Aug 21. Day 127. On to the Inland Sea. Keeler Bay. 17.2 Nm. Total 2472

We retraced our steps out of Pelots Bay and thru the cut in the old Railroad line to re-enter Lake Champlain. We’re met with a bit more wind from the south, than the weather reports told us, so we adjusted our anchorage for the night. Will head to Keeler Bay on the south end of Grand Isle. We aren’t traveling far, taking our time to explore the lakes many bays and islands.

Traveling south, we pass North Hero Island and turn east to The Gut. The Gut separates North Hero from South Hero or Grand Isle. We pass through the old railroad line as we did yesterday and continue east under a bridge to enter the Inland Sea, which are Lake Champlain waters between the islands and the main shore of Vermont. See chart. You can see the width of the Lake in this section and how much of the lake is filled with islands.

New York side Grand Isle or South Hero Isle Vermont side

As we enter the Inland Sea, the mountains rise up before us. They range in height from 1,982-4,393 feet. The tallest mountain is Mount Mansfield.

The shores are mostly farms and homes, some on rocky bluffs. The Vermont mainland is less developed than Grande Island with only two towns, forest and farms.

As we enter Keeler Bay, we pass Kellogg Island which made for a good picture.

We anchored in the south end of the bay which gave us the most protection from the wind.

Some random shots

Bill and I reflected on our time in Canada

Summer cottages along the shore with red Adirondack chairs

Twenty to thirty five foot motor cruisers, the preferred boat in Canada, also many aluminum boats

Friendly and helpful boaters and townspeople

French Canadians patience with our lack of French, Moi no parle Francois. We did use a lot of tres bien, bonjour and merci

Dogs on most boats

Lots of lock walls and docks to tie boats up to for free and lots of canals, some quite narrow

Eh and no worries

People in bathing suits in 70 degree weather

Poutine and Shepherds Pie and great pastries!

Huge areas of farmland

Canadas large area 38 million square miles and only 38 million people- mostly concentrated in Quebec and Ontario on the St Lawrence and the Great Lakes

Minks, black squirrels, flying squirrels, lots of ducks and Canadian Geese

The Canadian flag

Sidewalk cafes

Spiders and more spiders, having to clean webs off the boat daily

Great sunsets and lots of stars visible at night

Seasonal temporary boat docks that are installed in the Spring and removed each Winter

Flower baskets hanging from street lamps and from shop porches.

Quaint little towns with shops and cafes in older homes

Limestone and granite buildings, the highlight was the Parliament Buildings

Church architecture with tall steeples and the grand cathedrals

Rock islands and granite cliffs

Forested shores and islands

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

Day 64 We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina. We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic. I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built. As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction. The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its landmark tower. The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up with Memorial Day revelers as we went by. Next were t...

Crustacean Travels

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