Crazy

En Route, Lake Champlain
44 28.04 N 073 14.54 W

Our plan for the weekend was to go to Willsboro Bay.  Valcour, Porter Bay and Vergennes all tend to be crowded on weekends, making it a good time to visit Willsboro.  We'll have dinner Saturday night with our friends Bob and Carol who live on the shore of Willsboro Bay.

Friday was a dog day.  Hot (95F). Humid.  No wind.  After returning from Jenny's, I jumped in the lake.  What a delight to be able to do that.  No salt water, no stinging jellyfish, no pollution, not too cold.  Champlain is perfect for swimming.   On really hot days, I start with a baseline of a plunge once every 60 minutes, and adjust from there.  Libby is a bit more tolerant of heat than I, so she does it less.

Anyhow, after my plunge , I got a great idea.  Instead of motoring to Willsboro in the evening or morning, why not do it after dark?  Night passages on the calm lake are charming.  I proposed to leave at 2030.

Then Libby had a crazier idea.  Why not leave at 0300, and sail through the dawn hours?  That way we could enjoy this week's celestial show.  Did you hear, the Pleadies, Jupiter, Venus, and Aldebaran, Uranus and Neptune all line up in close proximity in the pre-dawn sky.  This time of year that comes really early, about 0400.

Now it is 0300 and we're under way.  The air is deliciously cool.  Alas, there are a few clouds in the sky, but not too many.  We have the whole lake to ourselves; no other vessels out here.  No shoals in our way.  Life is good.

I think Libby was crazy like a fox. 
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p.s. Just as we left the anchorage, a single skyrocket exploded, shot from the shore just behind us.  Were they celebrating our departure?

Update: 0330   It's beautiful out here, but the sky show was a bit of a bust.  First, the moon intruded right next to where the planets are.  Even though it was less than 1/4 full, it's light spoiled our view.  Second, although the sky is cloudless, it is very hazy and all the stars are dimmed.  Oh well, we'll just have to try again on a less humid morning.