Reveling in Revelations

En Route, Lake Champlain, Vermont/New York

44 13.44 N 073 20.92 W

What joy. We awoke to a splendid morning. Looking out in the cockpit, we saw the guns of Fort Ticonderoga looming over us. The fort is a very fitting icon marking the entrance to the wider parts of the lake. Indeed, that's why the French built the fort on that spot; duh.

As soon as we had our morning coffee, Libby and I wasted no time. We mounted the boom fetched the mainsail and other sailing gear stowed away, and completed the rigging out of Tarwathie as a sail ready vessel. It was a labor of love.

Then I followed up on an earlier thread and I assigned Libby the job of re-rigging our six-to-one main sheet setup. It is something that looks so simple and elegant while rigged, yet so completely baffling when disassembled. I didn't stump her for long. She had a dim memory of doing it once before. In less than two minutes, she had the job complete. Simplicity revealed once again.

Libby starting

Done 2 minutes later.  Simplicity revealed

Then we started heading north. Libby took the helm while I continued with other rigging tours. I restored the wiring going up the mast. Then I dug deep deep into the bottom of our lockers and found the pieces of Big Bessie. Bessie is our 80 pound Luke anchor used only for hurricanes and anchoring in Lake Champlain.

Soon, Bessie revealed herself on the forward desk. The picture shows the rare event of seeing Bessie, Betty and Bonnie; our three anchors, all at the same time.

Bessie (foreground), Betty, and Bonnie (hanging)

Finally, the beauty of the mountains gradually revealed themselves as we continued northward. You see, at the southern end of the lake, mountains hem us in on either side. It is very pretty but nothing is visible other than the closest hillsides. As we move north, the Champlain Valley spreads out and the mountains become more and more distant. The valley spreads first to the East and later to the West. It isn't until we reach the main part of the lake until both the Adirondack and Green Mountain ranges are revealed in all their glory. Early on, we spotted Camel's Hump; the most recognizable and iconic of Vermont's mountains.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To us, is it much more beautiful to see a whole mountain range from 30 miles away, than the most spectacular single mountain from directly at its base. Compare the sight of the Rockies seen from Denver, as compared to as seen from Aspen.

Finally, the graceful lines of the newly completed Champlain Bridge were revealed to us as we rounded a corner. She's a fine bridge with nice lines.

The new Champlain Bridge

Tonight we'll enjoy the tranquility of Porter Bay, one of our favorite places. Oh boy, I can hardly wait.