Point Bay Marina Moorings, Charlotte, VT
25 August 2022
Point Bay Marina Moorings, Charlotte, VT
25 August 2022
Westport Marina, Westport, New York
21 August 2022
Marc- We enjoyed meeting up with our DIYC friends for dinner last night (24 for dinner). There was also late night Bananagrams on our boat. Today we met up to help each other with projects including mounting a new sail and planning for a refrigeration upgrade on friends' boats. Sue went back home with the truck. Steph and I set sail for a return trip to Charlotte. It was a grand sail with a maximum speed of 7 knots.
I was impressed with the fact that all of our boat systems worked perfectly on this trip. We especially enjoyed the two air conditioning units working with the high humidity and 90 degree temperatures.
Westport Marina, Westport, New York
20 August 2022
Marc- Part of this day was spent driving Sara back to Montreal so she could get to work by 14:00. I drove up Route 87 with Sara. There was a 30 minute wait due to high volume at the border crossing. Montreal was beautiful with flowers along many of the city streets. Our navigation routed us through many streets including 20 turns before arriving at CRIM (Centre de Recherche Informatique de Montreal) where Sara's works. This is next to Parc Jarry (old Montreal Expos baseball park) and a train station. I decided to do my own navigation on the way back making fewer turns.
I met up with Sue, Steph and our friends Patrick and Jessica at the Essex County Fair in Westport. This is a traditional agricultural fair with some thrill rides a a few shows. Shows included a horse riding exhibition, tractor pull and a water acrobatics. I did wander over the the animal barn and discovered some extremely clean cows, heifers and calves all belonging to Vermont farmers. The ice cream was good too.
Westport Marina, Westport, New York
19 August 2022
Point Bay Marina Moorings, Charlotte, VT
18 August 2022
Marc- Steph and I set sail for Westport to join in with the DIYC weekend cruise early. Westport Marina provided us with a nice protected slip since the lake was a bit lumpy with winds out of the East at 10-15 knots and with floating seawall was missing (it is placed on the bottom of the lake to protect it from ice in the winter and not yet raised). Sue picked up Sara at the bus station in Burlington and went off to do our weekly Lake Champlain Maritime Museum rowing before driving over to Westport. Steph and I went in search of an ice cream parlor and found one on Main Street. Afterward we visited the Westport Library where Steph obtained a Library card and took out some dvd's. After dinner we went over to Ballard Park to listen to a country and western band. The setting is wonderful with Lake Champlain and the Vermont mountains in the background.
Whispering Pines Campground, Panton, VT
10 August 2022
Camping du Parc national de Plaisance, Plaisance, Quebec, Canada
9 August 2022
Marc- A day to take it easy and visit with our friend Marie. We started out by visiting the Petite-Nation River Falls nearby. These magnificent waterfalls are higher than the falls at Niagara and surrounded by a forest. There was once a village of North Nation Mills at the falls to exploit the water power for two sawmills. The village is long gone but a small museum remains.
We then went over to Gatineau and Ottawa to explore on foot. We parked in Gatineau and walked over the Alexandra Bridge with its wonderful views of Parliament Hill in Ottawa. We walked up along the Rideau canal’s 8 locks to visit Parliament Hill and parts of the downtown. Several of the Parliament buildings are being restored such that Canada’s government is temporarily moved elsewhere nearby. A usually busy Spark’s Street (pedestrian only) was rather quiet. It appears that many of the local bureaucrats are working remotely. On one part of the street a movie company was filming a Christmas movie. It did seem out of place but the props worked well. We next went over to the Byward Market, and this was the busiest part of the city we saw. After a lunch of poutine we headed back to the campground.
Marie came over to visit and brought a wonderful salmon dinner. After dinner we went on a hike through the marshes and saw some wildlife: muskrat, frog, Green Heron, Blue Heron, Marsh Wren, Peewee and a beaver home (thanks to a very observant Marie).