Cruising Lake Champlain, real time!

[Slim]

Hey everyone I thought maybe this would be a great place to have a real time log of a cruise. I’m out on Lake Champlain just put in today at Arnold bay and have the next four nights off to see where I can get. Forecast is for pretty light winds from the south but Friday might prove to be from the north so I’ll see how far north I can get by Friday. I have a new jib from Neal pride, Rudy at DR, and everything went good at the launching ramp. 85+ degrees today and the beers I had put in a bucket of ice when leaving home were wallowing around in warm water. Big disappointment. Had a great sight of a fellow who drove up got out of his car into his wheelchair and cruised down the launching ramp full speed into the water. Just goes to show it doesn’t take much to have fun in the water!

[tomodda]

Nice! Looking forward to your log and thanks for sharing. Are you sleeping onboard or camping ashore or?

[Slim]

Yes! Sleeping aboard! It’s getting dark now and the wind has actually picked up and I am making a little over a knot to the north. Please excuse any typos I’m using the voice transcriber and trying to edit it as much as possible while underway. I just encountered the bigger boat I had seen off the shore it was four oldsters having lots of fun! Their motor had died and as we chatted they offered me a cold beer. I gladly accepted and under Yuengling power (and ten foot oars) alone broght them into the anchorage and dropped them off in dead calm.
Then proceeded to row out to the middle of the lake. The sun has gone over the western horizon and I’m now making I’m knot and a half to the north.

[Slim]

Making for a snake den Harbor on the New York side. It’s a great, very deep Anchorage with some sweet wilderness ashsore
!

[tomodda]

"I gladly excepted and under YUENngling power (and ten foot oars) alone brought them into the anchorage" (fixed your transcriber's spelling!).

TRULY EPIC! Love it Back in Philly, where I'm originally from, we call it "Vitamin Y." Now I see why!

When you get a chance, please tell us how you set up your onboard accommodations. Always curious about how to "dinghy cruise" a DS1. Bedding? Cooking? Toilet? Food Storage? Thanks!

Tom

[Slim]

Well as luck would have it, as the sun went down the wind came up, I clamped on the running lights and kept going. Sheeted the sails in tight but the wind seemed to be coming from the very hills of the harbor I was headed for! As it was by now pitch black I was a little unsure of exactly where I was headed but continued into the wind as best I could tell I figured I was about even with the harbor. The wind continue to strengthen and fearing wild and woolly williwas that might be lurking in the cliffs of the Palisades just south of Snake Den, I opted to strike the sails and row directly upwind. This is where I was reminded that the oars work great except in the face of any kind of current or wind. I rowed for what seemed like hours unsure if I was actually making progress until I finally felt the arms of the harbor around me. By this time the red moon had risen at my stern and I felt as if I were alone in the lake. Threw down the anchor just feet from shore, which is the only way to find bottom in Snake Den. Made up my bunk and threw down without brushing teeth or pulling anything in out of the dew. Dead tired after a good day.

[Slim]

As far as sleeping aboard on a DS1, as you are aware there is not a lot to work with. The biggest improvement I’ve made as far as accommodations go is to ditch the original forward floorboards and attach permanent frames to the bilge of the boat that support a newly made set which is slightly wider and completely flat across the bottom of the boat. Makes for a way better sleeping platform..

I set my Thermarest up on the port side, being clear of the center board handle, and stick all my gear on the starboard side. Legs are under the thwart seat and head right up against the forward bulkhead. Comfy but very narrow and the mast is surprisingly cold in the middle of the night! Also with any kind of chop and all my weight and gear in the forward part of the boat, the bottom of the stern can slap annoyingly on the water all night long...
I have a boom-tent that came with the boat which works pretty well. It has a neat and simple attachment system using PVC pipe sections, and I added some windows to see out. Also I rigged up a piece of mosquito screen that Velcros to the lip of the cuddy and hangs down to at least seal off the upper half of my body from insects.


My cooking set up is very simple with a one burner Coleman stove and some Rice-A-Roni, etc. Also brought some fresh food from home and my French press coffee mug! I’ve stashed some canned and packaged goods in the seat tanks. Just replaced the inspection ports with new quarter turn ports that are pretty easy to open and pulled a little bit of the Styrofoam scraps out to make way for food.
For the daily constitutional, if at all possible I head up into the woods with a trowel. As an emergency back up I do have a very small bucket with some sawdust in a tight fitting lid.
Here’s a picture of my dog taking over the cozy cuddy on a previous cruise...

[ArchSail]

I’m really enjoying the tale of your adventure - nice descriptions!

[tomodda]

That dog looks too comfy! Thank you very much for the pics and the descriptions. I'm vicariously enjoying your trip very much. As a side note, you may want to look into "wag bags" for your emergency WC, less messy than the ol' bucket with sawdust.

