Hi Craig, You pose the classic question to a child in the Baskin-Robbins ice cream store, that has 55 varieties of ice cream, - which flavor do you like? The obvious answer is all................... All sailing is good; some is better than others on any particular day; and some can be downright miserable, until you are in a snug harbor, the hook is down; you've combed the salt crystals out of your eyebrows after a hard passage, built a Martini, and dinner is soon to be served, in your now quiet and safe little world. Lake Champlain lies between Vermont and New York State and is 136 miles long - from the Canadian border to the start of the canal that takes you to Troy, NY and the Hudson River. It has the Adirondacks on one side off in the distance, and the Green Mountains of Vermont on the other side. Beautiful scenery; beautiful lake. The area is pastoral, with a low density of population. Burlington, Vermont is the largest city on the lake, all the other remaining towns are quite small. We stay at a B&B in Essex, NY, and have the M15 at the Essex Marina that has a small steep dirt ramp directly in the marina. In the past we drove to Willsboro, where NY State has a wide paved and very lovely ramp, at the bottom end of Willsboro Bay; we'd launched there and then sailed out of Willsboro Bay and back down the lake to Essex, for a very pleasant 15 mile sail. But, .........now the car and trailer are in Willsboro, you and the boat are at Essex Marina, and you have to retrieve the car. The previous B&B owners would act as taxi and take us back to Willsboro to retrieve the car. That's when I decided to try the Essex Marina ramp. The steep hill from the road to the Marina makes you swallow twice the first time you see it. The first time I hauled at the Marina (bad weather, so sailing back to Willsboro, was out of the question); I asked the B&B owner to haul me out with his Ford pickup truck. The next time, using my VW GOLF GTI, I found that the GTI, after getting a running start in the Marina parking area would haul the M15 up the steep hill in first gear without a problem. Courage gained! After that, I just used the Essex Marina ramp and simplified life. Trailer was parked in a back corner; we had our car for returning to the B&B and for going out to dinner in the evenings. Sailing on Lake Champlain is mostly a small boater's dream paradise. The mornings are flat calm till about 10 AM when the morning breeze starts to pick up. That's when I go out rowing for an hour or two in the NYMPH. By noon it is gently blowing about 10 knots, and you have a constant wind till about 6 to 7 PM when it starts to taper off to a the evening calm again. The water is very clear, and most people with cottages on the lake just have a pipe extending into the lake which supplies their drinking water. The lake is home to lots and lots of sailboats. A large number are owned by Canadians from the Montreal area. Friday late afternoon they arrive and all of a sudden you have to be able to speak French to get along! The Canadian boats range from about 25 footers up to about 50 footers, and on weekends the lake is covered with clouds of sails heading in all directions. There are very few powerboats, and the few that you do see are generally trawler types doing about 10 knots and hardly making a wake. These tend to be people who are making the circuit: up the Hudson River to Troy, NY; then through the New York State Barge Canal to Rochester. Rochester to Toronto, Canada, then down the St. Lawrence to Montreal; up the river connecting Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence; down through Lake Champlain and the canal, back to the Hudson River. The remaining powerboats are fishermen with an outboard trolling for fish. Sunday evening the Canadians all head back home, and from Monday to Friday, it's all yours! Gorgeous place. Of course, the winds can pipe up, and do, on occasion, so that is the day to visit Lake Placid or Ausable Chasm, or if it dares to rain during your vacation, you can take the ferry from Essex to Vermont and visit Burlington, or visit Plattsburg, NY. In Essex there is summer theater (if your timing is right), antique stores, Tag Sales, and other entertainment. So how does this compare with ocean sailing? For an M15 it's a small ocean, but you can cross the ocean in hours not in days or weeks. Lake sailing has an added advantage, no tides to worry about (21 foot tides in the English Channel! 3 foot tides in Connecticut; 6 foot tides north of Cape Cod) It's full of peace and quiet, which is why I go sailing.......... Of course, when I reach the other side of the ocean, the Vermont side, I do miss the Duty Free stores, with cheap Chanel No.5, Single Malt Scotch, and cases of Heinekens beer! I guess you can't have everything. But having 95% is mighty nice! Connie
