Finally, I got a big enough weather window and enough boat to attempt a trip to Valcour Island and the northern half of the lake. Valcour is about 45 miles north of my slip in Port Henry and there's a lot of open water in between. Converse Bay is about half way there and is where the lake starts to opens up. So on August 26'th I stocked the boat with all kinds of goodies and headed north. I had a nice 10 to 15 breeze from the south west that I rode north on a broad reach all the way to Converse Bay. Tucked behind Cedar Island in Converse, I spent a quiet restfull night.
Anchored for the night in Converse Bay.
The anchorage behind Cedar Island on Converse Bay is protected from all directions.
The next morning I woke to a beautiful day with a gentle breeze out of the north. Unfortunately I was headed north so it looked like a long day of tacking ahead of me. I started out doing just that, but there was so little wind that each tack was taking forever and barely moving me up lake. So after I wasted a few hours boiling in the sun I started my motor and headed straight north. I passed the four brothers and was almost to Schuyler Island when I realized I no longer had a dinghy trailing behind me. BUMMER! I turned around and started searching. It took me about an hour of backtracking, but in the end I was lucky enough to find it. It was just a bit south of the four brothers bobbing up and down like it was having a great old time. I snagged it, tied it up and resumed my journey north.
Just north of Converse Bay is the Essex Ferry.
There's nothing like a pretty spinaker.
Burlington on the east shore of the lake.
The Four Brothers.
The Four Brothers. I found my dinghy happily bobbing around by the red X
When I got to Valcour, I found Smugglers Harbor full and headed up to Sloop bay to look for an anchorage. It was a bit crowded but I found a spot and settled down for the night. The next morning I headed to the Peru boat launch and picked up my friend Don. Once he loaded his stuff on the boat we headed back to Vaclour and this time we found a spot in Smugglers Harbor.
Valcour. The arrows indicate Sloop Bay, Smugglers Harbor and the Peru boat launch
Anchored in Sloop Cove.
After we dropped anchor in Smuglers harbor, Don cooked up some chicken.
The next morning we headed over to Malletts Bay. The wind was just right
so we sailed across the lake on a close reach, eased through the breakwater into outer
Malletts Bay and sailed on into the inner bay.
Malletts Bay Chart. Arrows point to the entrance through the breakwater and to
the little cove where we stopped for a swim
The last time I was in Malletts bay I accidentally sailed right into
the middle of the Lightning Worlds. This time it was just the sunday afternoon races.
After a swim to cool off, we sailed back across the lake to drop
Don off at his car. From there I headed south and made Converse Bay by 11PM. I watched
the sun go down along the way and was treated to a beautiful Adirondack night sky. The
next morning I motored the rest of the way home.
Home Page
Boat Main Page
Bristol 24
Moving Echo
Converse Bay
Valcour Island
Catalina 22
Cats Paw II
Valcour Island 2009
Cole Bay 2010
Vergennes 2010
Victoria 18
Trips in 2006
Delta Lake Trip
Sacandaga Lake
Trips in 2007
First Sail 2007
Saratoga Lake
VicFest 2007
Intro
Breakfast
Parking Lot
Moonlight Bay Inn
Sailing Pics
Video
Upgrades
Boom Tent
Topping Lift
Comments