Vergeenes Vt - Burlington Vt - Knight Island

June 22

Vergennes Vt

What can I say folks, the fun continues.  We decided to go to Vergennes Vt.  It was ~6 miles out of our way on the Otter river.  The father son fishing tournament continued and the river must have been the go to place for those without a boat to fish.  There must have been 1000 people lining those 6 miles with lines in the water. It was actually quite cool for it was families all enjoying Father's Day weekend together.

The river was only ~150 feet wide so we were speed restricted to ~5mph.  It didn't matter, it was so pretty it was worth it.

Vergennes itself was stunning.  I could try to describe it, but this pic from our dockage captures everything.

Well, it captures everything EXCEPT THE ROCK PILE HIDDEN UNDER THE WATER.  I approached to get that pic and all was well ... and then I heard the crunch.  The skeg (fin on bottom of outboard) is now missing a chunk and the prop was dinged and bent.  Sigh .... (I might have used stronger words at that moment.) 

We pulled up to the town free wall and tied up.  The damage was not pretty but manageable. I found a hardware store in town and bought a grinding wheel for my drill.  I then ground out all the rough edges that could cause cavitation (air bubbles causing the propeller to lose power).  Whereas grinding stainless steel from a dingy is a bear, the effort seemed to work for the engine is pushing fine.  The motor hydraulic lift is now making a bad noise but works.   All in all, we are still underway so not the worst outcome.

The town itself was just as picturesque as the harbor.  The town wall had power and water, was located on a park and only a 5 minute walk to town.  Unfortunately, we arrived Sunday and most places were closed Sunday and Monday so we didn't eat out or enjoy some of the local flavor.  That is alright, I brought my personal chef with me so we dined on grilled steak!

For those of you wondering, Big Foot WAS real....  Due to an extensive archaeological dig, they found his remains:

All the doubters out there should be ashamed of themselves.

Oh, and Nick (my son-in-law), this is a place you MUST visit for it turns out to be the retirement location for those that fought in the Empire wars (aka, Star Wars).  I was able to get a debrief and the federation is still holding it's own.  Good news is that C-3PO, R2D2 and Darth have all become buddies!  

(Hey, would I make this up?)

And of course, there were Docktails.  Tony and Shirley aboard Puffin (42 foot Nortic Tug) were there with us smiling the whole time.

(If you are beginning to see a recurring theme, it is because there is one.)

Here is the Nebo log of this leg, not to exciting but you can see the side trip down the Otter River.  The bigger blue area is the beginning of the Lake Champlaign.

Burlington Vt
 

The cruise from Vergennes to Burlington was the first day on the lake with real clear skies.  WOW!  This is as pretty as mother earth gets.  I could take 1000 pictures of it and never capture the true beauty.  

The lake is surrounded by mountains.  They are not the beautiful snow covered mountains of Puget Sound, but stunning none the less.  What a day!

Vermont has a saying: "Keep Vermont Weird".  There is no place more representative of this than Burlington.  It is perhaps the best people watching in the world.  If you had read about it, seen it on TV or dreamed about it, it is here ....  But with that being said, WHAT A CITY.  It is located right on the lake.  The marina we stayed at was fantastic with all services, great staff and beautiful views.  Again, the pictures really don't do the place justice.

 

There was a restaurant (called Spot on the Dock) right at the marina that was perfect!  It gave the whole place a very Caribbean feel.  I could have stayed there all summer. (And the Lobster roll was stuffed!).

The music was play'in. the beverages were flow'in and the food was tasty.  What is not to love.

Out walking there were wonderful sand beaches.  It is not the fine sand you find at the Jersey shore or Destin Fl, but it was really nice none the less.

So the big question is, how clear is the water.  The lake is ~400 feet deep in areas so I can't see to the bottom like I expected.  This was a little disappointing.  However, when we were on the beach I took a pic of my feet in ~1 foot.  It is pretty darn clear:

More marina pics (just so dang pretty).

In the theme of "Keep Vermont Wierd", Terri and I went for a walk and discovered artist had taken the granite and carved stunning images in them.  What was perhaps most notable is that noone had defaced these with spray paint.

And of course CHAMPY! (The Locke Ness monster of Lake Champlaign.)  He seems like such a jolly fella!

We also stumbled across this.  We see what happens in the world (aka Russia or China) where there is a lack of a free and independent press.  We see where "truths" can be shaped to restrain masses towards empowerment of individuals and not the people.  John Dewey's life spanned 1859 - 1952 (had to look that up) but his words could not be more true today:

That night we really enjoyed catching up with our niece, Alta over dinner.   She also gave us a great walking tour of the city.  Haven't seen her in about 10 yrs.  Loved it!  Lastly,  we had a very pleasant surprise virtual visit from Tim and Jean Shortly.  Love you guys!  Anyone else that wants to "pop in", please do.

Knight's Island

We decided it was time to anchor out and save some money.  We picked Knight's Island in the middle of the lake.  On the way, we stopped at Hero Island on Grand Isle.  Expectations were low and ultimately far exceeded. 
 

We anchored on a public beach and dingy ashore.  We immediately came upon a mini Jurassic Park (Yes, Nick ... they are real.).

 

In case you are wondering what all the colorful dots are, those are bird houses.  Apparently sparrows eat mosquitos so they have ~1000 of them on the island.

Walking down the road we discovered a great vineyard.  We had to stop for a flight because it was just so dang cute.

So here we are, now at Knight's island.  Where is that you ask?  Here is a Google Maps shot for you:

And since "MAP MAN" is reading this blog, here is the Nebo report for the day:

One last funny to leave on.  Yudee LOVES to ride in the dingy.  While I was typing this, he jumped in the dingy on his own and is sitting there barking at me to take him ashore.  Duty calls!

With Love,

Terri and Aubrey