You have me talked into Lake Champlain, Connie ... --Craig ----- Original Message ----- From: chbenneck@juno.com To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 2:15 PM Subject: Sailing Hi Craig, You pose the classic question to a child in the Baskin-Robbins ice cream store, that has 55 varieties of ice cream, - which flavor do you like? The obvious answer is all................... All sailing is good; some is better than others on any particular day; and some can be downright miserable, until you are in a snug harbor, the hook is down; you've combed the salt crystals out of your eyebrows after a hard passage, built a Martini, and dinner is soon to be served, in your now quiet and safe little world. Lake Champlain lies between Vermont and New York State and is 136 miles long - from the Canadian border to the start of the canal that takes you to Troy, NY and the Hudson River. It has the Adirondacks on one side off in the distance, and the Green Mountains of Vermont on the other side. Beautiful scenery; beautiful lake. The area is pastoral, with a low density of population. Burlington, Vermont is the largest city on the lake, all the other remaining towns are quite small. We stay at a B&B in Essex, NY, and have the M15 at the Essex Marina that has a small steep dirt ramp directly in the marina. In the past we drove to Willsboro, where NY State has a wide paved and very lovely ramp, at the bottom end of Willsboro Bay; we'd launched there and then sailed out of Willsboro Bay and back down the lake to Essex, for a very pleasant 15 mile sail. But, .........now the car and trailer are in Willsboro, you and the boat are at Essex Marina, and you have to retrieve the car. The previous B&B owners would act as taxi and take us back to Willsboro to retrieve the car. That's when I decided to try the Essex Marina ramp. The steep hill from the road to the Marina makes you swallow twice the first time you see it. The first time I hauled at the Marina (bad weather, so sailing back to Willsboro, was out of the question); I asked the B&B owner to haul me out with his Ford pickup truck. The next time, using my VW GOLF GTI, I found that the GTI, after getting a running start in the Marina parking area would haul the M15 up the steep hill in first gear without a problem. Courage gained! After that, I just used the Essex Marina ramp and simplified life. Trailer was parked in a back corner; we had our car for returning to the B&B and for going out to dinner in the evenings. Sailing on Lake Champlain is mostly a small boater's dream paradise. The mornings are flat calm till about 10 AM when the morning breeze starts to pick up. That's when I go out rowing for an hour or two in the NYMPH. By noon it is gently blowing about 10 knots, and you have a constant wind till about 6 to 7 PM when it starts to taper off to a the evening calm again. The water is very clear, and most people with cottages on the lake just have a pipe extending into the lake which supplies their drinking water. The lake is home to lots and lots of sailboats. A large number are owned by Canadians from the Montreal area. Friday late afternoon they arrive and all of a sudden you have to be able to speak French to get along! The Canadian boats range from about 25 footers up to about 50 footers, and on weekends the lake is covered with clouds of sails heading in all directions. There are very few powerboats, and the few that you do see are generally trawler types doing about 10 knots and hardly making a wake. These tend to be people who are making the circuit: up the Hudson River to Troy, NY; then through the New York State Barge Canal to Rochester. Rochester to Toronto, Canada, then down the St. Lawrence to Montreal; up the river connecting Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence; down through Lake Champlain and the canal, back to the Hudson River. The remaining powerboats are fishermen with an outboard trolling for fish. Sunday evening the Canadians all head back home, and from Monday to Friday, it's all yours! Gorgeous place. Of course, the winds can pipe up, and do, on occasion, so that is the day to visit Lake Placid or Ausable Chasm, or if it dares to rain during your vacation, you can take the ferry from Essex to Vermont and visit Burlington, or visit Plattsburg, NY. In Essex there is summer theater (if your timing is right), antique stores, Tag Sales, and other entertainment. So how does this compare with ocean sailing? For an M15 it's a small ocean, but you can cross the ocean in hours not in days or weeks. Lake sailing has an added advantage, no tides to worry about (21 foot tides in the English Channel! 3 foot tides in Connecticut; 6 foot tides north of Cape Cod) It's full of peace and quiet, which is why I go sailing.......... Of course, when I reach the other side of the ocean, the Vermont side, I do miss the Duty Free stores, with cheap Chanel No.5, Single Malt Scotch, and cases of Heinekens beer! I guess you can't have everything. But having 95% is mighty nice! Connie
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chbenneck＠juno.com -
Craig F. Honshell