Champlain Canal & Lake Champlain...
June 12, 2023
Waterford is where we split from the rest of the pack. The many boats lined up there all but 4 were going the Erie Canal either to Oswego or Buffalo depending on their height. The other 4 which included us were going the Champlain route. Champlain is named for Samuel de Champlain who was a French explorer who founded Quebec in 1608 and sections of New York, Ottawa, and portions of the Great Lakes.
The Champlain Canal connects Lake Champlain to the Hudson River. The canal is 60.72 miles from the junction with the Erie Canal in Waterford to Lock 12 in Whitehall, NY and consists of 11 locks(Lock 10 is no longer present). The lock from north to south will take you from 96 feet above sea level up to 144 ft and back down to 1 foot above sea level. Going north we would start with Lock 1. Both the Erie and Champlain Canals were completed in 1823. Both allowed commerce to come from the outer western and northern areas of the United States and Canada to the more populated areas on the coast not to mention to the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or further south. The locks are slightly different in how you steady your boat but we had no difficulty. The width of the canal was not very wide and saw many stone supports for bridges from many years ago as well as the aging changes within the canal and locks itself. Albany, New York prior to the Troy Federal Lock was the last time we saw any large commercial vessels. There is an invasive species that is concerning to those monitoring the Champlain canal and river- the round goby. This fish is considered highly invasive fish from the Black and Caspian seas in Europe and thought to have been pumped over accidentally in ballast water back in the 1990's in the Great Lakes. The powers that be have controlled the entrance to the canal by decreasing frequency of movement of the first 2 locks. Before we got here, there was some suggestion by natural resources that they may shut down access to Lake Champlain by the canal. We were very thankful they found this compromise.
Lock 8 on the Champlain Canal
An artist on the boat behind us in the lock took this picture and converted it to a comic filter. When we stopped for the night in Whitehall, NY she showed me how to do this with my own phone.
Fort Edward, New YorkWe did 6 locks the first day getting to Fort Edward, New York. This town was named after the brother of King George II and is the highest point above sea level in the canal. Water here goes either north to Lake Champlain or south to the Hudson River. Paper production was the major business in Fort Edward. George Underwood who founded International Paper was from here and utilized trees from the Adirondacks for his plant. The current plant has been sold multiple times.
Whitehall, New YorkThe next stop after 5 locks was Whitehall, NY. Many of these small towns had businesses only opened Thursday through Saturday so I missed the historical museum. This town has a very rich history as it is often mentioned as the birthplace of the US Navy. Benedict Arnold had a fleet of boats-15 built during the Revolutionary War referred to as the Valcour fleet. Of the 15 boats, 11 were destroyed. Apparently from the local history, 3 ships were destroyed by Arnold and the American troops to avoid capture by the British. We were told that happened in the area where we were tied up for the night. There were also ships built here for the War of 1812.
Orwell, Vermont
So we are done with the locks until we pass into Canada in a few days. Now we enter into Lake Champlain and loved the scenery with the mountains as a backdrop. Originally we were going to anchor at Fort Ticonderoga but after hearing about the heaviness of weeds in the water, we went to Chipman Point Marina in Orwell, Vermont. The marina has been run by the same family for 32 years. Mom and her son, Chip, run the marina now. They were very nice and allowed us to tie up and use their car to go to the fort. Mom asked us to promise we would not drive to Burlington(50 miles away) as that is not what the car was to be used. She related someone had done this to get a beer. We promised, got the keys and hit the road. The ride to get to the fort included a car ferry on cables. Danny was mesmerized by the whole process.
This was the marina office, shower and bathroom with the markings of water levels for different floods. Chip, the son, lives upstairs, the building was built in 1824. Below the car ferry going over to Ticonderoga with its 2 cables. It could hold 18 cars.
