Cruise Week - day 5

 5 July 2022

Burton Island State Park, Burton Island,VT

Marc-  We departed Deep Bay at 09:30 to make the 11:00  Grand Isle drawbridge opening.  We arrived with 15 minutes to spare. There is a lot pf construction going on with the new bridge being built. A barge is blocking half of the channel and it is beneath one part of the draw bridge span. The other part is open for passage. Unfortunately the temporary bridge has an opening that is not in line with the new opening forcing boats to jog to the left when coming through.  No worries the passage is entirely capable of being done. 

Lucy III sailed over to Burton Island averaging 5.3 knots with only the genoa. Burton Island is beautiful this year and not crowded   There are only three sailboats here. 

Cruise Week day 4

 5 July 2022

Deep Bay moorings, Deep Bay, Pointe au Roche State Park, NY

Marc- We said bon voyage to the crew of Fiddler’s Green this morning as they headed South on the Lake.  Lucy III departed at 09:00 for Deep Bay.  We motored over to. Cumberland Head and then sailed North to Deep Bay where Will helped us tie up to a special mooring.  The Park has yet to set up the moorings with lines so we supplied pur own.  

Overcast with intermittent rain showers.  

Cruise Week Day 3

 Plattsburg Boat Basin, Plattsburg, New York

Marc- Departure from Anchorage at NorthBeach in Burlington at 08:30 with sunny skies and light South wind.   

We motorsailed about 14 miles to  Valcour Island NY and then the NE wind kicked in.  

Nice

sail under genoa to the Plattsburg Boat basin.   We were well received by a friendly and helpful staff upon arrival.  We were the first to arrive in the DIYC fleet.  

We did see the end of the parade and a very busy downtown.  The marina also had the Naked Turtle Cafe to enjoy.  In the evening the fireworks were excellent from our slips.  

DIYC Cruise Week Day 2

 2 July 2022

Shelburne Bay anchorage, Shelburne,Vermont

Marc-  Sue, Steph and I loaded up our travel bags and headed off in our dinghy for Lucy III Beautiful morning with variable winds.  Michael and Doreen Gilmartin met up with us at the Marina with their puppy Quinn  aboard Fiddler’s Green.   

I noticed that the mooring field was weedy while pulling out  about an hour into the three hour trip the engine started to run warmer than normal.   I will check for weeds blocking the intake.  We anchored near other DIYC boats at the bottom of Shelburne Bay and Fiddler’s Green rafted to us   We soon went ashore in search of ice cream at the Shelburne Country Store   It ended up being a four mile round trip hike but the maple creemees were fantastic.

3 July 2022

Marc-  Sunday we were off at 08:30 to Burlington’s North Beach.  We arrived to find a nice location near the Westernmost part of the beach.  By the end of the day there were at least two hundred boats anchored.   

We walked into Burlington for a few items and wonderful Lake Champlain Ice Cream.  Burlington did its Indépendance day celebration one day early and it included a concert and fantastic fireworks.  This spectacular day was even better when Brian Gilmartin and family come to visit.  We watched the fireworks from Fiddler’s Green. 

DIYC Cruise Week

 1 July 2021

Point Bay Marina, Charlotte, Vermont 

Marc-Steph and I did the final loading of food supplies today.  This was a 90 degree day with high humidity and rain die tonight.  We opted to stay another night in our air conditioned Vergennes home.  Meanwhile the fleet left for nearby Converse Bay. 

June 10, 2022 Ponte Bay Marina, Lake Champlain, Charlotte, Vermont

Today we enjoyed the visit from my cousin Armand and his wife Betty.  Betty was a bit afraid of motion sickness aboard Lucy III so I had her take the helm for 99% of the trip over to Kingsland Bay.  She was fine and enjoyed our first trip of the season.

Summer Sailing aboard Lucy III

 June 8, 2022  

 Ponte Bay Marina, Lake Champlain, Charlotte, Vermont

Three coats of Alexseal primer on the topsides.

Two coats of Alexseal topcoat on the topsides.

New name and home port stickers.

Marc-  These last several weeks have been spent doing delayed maintenance.  I started out with replacing the cutlass bearing, stainless steel driveshaft and repacking the stuffing box.  If only it were so simple.  Fixing one issue brought other issues to light such as the engine drive coupling about to fail and engine misalignment.  I also replaced the weed cutter on the driveshaft as well as did the annual fiberglass repair of the hollow rear section of the keel behind the centerboard.  The overzealous yard staff always blocks the back end of the keel causing cracks in an area not built to be weight bearing.  So much for the easy jobs.  The big task was repainting the topsides with 2-part epoxy paint five times.  After much sanding and some fairing I applied 3 coats of Alexseal primer (sanding between coats) and two coats of high gloss Alexseal topcoat.  This was entirely done with a roller with remarkable results.  Alexseal's special paint additives flatten the finish, prevent runs and sags, then eliminate air bubbles.  There were a few insects to deal with since I did this outside.  

Launching date is tomorrow, June 9th.

___________________________

 June 9, 2022  

 Mooring, Ponte Bay Marina, Lake Champlain, Charlotte, Vermont

-Marc:  The boat floats really well and all systems are working fine.  One little issue when I opened up the raw water cooling seacock and found that the taw water strainer leaked.  This was a quick fix and only required a reseating of the top cap.  A few sights along the waterfront are below: