capital!! Who knew?
Night falls...
John says:

It was an uneventful trip to Beloeil and the scenery was gorgeous and we spent two nights there. The mountains made a great view but we did not climb them. We left Beloeil and went through the Chambly Canal and locks to St. Jean. We scheduled this so we could do all 9 locks in one day. The locks were hand operated and it was actually fun. We had to wait at to go into one lock because a riverboat crew member fell into the lock and a lady spilled hot coffee on herself and had to wait for an ambulance. The canal was only 40 feet wide and a speed limit of 6 mph but the scenery was so fantastic that we did not mind the slow speed at all. We arrived in St. Jean and spent two nights there. St. Jean was a cross between Canada and upstate New York and we knew we were getting close to the US. After Montreal, most of the Canadian towns we have visited had some empty storefronts; more so the closer we got to the US.

We left St. Jean this morning and it was a short ride to the Customs wharf at the Canadian/US border and Rouses Point, where we will stay for two nights. The weather will keep us here tomorrow and therefore the two night stay. We will be on our way to points further south on Friday as long as the weather cooperates.

More on that later ...

Holly says:

I thought Beloeil was a very picturesque town. We noticed that every town we visited in Canada was CLEAN and orderly--clean streets, manicured lawns, flower gardens, etc. We were afraid to even jaywalk :-) Of course, we were along the river, which is probably the expensive part of town. The "main street" areas were colorful and had a European feeling. We also noticed that every town seems to have at least one huge cathedral with steeples reaching for the sky.

The office staff where we are now speak Spanish and we've been hearing French for so long, that I was confused about saying "thank you" in the right language. They do speak English also, so when all else fails...

Now that we're back on US soil, we will be back to using our cell phones!