Port Henry, NY to Vergennes, VT

Today turned out to be as amazing as yesterday was challenging. Lake Champlain settled down overnight and we slept well. The sun was out all day, with light southerly winds and no rain in the forecast. We took a small side trip, and traveled 16 miles north to Otter Creek, then continued 7 miles upriver to Vergennes, VT.  Named for the Comte de Vergennes, the French Foreign Minister during the American Revolution who greatly aided our cause, it is Vermont’s first city and its smallest, with a population of 2,550. Situated around a stunning waterfall and natural source of energy, it was a shipbuilding hub in the 18th & 19th centuries, and built much of the fleet that fought in the War of 1812. Map Link: Vergennes, VT

The minute we tied up at the free town dock in Macdonough Park, a man approached us and asked for help. He explained that his buddy had launched his boat nearby and ran aground in the shallows between the boat ramp and the falls and he was hoping that we would be willing to go over and pull him off. We could see that neither the man nor his vessel were in distress, and were very hesitant to venture into unfamiliar, poorly charted, shallow water at the base of a waterfall. As I continued to discuss the situation with the buddy, the fire department showed up, launched their rescue boat and quickly pulled the boat off of the sandbar that he was stuck on—problem solved. As he motored away from the falls and towards us, I admired his classic craft, which appeared to be powered by a wood-fired steam boiler. I did not admire his boat-handling skills, however, as his course was erratic in the strong current, it took him several attempts to land his vessel, he almost ran into Dragonfly, and he generally appeared to be in over his head. There was lots of room at the public dock, but he chose to tie up to a private pier, whose owner came outside to assist. The boat stayed there briefly, then went back to the launch ramp, where it was pulled out and he drove away. Kathleen and I looked at each other and said “what just happened?” We later spoke with the dock owner, who said he knew the guy, and he was visibly shaken from the experience and was done boating for the day.

Vergennes is a gem of a town, with parks, paths and a charming, vibrant Main Street. It was a warm day, with a high of 86F, and we took a break from exploring to visit the public library, one of the ways we cool off without air conditioning aboard. We had some outstanding pizza at Rockers Pizzeria, then came back for our nightly cribbage match, reading, blogging, and enjoying the beautiful waterfall that is 500 feet from the bow of our boat.