Vergennes to Quacker Smith

At 10, I tried to depart from the dock, but I was unable to do so without risking scratching my hull.  The current was pushing me against the pier with metal posts.

I went to the nearby red house to ask the gentleman of the house to help me fend the boat from the metal posts.

It was easier to exit Otter Creek since I was more comfortable with the creek, and the current was in my favour.  I did 7 nm in 50 minutes.  

I headed to Burlington, but it was threatening to rain all afternoon, so I decided to anchor.  My choices were Quacker Smith, Shelbourne, or take a mooring ball at Burlington.  The rain started, and Quacker Smith was the closest, so I went there.  

It rained all afternoon.  I did an oil change and cleaned up the boat.  When the rain stopped, I flew the drone.

INSIGHT - Lake Champlain is a delightful sailing area.  I considered spending a summer here!

Whitehall to Vergennes

I got up early to make coffee using free power at the dock.  My neighbour, a Ranger Tug, offered me his coffee.

Lock C12 opened at 8, and I locked through with another sailboat.  It was easy sailing to Crown Point, and Lake Champlain opened up.  I was going to anchor at Port Henry to wait for Lisa, but the weather looked bad for the weekend, so we cancelled, and I continued north.  Norm suggested I check out Otter Creek.  The last time I tried was July 24, 2018, when we kept getting grounded in Field Bay.  I tried again, and it was easy.  

Scratch on dock

I made it to Vergennes and docked at the free dock.  The floating dock was not in, so I tied up to the frame where it was supposed to be attached.  Two minor scratches on BELLUM.

I flew the drone, walked around the town, and then came back for pork tenderloin.

I planned the Chambly locks with Norm and Hal.  It looks like Hal will come down, park the car at Chambly, and bike to St-Jean Lock 9, where he will do the Chambly locks with me, with the bike on board.

It was a long day

Fort Edwards to Whitehall

I slept in until 8:30, only to find that everyone had already left the dock at Fort Edwards.

I made a Nespresso and departed for C7, tying up at the rock wall just before the lock.  The dockmaster was doing C7 and C8.  I waited about 15 minutes while the lockmaster spoke with me to say the lock was being drained and should be ready soon.  Three other sailboats arrived, and I provided them with the lock status information.

We completed C7 and C8 without undue delay.

C9 changed direction from up to down.  My furler drum got caught on the edge of the lock as we descended and broke the furler foil.

C11 was uneventful.  There is no C10.

I fell behind and missed C12, but it was in my plan to stop at Whitehall since there were several free docks in Whitehall.  After C12, there were anchorages.  It was 4PM, and I had had enough.

I walked through a bit of Whitehall, but it wasn't exciting.  I expected Whitehall to be more whatever.  I bought some used DVDs

Brunswick to Wally s Leg

I weighed anchor at 10ish and lazily headed to Brunswick Landing, about 5 miles away, to get fuel.  

On the way, after crossing the Sydney Lanier bridge and passing the commercial dock, the engine died due to fuel starvation.  There should have been 7 hours left.  The gauge was low, and I was suspicious.

I dropped the anchor at 40 feet, added fuel to the tank, and commenced with bleeding the fuel system.  It wasn't going well, so I opened the secondary filter to refill it.  I found the O-ring had broken, but I had several spares.  Eventually, I got the engine started and arrived at Brunswick Landing Marina, where I purchased 18 Gallons of Fuel. My theoretical tank is 70 litres, which should be 18 gallons.  I filled the water tank and departed without any assistance.  

It was almost 1 PM, and I was tired and stressed.  I headed north towards Doboy and ended up at a lovely anchorage called Wally's Leg.  It was delightful, and I had a good shot or two of whiskey and BBQ, including some boneless pork ribs again.  

A lovely evening at a very isolated anchorage, all alone. 

Lost Rocna Anchor - AND halyard and high pressure floor for dingy

About 1830, the boat began emitting strange sounds from its hull.  The anchor rode was wrapped around the keel.  Winds and currents rotated the ship in 22 feet of water. 

We managed to spin the boat around to untangle it, but it kept getting caught.  Eventually, we were taking up the slack, and the 8-plait line broke.  Possible explanation later. 

We swapped the spare bent Rocna with 35 feet of chain and anchored in 13 feet of water, which was more open.  Rocky night. 

Explanation - I figured the only way the line could have broken was if it fell off the bow roller and got caught on a sharp edge.   I was aware of this possibility, but the person at the windlass was not familiar.  

Second realization, the line got cut by chafing on the keel.

She was very new to the process.  When I was swapping the anchor, she was driving the boat while the transmission was in neutral, and she eventually asked for permission to put it in forward.  

In the spirit of Richard Lariviere, I was responsible for letting a crew do what she was not competent to do.  I might have been better off resolving the issue single-handedly. 

Friday night was rock and roll. 

The bulkhead was squeaking.  Chatted on the Mirage Facebook group and with Maurice Gagnon.  Filed an accident report with Aviva on Saturday 

Saturday was Natalia's 55th birthday.  On hand, we had the Bahamas rum cake we purchased in Nassau. 

Saturday or Sunday, we moved back to the original anchor site.

Spent Sunday looking for the anchor.  We discovered we had lost the dinghy's high-pressure floor. 

I tried snagging with the dinghy anchor, but it slipped - it seemed to be a faulty bowline.

We tried free diving, but could not get to that depth. 

I tried using a fishing line to hook it, but that didn't work. 

A nearby boat with an Israeli couple had a Hookah Dive System, a battery-powered portable dive compressor for Tankless Diving, but I couldn't dive that deep.  Mostly anxiety, and I did not compensate enough and popped my ears.  Claire, a free diver, coached me through the Valsalva maneuver, which helped me recover the next morning. 

The Israeli couple tried to fish the chain using their anchor by dragging it on the seabed.  I caught it a couple of times, but eventually dropped it before retrieving it. 

 

Eventually, we found some lobster fishermen who easily dived and recovered the anchor and rode.  There was 50 feet of chain and only 30 feet of line. 

Also found that the main halyard holding the dinghy up had chafed and broken.  Chiheb had warned me about that, and I ignored him. 

Boca Raton to Miami

In Lake Boca Raton in the morning, I dived to inspect the shaft drive chain.  The water was clear and salty. 

The drive chain was good, but the anodes were pretty worn.  I had two anodes.  One for fresh, one for salt water.  I guess the freshwater one was pretty much corroded. 

I took off at 10:30.  I got much better at timing the bridges.  But as I got into Miami, I kept missing the bridge timing and wasted lots of time waiting for the next opening.  There was some showing, so I couldn't travel fast.

I arrived in Miami late, tired, and concerned about the Dodge Island bridge.  It says it is 65 feet, but I was very uncomfortable with it.  Maybe it was fatigue and the darkness.  I called Wally, and he strongly suggested I return and anchor between the third and fourth Venetian bridges. 

The next day, I crossed the Dodge bridge again, and the antenna definitely touched the bridge, even though it's supposed to be 67 feet.  My mast is 46 feet. 

I got fuel at Croydon, Marine, and then docked at No Name Harbour.  I tried to make Ramen for lunch, but the propane ran out.  Perfect - I had optimized my propane usage.  The third SodaStream was also almost empty.  Trifecta!   

I tidy up the boat, remove the propane tanks, prepare the battery for changing, and clean up the ship. 

I waited for Sandrito to pick me up.  He had trouble getting there and was trying to walk.  Eventually, he got there.  I re-anchored the boat and came back to the house, where I had a pork supper with Raul, Sandrito, Sandro, and Nelly.  Good reunion.