Fort Ticonderoga was originally built of wood by the French and called Fort Carillon. The British captured the Fort during the French and Indian War. Stone was added by the British and reinforced by the Americans during the American Revolution. During the Revolution, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold's troops captured the fort from the British. American troops attempted to invade Canada and when unsuccessful, turned back to stay at Fort Ticonderoga. The British forced the Americans out however, those same British troops would then surrender in Saratoga, New York. It was consider the turning point in the American Revolution. During the time that George Washington was in New York after the war, he visited Fort Ticonderoga although it was unoccupied. The other picture is from Fort Defiance.
Wildlife we saw while traveling the lake and the canal.
Burlington, Vermont
As we went into the Lake, there was a small town, we were going to visit called Vergennes. The town has
an excellent maritime museum about Lake Champlain, a waterfall in the downtown area, and provides dockage for people to come into the town. Unfortunately, we hit a rock ledge and it was a significant hit. Here we go again, a bent prop. Our buddy boat, Beach House, was behind us and we encouraged them to go ahead to the town and we would limp to Burlington. Initially we thought we had lost an engine but found out it was a protective mechanism when it shut down(thank goodness). So we had both engines but could not use our left engine to its best ability so we were slow in getting to Burlington. We knew we had an issue with the bilge pump in the forward section of the boat and we would be in Burlington for a week to get that sorted out. As soon as we arrived and got settled, Danny wanted to get in the 65 degree water to check out the prop. I told him he was not getting in the water without a wetsuit. Off we went to a dive shop to rent a wetsuit so he could look at the props. Yes, this is Danny, not a frogman and yes this is the prop after the diver took it off! YIKES!
Danny below trouble shooting the bilge alarm. He unfortunately had to remove the washer and dryer to get to it...
Danny worked on the bilge problem and found the float pump needed to be replaced. I know nothing about these things. I just hand him the stuff he needs. I feel like I am a surgical assistant in the operating room during these times...
There were a number of Loopers here and some coming in during our stay in Burlington. We had everyone over to our boat for hot dogs and polish sausages one night.
We enjoyed Burlington during our stay. Many stores and restaurants(Leunig's and EB Strong) not to mention the breweries(FOAM). I also rented a car so I could go to the Shelburne Museum which I enjoyed immensely. Everything in the museum was related to Americana art. Following a few hours there, I drove a little further to Shelburne Farms which I also enjoyed and ended my day at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum while Danny waited for the diver to take the bent prop off and replace with our spare prop.
John Haley Bellamy carved eagles done in 1875. I have seen a number of eagles carved by him at different auctions throughout the years. They are worth a lot of money. The painting is from Anna Mary Robertson, also known as Grandma Moses, of a New England winter scene.
Downtown Burlington on Church Street where the great majority of stores and restaurants are located. 
The following day, Danny and I drove out to Dog Mountain and Stowe, Vermont. Dog Mountain was founded in 1995 by Stephen Huneck and his wife just outside St Johnsbury. If you saw his artwork you would recognize the black lab. There is a beautiful chapel there with wonderful glass windows and many, many pictures, letters and notes to animals that had been ill and those passed away over many years. We went for Morgan's dog, Luna, who continues to hang in there. I was happy we went to see it!
As we drove out to St Johnsbury, through Stowe and back to Burlington, we saw numerous little towns(one had a population of 8) with each town having its own Main Street and white clapboard buildings and churches with white steeples or stone built churches with green mountains in the background. As I was looking out the window, I was reminded of the many drawings and paintings over the years from Norman Rockwell. Those pieces capture this area so well.
Sunset from the boat upstairs in Burlington!
Valcour Island
The island is famous as the being the location of the first naval battle for the US Navy against the British in the American Revolution in October 1776. I mentioned previously about Benedict Arnold’s forces in Whitehall. Those 15 ships he had initially, fought here around the island. Even though the Americans were defeated, the British were slowed due to the time of year in getting to the Hudson Valley and decided to retreat to Canada. It is said to be a great diving location although illegal to remove anything.
