Mountain Goats Again

I can't believe what my husband gets me into, despite my fear of heights. Today was the perfect day to have a picnic lunch at Thatcher's Park in the Helderberg Mountains with the Thunderbird.

Then I was talked into walking the Indian Ladder Trail along the Helderberg Escarpment. Last time we did this, I told myself I wouldn't do it again, because I felt too close to the edge. Well, so much for that idea. Luckily, Dave helped and walked on the outside part of the trail in the places that don't have railings. The photo below shows the trail on top and the trail below...

The two major water falls were running, but more like spritzing. We still got wet going under them though.

There was also water running out of the rocks in several places, making it slippery crossing in close quarters.

The view certainly isn't as high as Whiteface Mt., but still quite amazing for the Capital District area.

Dave claims we are adding this trip as an annual rite of passage. I guess this old goat better get used to it! 😉

Wooden Boat Fix

Today we got our wooden boat fix at the annual ACBS show in Lake George Village. There were many different boats that we hadn't seen before, all of which were spectacular! What a line-up...

This is a 2020 Hacker-Craft 24 footer. It has Ilmor Marine Conversion 350, V-8 engine.

This is a very rare boat from Denmark, branded as a Coronet. It is a 1958 and notice the articulating windshield. 

A 2016 Gar Wood 28 Gentleman's racer, for sale for $180,000!

This is a bullnose Chris Craft Continental...

A shot of Golden Thunder's torpedo stern, custom built in 1998. Note the lifting planers that were added to help it get up on a plane.

A classic 21 foot Century Coronado hard top with a 413 Chrysler engine.

A 1910 Hutchinson long deck launch, about 34 ft., repowered with a modern V-8 engine...

A side shot of gorgeous Golden Thunder...

This is a Fay and Bowen launch that was freshly restored by the Tumblehome Boat Shop. Note the drake tail stern.

A 1990 James Anthony Gentleman's Runabout...

We really liked the concealed stern ladder arrangement and center facing cockpit seats on Stella Blue.

A bow shot of the Fay and Bowen Launch...

Small Wonder from Scotia NY is a beautiful owner built pilot cutter sailboat.

There were also displays on land. This early 1960's Mercury Mark 28 really caught Dave's eye.

Dave can't decide if he likes the launch or the trailer best. 😉

We still don't want to own a wooden boat, but they sure are fun to look at and admire!

Lunch With A View

After several 90+ degree days, today we had our first major cold front of the season. The day was ideal for a trip up Whiteface Mountain's Veterans' Memorial Highway. We had brought a picnic lunch and what a view we had at one of the pull-offs along the road up. Saranac Lake is in the background...

We still had a couple of thousand feet to go up before the highest parking area...

Once we were at the gift shop area, we looked back down to the road we just drove up (and we thought we were high when we had lunch?!). 

It was ironic to be looking down at Lake Placid, when a few weeks ago we were on the lake looking up at the mountain.

Amazingly it wasn't even that cold or windy at the the top. 71 degrees at the bottom and 64 at the top. There was very little wind too, so Dave headed up these stairs to the summit trail (I don't do well with heights and this is a rough trail with no handrails at times).

He made it and well worth the extra effort! He must be a mountain goat! 😉

I know, or at least hope, we will have more time on the water once Labor Day is over, but this trip got us ready for fall adventures checking out places and trails by land.

Zig-Zagging On Champlain

Calm winds and warm temps were a perfect time to do another nostalgia tour of Lake Champlain. Instead of dealing with wakes and tubers on Lake George, we headed to the launch ramp at Westport, where there was only one other boat trailer in the parking lot! What a tour we had and it doesn't get calmer than this...

Foxie took us north along the New York shoreline and first into empty Partridge Harbor, where we had to laugh about how many boats used to anchor in this small, deep water cove. Then we cruised past the rock cliff called The Cascades, but no water was flowing (only once in all our trips on this lake have we seen significant water cascading). We continued to Split Rock Point and then across the lake to McNeil Cove, where the Essex, NY to Charlotte, VT ferry arrives. 

That's where we discovered the aging Champlain, which is a sistership to the abandoned Adirondack. What a sad sight to see it sitting there with plants and trees growing on its decks. We have heard of no plans for this ferry, but it will probably end up being scrapped like they intend for its sister.

Time to head south and to Point Bay Marina on the Vermont side of Champlain. Although many marinas still have very few boats launched due to most Canadians not being able to come across the border, this marina and mooring field looked like it was business as usual and was filled up.

We then ducked into Kingsland Bay on our way back south, but the water was too weedy and murky for a swim. We found that the lake in this area was quite turbid and a strange brownish green, so we opted to stay in the boat (a very hard thing for Dave to do! 😉).  Zig-zagging back to the center of the lake, we stayed just offshore Diamond Island and its weather station. There are also a couple of dive site wrecks here that are marked with yellow mooring buoys. This water is the coldest in the lake, although right now it is 73 degrees.

We headed back to the Vermont side and passed Basin Harbor and its resort, but first stopped for a look at the forlorn Lois McClure at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's docks. We had seen it while visiting the museum earlier this year, but it looked even sadder from the water. I sure hope there are plans to get it restored to its former glory. However, all the longboats at the dock were gorgeous.

We finally reached our ultimate goal and destination, Button Island, part of the Vermont State Park, with not a soul around. This is an historical island (lots of fossils and clay 'buttons'), but we have so much of our own history here too, from throughout our boating career. Landing was too difficult, slippery, and weedy, but it was a nice break for reminiscing.

Zooming back to the Westport launch ramp was another quick hop across the lake in these benign conditions. We certainly have so much experience and local knowledge for this part of the lake, and it is always fun to see it all again. 

Before The Storm

Henri was a non-issue for us with little wind and only about an inch of rain. We didn't even go down to see the waterfalls or boats in the canal system. Instead we headed to Ticonderoga where the sun was shining. A couple of days before the storm though, Dave went with friends Bill and Ashley to the Mystic Wooden Boat Show held at the Seaport. They had a fantastic time and it is good that they went on Friday, because they had to shorten the show by a day to prepare for Henri's arrival.

A few of the gorgeous boats that were on display:

They also had small steam engines run by a centralized compressor that goes to different shows. 

The historical ships are always a big hit at Mystic Seaport. 

The Charles W. Morgan is impressive, hauled out for maintenance on the slipway.

Its anchor capstan winch is in much need of repair or replacement.

The best part was when Dave and Bill got to go sailing in a Beetle Cat. Ashley had rented a rowboat and took photos of the guys.

Dave watched as boats were being brought up the river for safe moorage. 

Even though the storm came ashore nearby, we heard that the highest wind gust was 57 knots. Unfortunately flooding was bad in southern New York, as Henri slowed down before heading east and back out to sea. We were the lucky ones before and after the storm though...at least this time around.