[Slim]

Well, I swore I wouldn’t sail till 10 tonight, so here I am anchored off the sandy spit at the mouth of the Bouquet River in Willsboro, NY. I don’t know if this is it for the night, but there look to be some good anchorages nearby and maybe an evening pleasure sail if the wind keeps up. I feel a little sunbeaten but there were a few good shade breaks along the way and the therwater feels good!
Highlights of today’s journey include:
Following winds all day, sometimes a little lighter than ideal, but very friendly and at times doing over 5 knots on a beam reach!
Lunch break in Kingsland Bay back on the Vermont side tucked into jagged Cliffs found a deep little hole that you could’ve anchored a schooner in but deep and narrow... walked out to a rocky point and watched a guy in a big boat niftily sail engineless off his mooring in the tight bay.
Then headed northwest towards Essex NY. Spied a smart looking yellow boat sneaking up behind me. Lo! Another DS sailor! Sail #14,XXXX yellow boat. They seemed to be gaining on me but not quite catching up. We sailed parallel tacks for a while and gave the ol’ wave but never got close enough for a gam...
An awful thirst having been building, I pulled up to the docks of the Old Dock cantina, just ducking the monstrous Essex-Charlotte car ferry on its way to the neighboring dock. Word at the restaurant was “Closed during the week, back on Friday!”
A quick search of the one horse town revealed that the closest convenience store was 2 miles away. Wondering if I should make the hike, I headed back to the boat to consider and noticed a small gang hanging around the bar at the Old Dock. Inquiry revealed that the taps were indeed still functioning even though the restaurant was closed. The owner, his brother, and a couple of carpenters on their lunch break were relaxing under six ceiling fans with icy beverages. I joined them for a couple, and got some good yarns of the timber rattlesnakes that inhabit the cliffs along Champlain’s western shore.

[Slim]

I walked along the fine sand beach and cooled off in the lake while the sun descended and the shadows grew long. The beach at the mouth of the Bouquet River is an idyllic spot. You can wade few hundred feet offshore on the sandy bottom and for that reason many boaters and families anchor here to play in the water. All good but too many people around for a nights anchorage and since the wind had died to nearly nothing I paddled around the sandy spit and up the mouth of the river. I didn’t know if I was going to get shallowed out, but after scraping the sand in one spot, I found the deep channel and paddled up around the bend. Nobody here but evening birds and the local beaver who kept slapping his tail at my arrival. I tried to appease him with some leftover chunks of canned pineapple but he wasn’t interested.

My anchorage on the Boquet River. A peaceful place to unwind and review the day’s progress. Looks like about 11 nm made today. Makes one appreciate those ocean crossers and their 100+ mile days! Some sort of self steering would be key.

Speaking of self steering, Sharky was balanced pretty well on this beam reach and I was able to leave the tiller for long stretches and just enjoy the ride!

My lunching anchorage at Kingsland Bay. Swam to shore to get this photo anchored in a private nook. Many awesome cliffs and rock formations here with scraggy cedars clinging to the precipices.

[tomodda]

Looking good! And wonderful thing about the DS is being able to get up into the "secret spots." Here's to fair winds!

[Slim]

Awoke to leaves rustling above. Wind! After last try at making peace with Mr. beaver I weighed anchor and headed back out to sea after a last swim at the sand bar. South winds continue, and tomorrow’s forecast is for Northwinds, so today is my last day of northing. Better not go too far just in case! This morning’s sale was a broad reach boiling along at 5+ knots. Made for the Four Brothers islands, a rocky bird sanctuary in the middle of the lake. Indeed, gulls and cormorants wheeled playfully in the air and the reek from the rocks filled the nostrils! I pulled in to the leader of one of these islands and sought refuge from the scorching sun under the shade of a twisted poplar tree. You’re all have a snack and make a plan for the afternoon. Might head for Burlington in search of a frosty cold beverage, or rough it and explore Willsboro Bay on the New York side.

Approaching the Four Brothers Islands

[GreenLake]

I've been following your log. Thanks for sharing.

[Slim]

Well, I opted to head for Burlington, and for a while the quartering winds had me flying along at nearly 6 knots under a reefed main. But as my mouth began to water for cooling refreshments, the wind mysteriously abated just off Juniper Island and I limped along at less than 2 knots for the remainder of the approach. The heat became sweltering so I took the risk of jumping overboard under full sail. I grabbed hold of the floating line which I always trail and was treated to a free ride, fully submerged!
Passed nearby a friendship sloop that gives tourists rides of Burlington Bay. Beautiful boat...

Once inside Burlington Bay the friendship sloop passed me under motor and the Siren at the wheel hollered “I love your boat! What kind is it?”
As it turned out we tied up at the same dock and, after I had purchased my libations up the street,I offered the two gals in command of this ship a beer, since I had bought more than I could possibly keep cold. For better or worse they turned me down, as they had another cruise coming up, and seeing that the wind had slackened to nearly nothing I figured it was just as well that I head back out.
So here I am rocking on the sea of glass and getting ready to bust out the oars if I hope to get anywhere at all.