Intrepid Monarch

Whitehall NY, N43 54 W73 24(10/14/05)We left Chipman Point around 0900. I see it as a milestone event because we are starting our trip south for the winter. The lake seems very narrow down on the south end. It felt like a river journey. The weather was cool but very pleasant, and the fall colors were nice.

After a while a very nice monarch butterfly landed on the boat and rode along with us for a while. I thought about his journey to Mexico. He (she?) was starting very late in the season and probably isolated from fellow monarchs. Mexico lies far away. I thought about the energy to make such a journey. I wonder how efficient the butterfly’s means of transport is (joules per gram payload per kilometer traveled). It must be many times more efficient than human transportation. I wonder if the butterfly eats during the journey or if it just uses stored energy. Libby and I thought that the butterfly could ride south with us and get a leg-up. Alas, a while, the butterfly took off and headed south on his own. We were traveling about 4.5 knots and the butterfly did about 6 knots. He disappeared into the sky in few minutes. Good luck intrepid butterfly.

After lunch we arrived in Whitehall at the bottom of Lake Champlain. Ahead of us lies lock 12, the beginning of the Champlain Canal. We’re going to wait here for Pete Vonie. Libby will take Pete’s car down to Albany. Pete and I will spend the night in Whitehall and start the canal in the morning.

Whitehall looks picturesque from the water, but ugly from up on the road. It is the birthplace of the United States Navy. There is a dam here and the water discharge today is rather violent because of the recent heavy rains in this area.

Pete is a teacher, so after supper I read to him the history of the world from the book called Anguished English. We both laughed so hard we cried. If you haven’t read that book I suggest that you look it up.