Valcour Observations

Sloop Cove, Valcour Island
N 44 37.421 W 73 24.448

Wednesday, August 8
Today was another no wind day. The 25 knot NW wind forecast for last night, is now forecast for tonight. My confidence in the weather forecasts continues to decline. We motored over to Snug Harbor Marina, on the shore behind Valcour Island for a pump out. We spotted a free pump out next to a state owned boat ramp and tried to use that. We got within 20 feet of it, but could approach no closer because the water was too shallow. It was frustrating. We went to the marina instead and paid $10
for the pump out.

The bedrock of Valcour Island is limestone. (Is that correct? Can non igneous rock be bedrock?) In some spots, the fractured rocks show lots of fossils. Near the shore we found spots where there were narrow holes through the rock descending to the water 10 feed or so below. The holes were 1/2 inch to 3 inches in diameter and smooth sided. They seemed to be positioned along places where cracks in the rocks let the water in below. Clearly the holes were dissolved by water but water dripping
from above or shot up below. If water dripped from above, from what? A tree's lifetime would not be long enough to dissolve a 10 foot hole. It seems possible that the holes are mini blow holes. They could be formed as waves impinge into the wedge shaped openings caused by cracks. As the waves are halted by the dead end of the crack their energy is directed upward. If I'm right, under the right circumstances one should see jets of water squirting out of these holes propelled by wave energy.
I would love to know if my theory is correct.

Cormorants are a non-native species of birds that look like ducks, or like Loons. We see Cormorants all the way down the coast to the Florida Keys. However, they are more numerous up here. Cormorants are despised as nuisance birds. They tend to destroy the habitats they inhabit. Still, in the right circumstances they have a beauty of their own. We watched a large flock of perhaps 500 Cormorants in the morning. They moved from one part of the bay to the other with interesting dynamics.
Those at the back of the flock would take off and fly to the front, then land. Ones behind them would then do the same, and so on. In this manner the flock leapfrogged itself to make a slow forward progress. Who defined which way was forward and how this flock dynamics was organized is a mystery. It was fun to watch.

On the southern tip of Valcour Island is a small beach. One night, many years ago, I landed on this beach with my father Jerry, my son John, and my friend Walt. It was just around sunset and we thought to build a fire on the beach. What we saw though was a fantastic sight. From that beach we had unobscured views of the horizons to the east and the west. Just as the sun touched the horizon to the west, the tip of the moon appeared to the east. The sun continued to set and the moon continued
to rise in perfect unison. It was the one and only 100.000% full moonrise I've ever seen. It was fantastic luck to be able to observe that once in a lifetime event from a place where we had unobstructed views of both horizons. I'll never forget that sight.

Tonight in sloop cove we entered before most other boats. I dropped the hook and let out 100 feet of chain as usual, but on a whim I also ran a line 200 feet to the shore from the stern. Thus tied up we won't swing tonight. Winds are forecast to come from the North where the stern points. I don't know why I did it. I've seen other boats do it before, and I guess I wanted to experiment. After that, the harbor filled up and now it is crowded. Thinking it over, I see that if the line to shore
breaks in the middle of the night, that we'll swing 200 feet from where we are now before the anchor pulls tight. We would probably collide with another boat. If that happened and if I started the engine in panic, the stern line might foul in the propeller and make things very much worse. Even before this night is over, I conclude that the experiment was ill conceived. I wish I hadn't done it.