Monday August 8: Whitehall, NY

Up early and moving as the plan for the day was to make Whitehall - about 60 miles away. This included the hour we needed to travel back down the Otter River just to get back to Lake Champlain. Seemed like a much better plan yesterday but oh well. Weather was calling for winds from the north at 10 - 15 knots and waves 2 - 4 feet with a chance of rain. Of course as far up the river as we were who knew what the lake was really like, right? That's what Steve said anyway..... so off we went and sure enough there were maybe 1 - 2 foot waves and pushing us south so what more could we want? We're still seeing lots of cliffs along the waterway and finally we came to the end of Lake Champlain (well, sort of as it doesn't officially end until Whitehall, NY). The one bridge on the road running south along the lake from Burlington was demolished some time ago and the new one isn't finished yet, so the state runs free ferries back and forth across as it seems to be one of the only ways to cross the southern end of Lake Champlain.

Saw Fort Ticonderoga as we motored by. Apparently they don't encourage visits by boaters as there are no docks and Skipper Bob said the gate on the path up the fort from water level (in case you decided to dinghy in) is often time locked! Another remnant of the War of 1812! We are still in the mountains. If you look closely you may see the two cars that are on the road below the cliff in the second picture - kind of gives a perspective on how high these cliffs really are! And the farther south we go, the more narrow the river becomes.

Here is what they use to clear the waterway of floating plants. It's kind of like a lawn mower for the water with a conveyor belt gathering the plants after the roots have been cut. Then the plants are taken away to be unloaded. Oddly enough it is propelled forward by paddlewheels. Finally after 109 miles on Lake Champlain - we have arrived at Lock 12 - the start of the Champlain Canal which is our link to the Hudson River!

We celebrated our arrival to Whitehall by eating Christopher's ice cream. Thanks, Chris!! He had brought it to the boat last Thursday but forgot to eat it and then forgot to take it home. Sad for him - happy for us :-). This is the Whitehall Town Docks - no power but that's ok. The house in the background is really fun looking - the third picture is a closeup of it. Maybe the Addams Family homestead??

Tomorrow: on to Fort Edwards.