Valcour Island on Lake Champlain is in New York and run by the parks division. We were lucky to see 3 rangers on our walk to the lighthouse. There are numerous hiking trails, beaches, and stone encased fire pits throughout the island not to mention Bluff Point Lighthouse. Just a beautiful and serene place. While we initially planned to anchor for a few hours we stayed the entire night. We walked numerous trails and beaches finding 3 pieces of glass! The paths were not well worn as it is early in the season. Just hope I don’t get poison ivy. We enjoyed a dinghy ride around the island and returned to dinner on the back of the boat! A perfect day!
Another beautiful sunset at Valcour Island...
Isle La Motte, Vermont built in 1881. Juniper Island Light, Vermont built in 1826.
Rouse Point
Now we leave Valcour Island to go to Rouse Point. This is the last stop before going into Canada. While walking the town, I saw this beautiful stone house and what I could see of the backyard was beautiful as well. Throughout all the small towns in the Hudson River Valley and upstate New York, each town had banners like the one above showing people from their towns who had served in our Armed Forces. I was so impressed with this and showing their patriotism. The last picture is in the town's park right across the street from our marina. You may be able to make it out- WCTU 1909. This was for the Women's Christian Temperance Union who banded together to prohibit alcohol. What was really interesting was the guy who owned the marina was a divorce lawyer from Montreal and was telling me the story that when the marina was dredged to deepen it, there were many liquor bottles from the early 1900's found in the debris. I can only believe these women maybe threw the bottles in the lake! Justin, the owner also has in the deed when he bought it that the property was connected to the John Booth property which was acquired in 1860. The land grant states whoever owns the property for eternity that they also own the bottom of the lake to that property line. He showed me the land grant and I just laughed. He was quick to tell me, he still had to deal with the Army Corp of Engineers. We talked about the water levels in the spring which runs to 100-102 feet in the spring from snow melting and then drops a foot each month. Justin said the level was 96 feet currently. When we were in the middle of the lake, we saw over 300 feet deep on our depth finder. I also learned that this town was part of the Underground Railroad. Former slaves travelled through Massachusetts on the "Vermont Rd" to Rouse Point and then moved to Canada for their freedom.
We are expecting rain over the weekend so we can do an inventory for what we need in Canada and what we need to get rid of on the boat. We can not take any fruits, vegetables, open meat- only frozen acceptable, while we don’t have a dog, Beach House who we are traveling with do and the animal food must be from the United States. You are somewhat limited on the alcohol you take into the country although you can reasonably claim it is “ship stores”. Limits are 24 beers, 2 bottles of wine, and 2 bottles of liquor. We have a little more wine but should not be a big deal. We walked around town and found a great soft serve ice cream place. They call soft serve cremees here- doesn't matter they are really good.
Of course, before we leave the states, we have to have some type of issue....Danny cracked his tooth where he had a filling. Now we had to make a decision. Do we stay here and get is handled on Monday, have Danny drive to Montreal where there were more options for treatment and have follow up late next week when we were there? Well after we discussed it, Danny made the decision he wanted whoever started the process to finish it. Given he was thinking the worse and would need more than one visit, he chose to rent a car and travel to Montreal on Sunday to see someone. A nice woman here at the marina, actually from outside Montreal, gave us her car for me to take Danny to Plattsburgh Airport to rent a car so he could drive to Montreal and I would bring her car back to her in Rouse Point. Danny lucked out and had the old filling removed, replace it with a new filling and build up the tooth. It sounds like he got lucky as the woman he saw was a professor at the dental school in Montreal and occasionally worked on Sunday. He said she was wonderful. So this problem is solved and we take off tomorrow for Canada which is 1.5 miles away....
We had been fairly lucky in our travels that the winds had been coming from the south but you can see when the winds shifted to the north, we got to experience the smoke from the fires in Quebec...
TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED 3548.60 miles
TOTAL DAYS 226
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