Thirsty?

We have been wondering why our birdbath keeps going dry overnight. Now we know! 

She must have been late this morning, because I took the photo at 8 AM. While she was there, she couldn't resist having breakfast and eating my daylilies, conveniently located right next to the 'water bowl'. She didn't even have to lean down for food or drink. 😉 Thanks to friend and neighbor Jim R. for replenishing the water when we aren't home. Both the birds and animals have needed it with our dry weather, which is coming to a close since it just started raining. My plants and lawn (which at the moment is more like a wildflower/weed field) will appreciate the showers too.

Not Done Yet

We are not done with swimming yet! Dave's doctor's appointment ended up being a consult and measuring of the cysts, so we are free to still swim until his office surgery on July 9th. Meanwhile the heart wave has broken and we are back to low 80's and gorgeous weather...for now. Looks like much needed rain this weekend. We are anxious to get back north again though, for both fun on the water and nightly walks now that it is a bit cooler. Last week we took a walk along the La Chute River and came across this snapping turtle laying eggs. We didn't disturb her, and luckily she didn't have far to go to back the water. Hopefully no predators got the eggs this time, like they did in previous years near the baseball field.

We'll return and check it all out soon!

Heat Wave, Day 8

The south wind really kicked in today, so we have a feeling this will be last day of the heat wave. A cool front is predicted to come through tonight or tomorrow morning. No storms materialized today, but hopefully it rains tonight, since Dave finally mowed the lawn. Everyone's lawns have really been burning out up here, but we were smart and decided not to do anything about the clover field we had growing in the yard. We did water a bit, but the long grass and clover really protected the lawn and we are about the only property in the area with green grass. You can see the difference with the first swath of mowing by the garage.

So what to do after weeding and mowing on a hot, windy day? We took a ride in the PT Cruiser Convertible around Schroon Lake, instead of taking the Aprilia motorcycle. If a shower did happen to go overhead, we could just put the top back up. We stopped at the swimming hole in Horicon on the Schroon River and this water is warm already! There was very little current running, so we lounged in the water to cool off for awhile.

Now our swimming is probably done for awhile as we head back home so that Dave can get two large cysts removed by a surgeon. We are so glad that we have been in the water so much lately!

Hot & Calm, Days 6 & 7

And the heat goes on! Yesterday I needed a break from being out on the water so that my brain could catch up with my eyes, or maybe it is my eyes can catch up with my brain (or is it my ears?)...vertigo had set in from bouncing around in boats. We did make it down to our town beach, which is closed, but you would never know it with so many people still sunning and swimming. There weren't any lifeguards there, but everyone was very civil and social distancing. The south wind had picked up and the water and shoreline were quite turbid for pristine Lake George, so I opted to stay on the beach and Dave did go cool off in the water.

Today was predicted to be in the low 90's and in fact reached 95 degrees. We decided to head further north and go to Valcour Island on Lake Champlain with our Sea Fox. We launched at the Peru State Launch Ramp and Foxie ran perfectly once it got its initial first of the season smoking out of the way. We were amazed at how few boats were at Valcour Island, but then again, we shouldn't have been surprised since the Canadians cannot cross the border yet and this part of the lake is known for Canadian boaters. In our whole trip around the island we saw maybe half a dozen skiffs and only one cruising sailboat anchored out! We had the bay on the north side of Bluff Point all to ourselves for our picnic lunch stop.

As we were eating, I noticed lots of big ugly fish swimming around us, which must have been carp, or perhaps bullheads, since that is what the name of this bay is. They stirred up the bottom so much that we decided to move a couple of coves to the north and found gorgeous sand and clear water. Dave keeps the boat super clean and you would never know it is 19 years old. Gotta love fresh water!

It was fun reminiscing about how we used to anchor out here when we had a cruising sailboat. Sometimes we would have to change coves in the middle of the night when the wind shifted. That was back in the days that the tour boat Juniper used to come in the bay at night with music blasting. It was also when the Plattsburgh Air Base was in service and the jets would take off overhead with their afterburners aglow. We nicknamed the Clinton County Community College Fort Velcro and it still stands quite regally.

Even I went swimming and I can't believe I was in Lake Champlain in June, when the water is normally freezing. When a few other boats came in our cove, we decided to up anchor circumnavigate the island. Cutting through the islands in Spoon Bay is fun but shallow. Good thing we know how to read the water and be in just the right spot with enough depth to get through.

We headed across the lake towards Vermont and peaked our heads into Mallets Bay. With it being so calm, we couldn't resist a quick trip out to Colchester Reef in the middle of the lake, before heading back to Valcour.

The good thing about Lake Champlain is that you can see any bad weather coming, unlike Lake George where once those clouds show over the mountains, you really better make a run for it. I saw some rain cloud on the horizon, but Dave wanted to go snorkeling in the cut by Spoon Bay, so we stopped for a short time...even shorter than expected. Once he got in the water, I heard him yelp and he flew to the shallow rocks. He was attacked by a huge bass protecting its fish nest! 

He tried several other times and it kept coming after him with its mouth wide open. He even tried going on the other shore and there was another fish nest. He gave up and got in the boat to realize he was dripping blood from cuts on his legs when he got chased into the shallows and the razor sharp zebra mussels sliced him in several places. We always keep saying how we love the fresh water because we don't have to worry about anything getting us. I guess we have to think twice about that now. LOL. Good thing there were no sharks though...

Dave dried up his wounds and we got back to the launch ramp before any rain showers hit, although we did go through some downpours on the way back to Ticonderoga. Our timing was perfect and so was our day! Dave will even have some battle scars to prove what fun boating is. 😉

Hot & Calm, Days 4 & 5

More of the same, we are trying to stay cool in and on Lake George. Yesterday we anchored out in the Waltonian Islands near Hague. 

