Willsboro Bay

The Champlain valley is sometimes called Vermont's "Banana Belt" since the lake moderates temperatures (until it freezes over.) Some areas haven't seen frost yet, so you can still get local tomatoes and peppers at the farmer's market.


Yesterday we launched from the back (main lake) side of Shelburne Shipyard on Shelburne Point with a destination of Willsboro bay on the New York side.



Tom's boat is anchored in the water. Still too new for him to let it rest on the sand.

On the way we passed the Four Brothers islands. They've been taken over by cormorants. They strip all the green growth off trees for their nests. When the trees are dead they seem just has happy nesting on the ground. In the end they drive off other ground nesting birds that really have to be on islands for protection from predators.



We crossed Willsboro bay and paddled down the mainland side. Some of this rubble is natural, and some is debris from blasting out the railroad bed near the top of the picture.


We lunched on shore by this trestle.


There are some nice cliffs too..


This was the first time using my recently finished tuiliq with the Gulfstream. It keeps the cockpit a lot drier than my old spray skirt. Either I just rolled up, or the photographer caught me in a hellacious sneeze.


Here we still have about 5 miles of open water to go. Dave with Camel's Hump and 2 loons in the background: