Upper Lake Champlain June 14 - 18

We left Vincennes and wound our way back out the Otter Creek. Then we headed north on Lake Champlain to Shelburne, VT for fuel. This was $2.50 per gallon which was the same as Cape May, New Jersey and the lowest I could find in this area. From the marina we headed a few miles north to Burlington, Vermont to stay at the Burlington Community Boathouse Marina which was downtown Burlington. We found a downtown free bus that did a circle out to Vermont University and back. Burlington has a 3-4 block pedestrian shopping mall area downtown that looked interesting so we hopped off the bus to see it. We didn't intend to buy anything but there was a Lindt chocolate outlet store going out of business and we couldn't resist filling up my back pack with half price chocolate goodies. An outdoor meal of local (Ken's) pizza provided dinner some extra for carry out. Then we caught another city bus that goes around Burlington and took us back to the waterfront. This gave a good overview of the city. The Burlington Waterfront has been recently developed with parks and a new (Senator Leahy) Ecological Center (your tax dollars at work I'll bet). Sunday before we arrived there was a multi-day jazz festival on the waterfront. It was a pretty nice and convenient place.

On Tuesday June 16, the Enterprise Rental car representative picked us up at the Marina so we could rent a car. Our main goal was to see the Shelburne Museum about 10 miles south of Burlington. This is a collection of mainly Americana items. We got there about 1000 and stayed until nearly 1700. I did leave for an hour to go to Shelburne Shipyard to pick up some Groco stainer screens I had ordered. The museum is a fantastic collection of houses from various periods; collections like dolls, weather vans, carriages, railroad lanterns, and folk art (including a model carved circus parade that must have been 70 yards long). In particular I liked a special exhibit of custom motorcycles that were in the round barn. The boat pictured is a Lake Champlain passenger vessel.

Back at the dock we met an Ontario Canadian couple that are completing the Great Loop. (We talked to them again in Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston.)

On Wednesday June 17 we left Burlington and headed north to check out the west coast of the lake. Our goal was Valcour Island. We anchored in a bay near the northwest side of the island. We got the dinghy down to go on the island to try to get to the Bluff Point lighthouse (pictured). Kaye decided the route was too rough for her knees so we went back to the dinghy and decided to see the light house again by water. The west side of Valcour Island (NY side) is the location where Benedict Arnold placed his fleet of small gunships in 1776 while waiting for the British to come south to attack Fort Ticonderoga and come down the Hudson. The British did not see Arnold's fleet until they were south of the Island and due to a north wind could not easily come back north to attack. The Americans fought bravely but one ship was lost early and others were badly damage before darkness fell. In one of the most audacious moves in military history Arnold guided his fleet through the blockading Brits in pitch darkness and escaped. The British caught up a few days later and Arnold had to abandon his damaged ships in a small bay now called Arnold's Bay. He did save a majority of his men and delayed the British enough that they gave up for that year and went back to Canada. This battle of Valcour Bay is considered to be the first Naval battle fought by the US Navy. It is where the USS Philadelphia was sunk. I saw this salvaged vessel at the Smithsonian Museum in DC and the replica at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

We took our dinghy south where Arnold and the British fought and then I decided to complete the circumnavigation of the whole island. It was a little rough on the east side but the view of the rocky shores was quite impressive. The island is a popular camping spot with well over 20 designated spots. Once we got back to the boat I decided to go hike to the lighthouse. There was a bit of a climb at right at the lighthouse but the view was great (pictured).

The next day we headed to Rouses Point, NY. This is the last town before Canada. We anchored a few hundred feet south of the border and that night watched the flashing red arrow of US Customs that pointed south bound boaters into their floating dock. One thing I didn't know that night was that my Verizon Air card was picking up Canadian antennas and I later received a $100 roaming charge for internet connections that I used heavily that night as I tried to tie up some loose ends before we entered Canada. Now I know what not to do. And also now we are tied to marina, library and coffee shop Wi-Fi when we can find them. So blog posts will be sporadic while we are in Canada.