JULY 12, 2007...Burlington, Vt.

Beautiful day...in fact the radio station announced it was one of the 10 best days of the year in Burlington. I agree; 80 degrees, a light breeze, blue sky, and sunny. We have been waiting for this day and took advantage of it.

We got up early and enjoyed coffee and the blue sky over the marina (picture 1). Burlington was only a short 20 miles away and there was no hurry.

We decide to tour Lake Champlain, instead of heading for Burlington. We followed the west shore (NY side) up to the port of Essex and then on up into Willsboro Bay. The shore was lined with cliffs and the water is over 2oo feet deep right next to the shore. Willsboro Bay is about 5 to 7 miles long and reminds one of the fjords of Norway. There were a number of little coves filled boats anchored up next to shore. Also, the State Parks has put out a number of balls that you can tie off in fairly deep water. You could spend a month just anchoring out in different coves. There are also a number of abandoned lighthouse and the one pictured is Split Rock Point.

We then crossed the lake to Burlington and cruised Shelburne Bay before entering the harbor. We fueled at the ferry dock marina and the dockmaster mother and family were from Seneca Falls, our home town. It took a long time to fuel, due to conversation. Small world.

We are docked at the Community Marina right downtown. After hearing about how great this area is we have decided to stay until Monday or Tuesday. We reserved a car for the next three days. ML likes to build the short term nests!

Lunch was at the marina rest., splash and the Italian BLT is to die for. We meet our dock mate Larry and he filled us in on our next leg of the trip and offer to review our charts this weekend. Boaters are great people...can you imagine a golfer helping you line up your puts.

The afternoon was spent enjoying the sunshine. We then walked over to the bar at the Ferry Dock, where they had a band outside on the dock, for a few drinks. The band was pretty good and the crowd kept growing all evening. Sunshine and nice weather bring out the crowds.

Let's hope the weather stays nice for a while.