Day 112...Rouses Point to anchorage near Valcour Island, Lake Champlain

THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2012

     We knew we were going to start late today because we only had about 27 miles to our anchorage for the night.  We spent some of the time watching them step the mast of a new sailboat that pulled into the marina.  Gary said the winches were still wrapped in foam and tape.  The marina brought in their bucket truck to life the mast into position.  They lifted the mast and then slid it over to where it fastens to the top of the boat.  By then it was after 11:00 a.m. and we thought we better head out so we didn't get to see them finish.

     After we left the marina, I took one picture of Lake Champlain with the Green Mountains of Vermont on the left and the Adirondacks of New York on the right.  Then separate pictures of Vermont and New York.  Lake Champlain is about 109 miles long.  The real lake portion of Lake Champlain is about 71 miles long and the remaining 38 miles is more like a river.  Some sections of the lake are over 9 miles wide.  Most of the lake is deep to the shoreline, and there are places in the lake that are over 200 feet deep.

     In the distance there were mountains, mountains and more mountains for the entire day.

     We saw some huge ferries that crossed from Grand Isle, Vermont to Plattsburg, New York.  They were doing a thriving business moving the people and vehicles back and forth across Lake Champlain.

     There were rocky cliffs at Bluff Point before we turned the corner to enter our anchorage off Valcour Island.  The 35 foot tall Bluff Point Lighthouse was built overlooking the site where, almost 100 years earlier, the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War, known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, was fought.  The blue limestone rock lighthouse stands 95 feet above the lake and can be seen for 18 miles. A skeletal tower with an automatic light replaced it for a time.  The tower now is home to a big bird’s nest.  I couldn’t tell what kind it was before it soared off.

     In the cruising guide they said that the anchorage we chose, Bluff Point South, was a VERY popular anchorage that sometimes has 20-30 boats anchored there on a weekend.  Well, this was Thursday and by the time we went to bed Gary had counted 37 boats including us in the anchorage.  I’d call that crowded.  We traveled 28 miles in about 4 1/2 hours.  Our total miles is 2141 now.