The ducks are way too tame here, begging for food that we didn't give them. The male mallards sure are iridescent in the sun though. 

Today we went kayaking from the Washington County Beach at Hulett's Landing. There was no wind but the weekend wakes made up for it. Normally we go either north or south, but this time we did both routes so I guess the boat traffic wasn't as bad as I made it sound. 😉

Swimming is so refreshing and invigorating, and I am getting used to the chilly water temps which cool us off. On the way back to the beach we saw this wooden Gold Cup Race boat at a dock. 

Yesterday this one went by our house on a trailer (photo from the internet)...

Plus today we saw at least 7 poker run boats zooming up down the lake, so there must be some kind of an informal event going on. It's good we saw them too, because the poker run that we like to go to in the 1000 Islands has been cancelled this year, along with many other events both up there and here. We will make the most of the season though and just being out on the water is fantastic. 90 degrees for 5 days in the row is a great start to the summer!

Hot & Calm, Day 3

Actually it wasn't as calm as predicted, with quite a few whitecaps in spots on Lake George. It didn't bother us too much though, because we had Moxie! We escaped the south wind in a bay we had never anchored in before called Lamb Shanty Bay, which I couldn't help calling Lamb Shank Bay 😉. I don't know how it got its name, but it is up against the hillside (Lake George is like a fjord), so it would be best suited for mountain goats, not sheep. Such a pretty area, although the bay is open to boat wakes, which wasn't much of an issue this early in the season.

X marks the spot and a good place to anchor, not that we needed good holding in this benign weather.

I checked the water temperature with the laser thermometer, which was 67.8 degrees at the surface. As always, Dave couldn't wait to get in the water anyway.

The 'Turtle Whisperer'.

It took me awhile to get into the water, but I made it and set a record for the earliest swim of the season! 

We have no plans for Day 4 of the hot weather, but I bet we come up with something interesting "by land or by sea." 

Hot & Calm, Day 2

Yesterday was guys day out on the SeaDoos. Jim took a break from feeding our goldfish and bringing in our mail 😉, to join Dave for a tour of the northern part of Lake George.

All was well until they were a few miles from arriving back at the launch ramp and Jim's SeaDoo would no longer go fast. It was almost like a bag was sucked up in it (it wasn't) or if it was an outboard motor instead of a impeller jet drive, it acted like a spun prop. Dave towed him to Ticonderoga and we await to hear what the issue was.

What view though!

Going The Distance

This week is predicted to be hot and calm, something we don't see that often up here in the north country. On day #1 we kayaked south from Hague, past all the spectacular 'camps' (more like mansions) and boathouses, many containing classic wooden boats.

We kept paddling, looking for a place to stop and eat our picnic lunch, but everything is private. Finally, off in the distance, we spotted a lone tiny island and headed for it. This was definitely a bird hang-out area, but at least we could stop and get the cooler out of the back of Dave's kayak.

Since it seemed to be out in the middle of the lake, we named it Center Of the World Rock, after a similar island in the Sea of Abaco. We didn't realize how far we had actually paddled until we realized how far it was back to the van in Hague, which is the bunch of white on the left, way in the distance.

We made it though, and what fun to see down in that crystal clear water. However, I think we will take out motorized craft for the next few days to recuperate. 😉

Note: I only took the one photo of  boathouses (our favorite), because I was going to link this to another post with photos from years gone by, but I can't seem to find it now. Comment if you find that post and let me know the title. Thanks!

Day Trippin'

We have been taking a few short day trips, now that we have finally been able to get our vehicles back on the road at DMV (through a dropbox and your license plates are mailed). In fact our short trips we have nicknamed "one bladder trips", so we don't have to deal with public restrooms during the pandemic. Yes, I am still extremely cautious and OCD, despite the states reopening...probably even more important now. Presently we are up in Ticonderoga (8 Covid cases, all of which have recovered), so we took the PT Cruiser Convertible up to Port Henry on Lake Champlain. We walked out on the historical wharf that barges and boats used to dock at for the mines since probably the mid-1800s (I have not checked my facts on this). It is rebuilt and is used as a fishing dock, although the water is quite shallow next to the seawall now. We were pleasantly surprised to see how clear the water was this far south in the lake, most likely due to all zebra mussels.

We could even see lots of perch and sunfish hanging out by the piers and weeds.

It has been a dry spring and summer so far and the lake level is starting to go down. We were amazed to see the shoals starting to be exposed already. Those are seagulls out on one of the sandbars in the distance.

We also rode up the steep hill towards the water tower, with its gorgeous view of the Crown Point Bridge, mountains, and valleys of both New York and Vermont. 

The temps are rising now and we are ready for the transition to water and boating time, hopefully with more good adventures to post here soon.

Gone But Not Forgotten

We recently saw on Facebook that our a Hope Town apartment building at Lighthouse Marina had been torn down.

After Hurricane Dorian...

Now (building was on the right of the marina store)...

This photo of the boatyard was taken by whoever was standing right where the building used to be. It is down to the concrete slab. The new wood supplies are to rebuild the lighthouse keepers' residences.

More work is being done at the marina, as you can see from the collage below (it is a screenshot, not a video). Where it says Building Demo, our apartment, the liquor store, and storage building used to be in the blank space next to the white store. Now the entire boatyard is visible. We noticed that those fast growing bushes that hindered our harbor view, survived though. 😉

We just hope that the marina employees salvaged what was usuable for themselves, before the demolition. It is sad to see all this but we have wonderful memories, many of which we can reminisce from previous posts on this blog. We are still happy with our decision to relocate in Jensen Beach for the winter months and look forward to good times there. Into a new horizon still applies!