Summer 2012 Cruise

June 29, 2012, Point Bay Marina, Charlotte, Vermont.




Marc- Friday. We (Marc, Sue Sara and Stephanie) arrived at the Lucy III and loaded our gear and supplies. All was in order on the boat so we left port at 16:30 for Kingsland Bay. It was a short sail over and we anchored. Sara and Stephanie were soon swimming away to be joined by their parents. I went around to introduce ourselves to the assembled fleet of cruisers from RSYC. A really nice group of people on both power and sailing craft. We are beginning our annual cruise with the RSYC cruise week.



June 30, 2012, Kingsland Bay, Vermont.



Marc- Saturday. Departure at 8 a.m. for Willsboro Bay, New York. The wind was light out of the southwest and we flew the spinnaker for the first half of the journey north up Lake Champlain. New York’s Adirondack Mountains and Vermont’s Green Mountains seemed to almost surround us as we sailed North. The wind started to become gusty going from 10 to 15 knots to gusts of 20 to 25 knots. We lowered the spinnaker after the first gusts fearing a blown-out sail. The wind changed to west as we approached the Four Brothers Islands and we reduced sail to only a reefed genoa. We tacked to enter Willsboro Bay and met up with Cygnus, a beautiful Pearson sloop owned by Roger and Susan. The wind gusts became more of a problem in this bay as the westward side of the bay is flanked by the foothills of the Adirondacks that seem to channel the wind at certain points. Near Indian Point, we were hit by a 35 knot gust that heeled us over to the gunwale. We reefed the genoa and proceeded onward. It was difficult to find any of the RSYC fleet anchored in this rather large Bay. We anchored near the SE tip at first and then searched by Dinghy. Stephanie and I met the fleet in a small cove over from where we anchored. Up anchor and we joined the fleet to ultimately raft up with Cyngus for a very enjoyable night. The “pirate festivities really began here in Willsboro. Three female “pirates” came over and demanded tribute. We offered peanuts. The next event was an appetizer social aboard the several large trawler yachts anchored and rafted up near us. After dinner, we took the dinghy over to Willsboro Marina to stretch our legs ashore. This is a very nice marina with a friendly staff and a huge sailboat fleet.



July 1, 2012, Willsboro Bay, New York



Marc– Sunday. Our anchor was hauled again by 08:00 for a trip to the Willsboro Marina for a pumpout. In no time we set sail for Valcour Island. This was a motorsail with light winds. We anchored in Sloop Cove near Dave (rumored to be Jack Sparrow in disguise) and Dawn’s boat. When Cyngus arrived we hauled the anchor and rafted up to them near the North Wall of the cove. We were soon joined by 8 boats of various shapes and sizes. The Gervais family soon set off on our perimeter hike ashore. This trail was very nice in the shade on the Southern half of the island with stops at various bays such as Smugglers Cove and Bluff Point South. We eventually found the Lighthouse unfortunately 40 minutes after the tours had ended for the day. The return by the northern trails required some bushwhacking and climbing over fallen trees. Swimming was enjoyed by the crews from the ever growing raft of boats on the North side of the cove. A rather fun activity took place in late afternoon called a dinghy raftup for appetizers in the center of the cove. This was a good time for socializing.