I arrived amid a sea of Motor Yachts in all shapes and sizes. I’ve never seen so many boats packed in so tightly in a Marina. This looked like a major party – and it was. I found a spot to tie off and I climbed up on the docks. I hadn’t been on the dock a minute when I met Katie’s Dad. Like me, he was surprised at how quickly I made it here, but running with the tied helped a lot.
Leaving the Capital area I entered the Industrial Area. I began to get worried. There was no place for me to get out of the water. Lined by concrete and steel walls on one side and oil storage facilities on the other, I wondered how long it would be before I found a safe place to pull out if that storm hit. I’m not concerned with rain, but rather lightening. My Lightening Detector was silent so I was happy.
As the Barge was approaching me from the front, they were approaching me now from the back though they pulled to Starboard. Just as the barge got to us, I heard a large BANG. I stopped paddling, which meant the wind was now blowing me backwards and as soon as the barge was past us, I saw their boat immobilized.
I got into the water only to discover I was not alone here. A River Otter was swimming in circles around me. He’d swim by in an arc just out from me and then go under the water as he swam right by me and then repeat the act. I hadn’t brought my camera with me so I finished washing up and walked back to get it. Upon returning again, I realized that he was living right on the shore I was entering. No wonder he was swimming circles around me. This time though, he stayed further away from me.
I was approaching the Chanel and the helicopter was above the water. There were Police and Firemen all along the shoreline and on the opposite shore; they were launching an rescue boat. This wasn’t good. I had been paddling without my PFD on but quickly got into it and zipped it up as I paddled into this mess. With that the helicopter flew overhead and its wash nearly knocked me off my boat.
Lock 6 was in sight and I was paddling comfortably as there was no rush, then I heard it. I turned around to see a barge coming in behind me. I began paddling hard for two reasons. One; I did not want to miss the lock though I am not sure they would let me share it with the barge. Two; The closer I was to that lock, the slower it would be going which meant I would not have to deal with its giant wake and Three; The channel was very narrow where I was. There was a lot more room for him to pass me at the lock.
As I approached Lock 7 I heard a horn toot, a very loud horn. I looked up ahead at the lock and there was a giant barge sitting in it getting lifted. I radioed the Lockmaster. Lock 7 Do you copy? Lock 7 he replied. Let me know when it’s clear to enter.
Donning my rain gear, I left the restaurant and headed down to the boat docks. I launched and made my way south along the Champlain Canal. It was really quiet and I imagined a time when the canal was busy with commerce as remnants of its once former center of economic resource stood erect on the banks as I paddled past. Every once in a while I’d come across a little private dock and path that would lead back to a house, but other than that the canal was quiet and lonesome except for an occasional boat that would motor past in the opposite direction.
Lake Champlain Done!
Today I officially completed paddling Lake Champlain from the Canadian Border in Alburgh, VT to its end at the Whitehall Lock. Lake Champlain through everything at me from the start, but on my final day, the wind changed direction and blew out of the north giving me a push off the lake and the north draining Lake Champlain somehow changed direction and was flowing south, perhaps due to the low water levels now. It was like the lake was giving me a send off party.
The storm passed directly overhead but split in two missing us completely. Later that day, I ran into the owners of a very large trawler who told me they were listing at 12 degrees in that wind. He too was seeking shelter. After it passed, I hit the water again trying to make to a spot that would give me just one more day on the lake. The folks that gave me shelter told me about a marina down where the lake narrows. I headed for it.