Nearly Perfect Day

North Burlington, N44 30 W73 15
(08/17/05) Too bad for Jenny's friends. Christian and Robin were going to come sailing with us today but they couldn't make it. It was just Jenny and Libby and I. The winds were strong today 20-25. We put up all three sails, took one reef in the mainsail and beat up the lake on starboard tack. Tarwathie just heeled a mere 20 degrees, and moved out at 6 knots.

We sailed across the lake to Port Kent where the Burlington ferry meets New York. The trip back was even faster. 6.3 knots.

Jenny had to help Christian with some work so we took her back to the Burlington Boathouse and dropped her off. Then Libby and I went out to sail again.

At the end of the day we returned to the borrowed mooring. This time it is calmer here and also this time I attached us to the mooring buoy with a chain (primary) and a rope pennant (backup). It should be secure enough while we're away for several days.

All evening I had to keep calling Libby up on deck again and again. "Come see this." I said, "It's even more beautiful." First there was the silhouette of the Adirondacks against the sky. The air had cleared so there was no haze and visibility was unlimited. Then there was the beauty of all the different vessels on the lake, ferries, sailboats, cruise boats, and tourist excursion boats. Then there was the golden sunset. The sunsets seen from Burlington are legendary. New York's Adirondack Mountains are best seen from Vermont. Then, post-sunset the high clouds were illuminated in gold from beneath. Then, an hour later, a nearly full moon rose over the ridge behind us. Soon after that, all the stars were blanked out by moonlight, leaving only planets visible. Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were all in a line marking the plane of the ecliptic.