THE Weekend 2022, Part 2

Tugboat Roundup in Waterford! What a great morning we had along the waterfront, looking at all the tugboats, both large and small, commercial and privately owned. It was the biggest turnout of vessels that we had seen in several years.

The 65 ft. Coast Guard Cutter Hawser...

Dave got to go in the engine room of the 'Otter'.

The featured tug of the 2022 show 'J. Arnold Witte' was built in 2021.

The New York State Marine Highway's tugs...

Many of the tugs' wheelhouses slide up and down to get under the low bridges of the canal system, which you can see on 'Edna A'.

This was a first time seeing the tug 'Joncaire'.

The group of mini tugs has really expanded.

One couple built their own tug out of a kayak, complete with electric motor which ran on a battery recharged with a solar panel. It looked to be a bit unstable with the extra weight and height.

There were even some radio-controlled tugs that were perfectly detailed, including tiny cranes that worked.

As we were walking up to the top of the first lock on the Erie Canal, the gates opened and about 50 kayakers and canoeist came paddling out. I believe that it was a charity run.

To top off the show, we sat in on a talk given by Art Cohn who is Director Emeritus of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and famous for finding and studying shipwrecks in Lake Champlain (among many other accomplishments). His talk included history of the NYS canal systems and his most current quest of charting the bottom and finding shipwrecks in very deep Seneca Lake. It was fantastic and so interesting!

Day 2 of our weekend was a huge hit. Tomorrow will be day 3...motorcycles (we ARE the definition of diverse 😉)!

THE Weekend 2022: Part 1

 The Adirondack Nationals! Late Friday afternoon we ventured down to Lake George Village to see the cars in the show and all the wild happenings on the streets. Since the show had ended for that day, we got to walk around the huge grounds of the Fort William Henry Resort, where the show is held each year. Some of the vehicles had already left to cruise the streets, so there were very few people around. There was still plenty to see, and so many cars and trucks were unusual! We also walked the streets, but that is where all the crowds were. We sat out of the way of everyone, on the Post Office steps with one other couple, as we watched the vehicles and craziness go by. Below is just a tiny sampling of what we saw:

The motor in the photo above is in a Corvette and had 24K gold plated parts. I am so glad we got to see it, along with everything else, but we did leave early for home, since Saturday was Part 2 of our show weekend. More tomorrow...

😎

All Ours

We love the week after Labor Day when there is hardly anyone on the lakes. This year, the weather was a bit rainy at first, but then for the past few days it has been gorgeous out! As the weather just started to clear, we launched the kayaks on the Vermont side of the Crown Point Bridge on Lake Champlain, paddled up to the marina at Hospital Creek and then across the lake to the New York side. Although this huge lake is not as busy as the smaller lakes, we still would be quite leery to attempt this crossing during the summer season.

The following day was perfect for paddling from the Ticonderoga town beach over to Roger's Rock as the fog lifted. We usually go from point to point across the narrowest part of the lake to stay out of harm's way, but this time with no boats in sight, we kayaked from the beach to a point between Windmill Point on Heart Bay and the beginning of Roger's Rock. 

Dave even took a quick dip as an annual rite of passage. What a backdrop for a swim!   

This spot off of Roger's Rock Campground was a perfect place to take a snack break before the long paddle back to the beach. The sunfish must get fed here because I dropped a few crumbs in the water and they came 'running'.  

Yesterday was Moxie's last outing of the season. We stopped in Gull Bay for a final swim in the now 70 degree water before heading back and winterizing the boat (it was so invigorating!). You may recall that we waited until after Columbus Day to do this last year and many of the channel markers were gone or replaced with tiny ones. 

We still plan on kayaking more and doing some hiking in the north country, but for now it is time for our yearly shows, so stay tuned! 

A New Pond Adventure

After the previous day's 'adventure', I was not particularly keen to Dave's idea to explore the back roads of Hague and up to a pond he read about online, called Jabe Pond. It used to be private but is now part of the Lake George Wild Forest and Adirondack Forest Preserve. 

