A Few Last Pics of Lake Champlain

Burlington Community Sailing Center...the little guys.

Point Bay Marina, where we hope our engine problems have been solved.

One last Burlington sunset before we move on.

Look close. That's Colin on the left, hard at work. He hates to have his picture taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Burlington...onward to the north end of Lake Champlain.

Rouses Point:The Northern most town in on Lake Champlain (in New York) before crossing over to Canada.

Pretty on the northern shoreline, isn't it.

So do you think the people in Rouses Point have a sense of humor?

Ahh...the best laid plans....

So, today was to be the start of our new canal adventure.  Just a couple of miles of open water to get there.  I woke up and thought, "Wow, it's really breezy."  Fired up the computer and saw this forecast:  SOUTH WIND 15 TO 25  KNOTS THIS MORNING, INCREASING TO 25 TO 35 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON WITH HIGHER GUSTS.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT.  Now I don't have a wind instrument with the mast down, but I could tell that at least the first part of that forecast was correct.  "Yes Mr. Davis, we'd love to have you stay another night."  Tomorrow looks much more serene.  It was nice to be able to take it easy after busting our humps yesterday.
Spent over an hour finding a sweet cell spot (the locals say the crappy cell coverage has to do with the proximity to Canada).  Called Verizon and changed over to the Canada calling plan and asked about using the I-Phone.  They said if you use data when you're locked into a CanTel  tower, the charge is $5 Canadian per megabyte.  They do offer 100 megabytes for $25, but you need to turn the data off on your phone when you aren't using it, or you'll suck that up in no time.  Then to sign up I had to remove the SIMM card from the phone (who knew it had one?) and give them the number printed on the card to activate the plan.  You folks with unlimited calling and text might have a different deal, but I'd call Verizon and ask,  I'm just sayin.

Are we really doing this again?

Spent a total of six hours between yesterday and today preparing for unstepping.  Gaines is very professional and unlike the other places employs a cast of thousands (well, used five guys) to accomplish the process.
Went back to the dock and sweated another five gallons sitting in the no wind 93 degree air.  Discovered we were out of bottled water.  Trudged up the walk with our canvas bag dreading the mile walk to the store in this heat  Ran into the marina owner on the way.  "Doing some shopping?  Take my truck."  Whatta guy.

On the road again...

Fri, Aug 3:  Picked up our mast braces from Community Sailing Center, kissed the boy goodbye, and headed north for Rouses Point.  Gaines Marina says they can unstep the mast tomorrow.  Nice following wind, but we motor sailed with the main to give the engine a workout.  It performed beautifully.  This will be my last reference to the engine as I don't want to jinx it.  Arrived 4 PM and figured we better get started.  Removed the sails and headed into town for dinner.  Unfortunately, Rouses Point can't seem to support a real sit down restaurant.  Ended up having sandwiches and salad at the local deli, which were surprisingly very good.

Another boating season, another engine theory...

Thur, Aug 2:  Mechanic showed about 10:30.  Very nice guy.  I showed him the Tartan fix and he zeroed in on the diesel vent line.  He found two low spots in the line and said he wanted to route the hose lower than Tartan's suggested route.  When he disconnected the line, two cups of diesel flowed out of it.  "That could be a real issue."  He rerouted the vent line, checked the rest of the system and discovered the smaller fuel line from the tank to the engine.  "Hmm.... I think this line might be part of the problem too."  After checking the Volvo spec it was indeed smaller than spec minimum diameter.  So....he undid the fix the guy at Toronto did last year. 
Gassed up before we left.  All day long there had been a lineup at this gas dock reminiscent of Gordon's at Gan.  When we pulled up we saw why.  Non ethanol gas and offroad diesel for $3.67 a gallon.  Filled her up and motored back to Burlington without as much as a hiccup, but we all know what evil lurks..
Had one last dinner with Colin at the Farm House Restaurant.  Excellent food all from local farms.

We're off to see the wizard....

Wed, Aug 1:  Headed to Point Bay Marina. Nice place except a little exposed to South winds.  "Mechanic will be there sometime after 8 tomorrow morning.
Around cocktail hour some folks strolled by and stopped to chat.  "Just getting our boat fix."  Turns out they live in Tuscon half the year and have a catamaran in the Carribean they live on the other half.  It started to rain so we invited them on board and we ended up having cocktails and apps with them.  They gave us their card (I guess I need to break down and have some made) and said to let them know if we're ever thinking of visiting the Carib again.

Vermontreal (part deux)

So another French guy pulls up in his dinghy.  He says, " Do you know that your boat name in French means.."She said no?"  At which point Grace pops her head into the cockpit.  "Mon Dieu!  I did not expect to see a female on board!"