Part 3. Lake Champlain Anchorages – Kingsland to Valcor
By: Duane Nealon
KINGSLAND BAY is about 8 miles north of Westport and because Kingsland State Park is a popular summer destination, both the park facilities and bay can be congested during the day, especially when one of the many special events is underway. No pets are allowed ashore at the park.
Kingsland is an excellent south wind anchorage, if the wind shifts, an alternative anchorage can be found 3 miles north in Converse Bay, which has the added protection of two small islands.
CONVERSE BAY
BURLINGTON, the largest city in Vermont, with a long maritime history, is situated 18 miles north of Kingsland Bay. You can’t visit Burlington without being captivated by its livability and essence of uniqueness and originality. The shoreline and downtown are well designed and pedestrian/pet friendly, with an extensive network of waterfront pathways and central business district vehicle-free zones. The vibrant downtown area and several universities and colleges add to the cosmopolitan flavor. A good starting point when arriving in the harbor is the Community Boathouse, which acts as a visitor center for newly arrived sailors. Boathouse employees also manage the harbor facilities and transient moorings/slips.
Burlington is best enjoyed in measured doses. Lake Champlain sailors can return several times during a cruising season to fully experience the rich offering of cultural and recreational delights. When things become too hectic, retreat can be found 4 miles to the North Bay by anchoring off Bernard Leddy Park and from there, a pleasant diversion to Valcor Island, which is located 15 miles north, just south of the City of Plattsburgh, New York.
VALCOR ISLAND is just the opposite of Burlington. […]
Part 2. Lake Champlain Anchorages – Crown Point to Westport
By: Duane Nealon
Just north of Fort Ticonderoga there is a cable ferry at Larabees Point, which is less than a ½ mile between shores. Just a friendly warning: the ferry operator does not always appear to be sailboat friendly, and will often head out under full throttle when a sailboat approaches, forcing the helms person to yield the right-of-way and come about or otherwise maneuver to avoid shoal waters or collision. So, unless you intend to get an early start before this ferry begins operation, you may want to consider motoring until you pass the ferry and then hoist sails.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
It is approximately 16 miles from Fort Ticonderoga to Crown Point, along a narrow body of Lake Champlain. In general, the majestic Adirondack and Green Mountains predominate the landscape. This pristine beauty is interrupted only once along this section of water by International Paper, a facility with large industrial buildings and smokestacks.
Traveling under sail from Fort Ticonderoga to Port Henry is challenging (especially if beating to windward), but will leave you with a sense of accomplishment, particularly if you are not accustomed to sailing in narrow passages. It is a great feeling when sailing under the Crown Point Bridge into open water. If you are on Lake Champlain for the season, allow the weather and wind direction to determine your short-term sailing plan, leading you from one anchorage to the next.
The Crown Point Bridge is being replaced with a new design. Although there are several anchorages and marinas in this part of the Lake, including the harbor town of Port Henry, you can still enjoy several more hours of sailing. Often, the lure of open water draws sailors further […]
Many use Lake Champlain as an inland water route linking the St. Lawrence River with New York Harbor via a series of canals and rivers. Situated along the borders of New York and Vermont, Lake Champlain also offers excellent cruising grounds for sailors seeking uncluttered natural landscapes, quaint harbor towns, and secluded anchorages during the sailing season, which is usually from the end of May to the beginning of October. In 1998, Lake Champlain became the 6th Great Lake, with over 70 islands, measuring 120 miles long, 12 miles at its widest point, and 64 feet average depth (over 400 feet at its deepest).
New York City/East River and Hudson River scenes:
Lake Champlain is served by two canal systems, which many boaters use during their seasonal migration. The 60-mile Champlain Canal connects Lake Champlain with the Hudson River, and can be traversed in a single day; however, there is no need to rush, the two-day canal pass is affordable and provides plenty of time to lock through. The 363-mile Erie Canal joins the Champlain Canal at Lock #1 just north of the Troy Federal Lock. The Richelieu River/Chambly Canal connects Lake Champlain with the St. Lawrence River.
Upon entering the canal system, usually the lock operators cluster each group of boats between each lock by waiting for the last boat in each group before flooding the lock, so there is no need for sail boats to try to keep pace with the power boats. Remember to make provisions for suitable supports for the unstepped mast. Many times marinas that provide mast stepping have a stockpile of discarded mast crutches, which you may be able […]
The day before we left Richards Bay to begin our voyage around the bottom of Africa we had a “braai” for Drake’s 10th birthday. The Zululand Yacht Club has huge lawns that are dotted with Bar-B-Que “braai” cook stations. Along with a resident Hippo who will occassionaly surface in the middle of the harbor.
Inviting all the cruising yachts from both Tuza Gazi Marina and Zululand, along with the local friends we met. A Braai really isn’t about the food you cook, but the company you enjoy it with. Pictured above is Drake with Duncan from s/v Moose. He is wearing a new Brazilian Football Jersey that Karin & Russ off s/v Moonwalker kindly gave him. When we check into Brazil in the next couple of months, I’ll make sure Drake is sporting his new gear!
Diligently checking the weather we finally had a window to work our way down the treacherous east coast, with nicknames such as the wild coast, the windy coast and the ship wreck coast. Appropriately named, as this part of the South African coast is renowned for the presence of abnormal waves, with the strong Agulhas current flowing south, sometimes up to six knots or more. Our charts reflected over 100 ship wrecks in this area. Leaving Richards Bay with predicted fine weather, we were cruising along with a two knot current in our favor. The weather announcement came over the VHF and forecasted a “light” southerly that would come at us about 0800. Well light southerly against the Agulhas current is one thing, thirty plus knots of wind directly opposed to the current builds up quick, steep seas very rapidly. Immediately we realized that the strength of the southerly was not going to abate so we pointed Blue Sky […]
The final leg of The Journey was to take Windsong from Harbortown Marina in Merritt Island up to Oasis Boat Yard in St. Augustine to be hauled out. I had convinced a few friends to crew for me and to entice them I arranged the final leg to be when one of the last shuttle launches was happening.
I wanted to have a good view of the shuttle launch, and I also wanted the final leg to be easy going so I got a head start by sailing up the ICW about 17 nm to Titusville Municipal Marina. Jenny and I did the sail on a Saturday after my month in Harbortown was done. The weather was great, with Southeast winds at 15 knots. The ride was relatively uneventful but definitely a fun day. It was my first time under full sail in the ICW, something different since steering between the markers under sail was a bit more difficult than steering offshore. I kept Windsong in Titusville for a couple of weeks until May 14th when the shuttle was set to launch. We all met up on Friday morning before the launch to load up the boat and get ready for the weekend cruise. The crew was Jenny, Jeff (from the first leg) and our friend Brian who flew down from Connecticut. The traffic was getting crazy pretty for the shuttle launch, so we were glad to get an early start. The launch was at 2:20 p.m., but we were ready to go by noon. We got some fuel from the marina and then decided to wait out the remaining time at anchor in the ICW. The marina is very spacious, but my slip was near the basin wall and I had 15-20knot winds pushing me forward into my slip. […]
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