The mile long seasonal road into the parking area is gravel with some big ruts and rocky areas. We knew about this beforehand, so it was a good opportunity to use the truck with its higher clearance. The road ended up being a bit more improved than we had read, which was good, because it is only one lane with ditches and drop-offs on both sides and some pretty steep inclines (at one point we spun the tires and I had flashbacks of the day before). 

I kept wondering what happens if someone is trying to come the other way? We found out on our way back out, with a passing vehicle, but luckily we were at one of the few wide sections to pull off out of the way (so we didn't have to back up 😉).

When we got to the parking area, we were surprised to see 15 other vehicles there, but on the other hand, it was Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, with campers, paddlers, and hikers. We walked up to see the pond and discovered it was going to be well worth the trip and a short kayak portage to launch. My wonderful husband carried the kayaks on his head, while I carried everything else, so that I hopefully wouldn't fall and break any bones. 

Once we were out on the water there were very few people within sight or sound, and the pond was big enough to accommodate everyone, more like a lake. 

There are several islands spread throughout the pond, and this one even had the remains of an old chimney on it. Nothing was left of whatever small camp was built there, and we can't find any history on it. 

The water was super clear and we have heard that fishing is good. 

Wildlife included lots of turtles and small ducks that I think are grebes.

The shoreline was mainly rocky, but there were a couple of marshes and fairly large beaches, which must be where the turtles lay their eggs. Best of all were the loons! One of the loons kept calling out in the silence of the wilderness, and it would echo in the mountains. He (or she) kept it up for about 15 minutes and I had to wonder if it thought it was a mate answering him, or if he just liked hearing himself 'talk'. 😉

I may have been apprehensive to start with, but what a great day it ended up being! We won't be able to come here often, because the truck usually isn't in Ticonderoga, but once a season it will be on our list of interesting places to visit. Perhaps we will even check out the trails and hike around the pond on a weekday.  

Footnote: The van runs again after a full day of replacing the fuel pump, including removing and reinstalling the gas tank. 

Living on the Edge

Well, sort of, or at least we did for about an hour. We had just finished a really nice kayak trip on Lake Champlain's Kingsland Bay in Vermont. It was a beautiful and hot late summer day. The yaks were loaded in the back of our pickup truck since Dave is working on the fuel pump of the van. As we backed out of our parking spot, I asked Dave if he wanted some of my cold water. He reached for it, and we suddenly started going downhill backwards into an unmarked ditch we didn't even know was there! He tried going forward but the tires just spun. He opened the driver's door, took one look and said, "we're going to need a tow truck." I finally managed to climb up and out of the passenger side door and laughed when I saw the angle we were at. 

We don't have four-wheel drive, but even a 4x4 wouldn't have helped us since only two wheels were on the ground. None of the other vehicles in the parking lot were capable of getting us out of this mess (some people did offer). Our only option was Googling "tow service near me' (thank goodness there was cell service). One name kept coming up as a local salvage yard and tow service, and the owner was willing to come as soon as he dropped off the junk car he had on his flatbed truck. I sat in the shade under a nearby tree while Dave waited on the floorboard of truck, trying to keep it from raising up on the one side any further. The truck arrived within about half an hour and made quick work of pulling us out with big chains. He was so funny and we were all laughing at our predicament. The driver didn't know I was sitting under the tree and told Dave, "We won't tell your wife that this happened because you were looking at the pretty girls on the beach" and I yelled, "Hey, I AM the wife!" I went over to the guys and said it was my fault because I offered Dave water, and the driver said it was because he was looking at the pretty girls, to which I couldn't resist answering, "yes, that's right, he was looking at ME!" 😉 😂 $100 later and we have a great tale to tell. 

Footnote: the rear tire looks bent in the photos, but it is camera lens optical illusion. The only damage we had was a slightly bent driver's side floorboard that Dave has already fixed.