Wednesday June 26th

Brett here again. The sailing gods did not hear my prayer - we awoke on Wednesday to a gray and misty morning with sporadic rain spattering down on Quinita. After a hearty breakfast we left the mooring in Burlington harbor, southbound about 13 miles down lake to Converse Bay. We had barely cleared the breakwater when lightning began to arc down again from the west. Ah, now I got it - the sailing gods decided that my first day of learning some of the rudiments of sailing should be a challenging one with lots of variety - rain, lightning, fog, and very light and variable winds. 

Once we got out into open water and raised the main sail and the genoa sail (I was pleased as an Italian to see my people got one of their cities into the sailing lexicon) Ron put me on the wheel and said we would be beating (zig-zagging into the wind). My ego certainly took a beating as I frequently overcorrected at the wheel and slowed our progress even more as the genoa lost the meager wind. With light shifting winds we were only making 1 knot or so boat speed most of the time so progress was already slow.

Rain was falling heavy now and the occasional lightning flash made me feel like a celebrity caught leaving rehab by the paparazzi. Then fog moved in and we lost our only visual reference point, an island off to port, and I got a crash course in reading the electronic nautical chart and keeping my other eye on the compass. It was cold and wet in the cockpit and Robyn sat smiling at the table in the cabin, warm and dry, drinking coffee and reading a magazine like she was on a cruise ship while I soldiered on under Ron's ever-patient but watchful eye.

After about 20 miles of sailing due to the zig-zags and everyone having a turn at the wheel, we neared Converse Bay under brightening skies in the late afternoon. We anchored in the middle of the bay in sunshine, finally, and had a nice swim, followed by drinks and appetizers in the cockpit while we dried off as the sun set over the Adirondacks to the west. Now this was what I had dreamed about when Ron and Teresa extended this invitation to us months ago!

As dusk gathered Ron grilled salmon fillets on a nifty little gas grill that clamped to the stern while Teresa prepared asparagus, carrots, and spiced couscous in the galley and then broke the silence that had settled over our post happy-hour mellow scene with the pop of a wine bottle cork that served as our dinner bell to sit down at the table. We ended the meal with some locally-made fruit and chocolate sweets that Teresa had bought in Burlington and after some more chit-chat called it a night. As we settled satiated into our berths, a light breeze kicked up and Quinita rocked us to sleep and into dreams of clear skies and a steady wind for our sail back to Burlington in the morning.

Ship’s Log: 2595.6nm, Today's log: 23.1nm, Season total: 141.7nm.

Tuesday , June 25

Brett here – this is not a mutiny by the latest guests on Quinita - Ron and Teresa  have graciously offered me the slot as guest blogger. We arrived in Burlington at the appointed time, 2 p.m., much to Ron’s surprise. He brought the dinghy in to meet us at the dock and was pleased to see we had minimal luggage (I’m an ultralight backpacker, and used to packing light) – but had included in our booty some Pinot Grigio and a rack of Otter Creek Hop Session Ale.

It was a stinking hot day but the gathering clouds indicated relief was in sight, though not perhaps in the form we expected. Lightning began to flash beyond the breakwater and I wondered aloud about the conductivity of an aluminum mast as Ron breezily brushed off my concerns and focused on pouring a round of beers. Rain fell heavily and though we tried to wait it out eventually we gave in and donned our rain gear for the dinghy ride to the dock for our planned evening out on the town. I recommended a newish brewpub I had read about and discovered that Ron of course was way ahead of me regarding where Burlington’s best beers could be found, having already conducted numerous multi-pint fact finding missions .

We had an opening round at the Vermont Pub and Brewery, and then happily strolled across the street, which was finally rain-free, to American Flatbread/Zero Gravity Brewery, which offers the killer combination of artisanal pizzas and excellent on-premises brewed beers. Ron and I were in beer heaven after finding that Zero Gravity had a cask-conditioned bitter called London Calling, which brought to mind the best ales of that city, with apologies to and possible copyright infringement on The Clash’s song.

A post-dinner stroll around the downtown area worked off the pints and pizza, though Ron had the good sense to buy a growler of Zero Gravity’s bitter for tomorrow, and for extra weight for him to do bicep curls with as we walked.

After dessert and coffee on Quinita, we finally retired to our berths for a good night’s sleep and a silent prayer for good weather for our sail tomorrow.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday 22nd, 23rd 24th June

Drove down to Salem MA, for Kay and Vin’s wedding.  It was a great wedding and everyone seemed to have fun.  Went down to CT on Sunday to visit Teresa’s mom.  Returned on Monday and spent Monday evening on the mooring in a nice thunderstorm.  Tomorrow, (Tuesday), Robijn and Brett are arriving to spend 2 days with us. 

Friday 21st June

Spent the day preparing to leave the boat for the weekend so that we could attend Kay and Vin’s wedding in Salem, MA.  This included a ton of laundry and cleaning up the boat.  We had planned to anchor for the night, and pick up a mooring on Saturday morning before leaving for MA.  However, we discovered that Burlington had a food and wine festival this weekend and towards the end of the day, several boats were coming in and picking up moorings.  So we decided to spend Friday night on the mooring as well, just to ensure we would have one for the weekend. 

Thursday 20th June

Teresa went for walk up a hill she hadn’t climbed yet and discovered Vergennes Northlands Job Corps Academy consisting of many old brick buildings and after getting back to the boat she googled to find that it’s a no cost school providing job counseling and training for 16 to 24 years olds -Northlands.jobcorps.gov.

We then had a leisurely motor down the 7 miles of Otter Creek back to the lake.  A gentle breeze was blowing so we hoisted sails and sailed (to windward naturally) most of the way back to Burlington.  The winds were light – between 4 and 8 knots which made for a pleasant, albeit slow, beat.  One of the nice things abut sailing, particularly when winds are light and the boat is quiet, is that you get to see nature close up.  This island is called Stone Boat, 44 14.19N 73 20.06W.  At 5pm we admitted defeat in 3 knot winds and motored the rest of the way.  Anchored at North beach again for the night.  

Ship’s Log: 2572.5nm, Today's log: 28.3nm, Season total: 118.6nm.

Wednesday 19th June

We rode our bikes to the Otter Creek Brewery in Middlebury.  An absolutely gorgeous ride with plenty of hills.  Well this is Vermont after all.  The brewery pub was excellent – small and not very busy on a Wednesday lunchtime, so we got to talk to the brewmaster about beer.  We had beer samplers and a plate of Vermont cheese and sausage samples – just right to go with the beer.  And of course we got our beer passports stamped.  Only 2 to go for the T shirt!

The ride back was just a hilly with the additional benefit of a headwind. 

The town dock is very nice but has no facilities such as showers so Teresa rigged up some shower curtains in the cockpit and we both had sun showers. 

In the evening, Dee came to stay over and shorten her commute.  We had a very nice evening and dinner at the 3 Squares Café on Main Street. 

Ship’s Log: 2544.2nm, Today's log: 0.0nm, Season total: 90.3nm.

Tuesday 18th June

We headed south to Vergennes, 44 10.05N 73 15.37W.  Vergennes is the smallest “City” in the US, with a population of 2,500.  It’s 7 miles up Otter Creek and we had planned to visit last season, but the lake’s water level was too low.  With all the recent rain, no problem this year!  The minimum depth we encountered was 9 feet.  It’s a very nice town, with a free town dock which has views of a beautiful waterfall.  There’s also a brewery nearby – the Otter Creek Brewery in Middlebury, about 12 miles away.  I wonder what we’ll do tomorrow. 

Ship’s Log: 2544.2nm, Today's log: 23.7nm, Season total: 90.3nm.