It was a surprising idea, even a worrisome one, proposed by David’s father: in order to have a vacation in Vermont, which at the time required New Yorkers to quarantine on visit, why not live and sail on the family sailboat?
David has experience sailing, but nothing this big. He’s taken me out a few times on boats in the 23-26 foot range, as well as a sunfish, but nothing like this: a Vancouver 32 cutter with enclosed pilothouse. The Wind Rose is a fine ship, one that could comfortably sleep the two of us, with a two-range galley and inboard diesel motor.
It was really, really hard to say no, and after an initial trial weekend, we decided to give it a go.
We drove up in early October; by then, the lake water would be cooling and the air turning crisp. We were a little worried about overnight air temperatures, so we brought a lot of layers: blankets, clothes, extra jackets, wool socks. This was in addition to the food for galley cooking: breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks. We also brought on potable water, because while the ship has water tanks suitable for rinsing dishes, the water tanks are thirty-five years old and, according to the owner, difficult to clean.
While it was a bit embarrassing how much stuff we had, we were fortunate to load up at a slip in the marina, a bit south of Burlington, Vermont. We had charts and some good anchorages marked on them. We took a look at the weather and went for a bit of a sail, before returning to the marina for our first overnight stay. We’d done some preliminary research.
Overall, the forecast for wind kept us south. While we might have headed north, we wanted to take the first few days easy, and not get stuck too far away to come back without much effort.
We awoke early and had breakfast, then started determining our routine: listening to the weather forecast over the radio and determining our goals for the day.
Day 1
Arrived Charlotte ~1500. Met P&D. P and David went to Wind Rose to bring her in to the slip; D and I brought everything to the slip. After cleanup, we loaded the boat; P&D helped us back out. And tonight we are moored outside the marina.
Essentially, we sailed for a couple of hours and came right back to the boat’s normal harbor, content to sleep aboard the vessel.
Day 2
Awake ~0630. Slept well. Snug in the second cabin. Fog surrounds us, though can still see shore and nearby vessels.
Coffee & Oatmeal. David awake ~0700.
The weather prediction for Wednesday has eased up a bit.
Anchored for lunch in Kingsland Bay. Practiced anchoring. Bit of a trick lee-cocking but we got it right, 10′ depth 1730. Sailed to Westport. We tacked south all day. After departing Kingsland Bay, steered west of Diamond Island, looked forever for the buoy marking Fields Bay. Took a look at Barn Rock Harbor but found it too cozy. Then sailed over to Basin Harbor and considered mooring there, but at it was only mid-afternoon we decided to sail over to Westport [read La Morte D’Arthur] where we decided to tie up for the night
The second day was our first day of really sailing. We listened to the weather forecast. We plotted basic courses on the chart. We chose multiple destinations, unsure how far we’d get. We sailed.
We would return to some of these places. Much of the first few days were simply getting familiar with the area, as well as gauging how far and how fast we could sail.
It was foggy in the morning, but but the time we were done with breakfast, it was already burning off to become a beautiful day.
The ship itself proved quite comfortable. In our trial run we’d slept forward, in the V-berth, but I found it a bit high to climb in and out of. We used that for storage and stayed in the side cabin.
We had been a bit concerned about heat. The ship has a propane heater, which proved brilliant at providing nighttime warmth. We also learned that the sun would heat the cabin up quickly, once it was up.
The galley proved more than adequate as well. The ship has an icebox built in, meaning it wasn’t refrigerated but, with some ice in, would keep things cool quite a while. The two-burner range worked, but the oven not so much; to my amusement the entire apparatus is mounted on a pivot, so it can swing with the ship. I didn’t cook on the go, but there were one or two rolly mornings where it was tempting to let it roll freely.
Breakfast was mostly oatmeal and fruit, though we did do pancakes a couple of days. Coffee was a must.
We didn’t have lunch so much as a snack plate – something we could either sit down to, or take turns snacking while we were sailing. Dinner was only put on once the boat was settled in for the night.
Day 3
Good overnight stay at Westport. Planning. general Plan to sail ar Northwest Bay, then head north, stopping in cove for lunch.
Tuesday looks blowy. Plan to be Point Bay Marina tonight.
We spent most of the day sailing. First, to Button Bay, staying clear of Button Island […] practiced anchoring, which is difficult given how the anchor mounts. Then, kept a course to Barn Rock Bay [Harbor]. Anchored there, harbor depth was steep. Played out >100 feet of line. Met fellow sailor and exchanged pleasantries. Went ashore ~1 hour to Barn Rock Ledge, splendid views. There is a youth program rowing gigs across the lake to our harbor.
Thence to Point Bay Marina […]. Overnight, on a mooring ball. Tuesday looks blowy, possible sail. Consider land lodging for bad weather. But optimistic not.
Barn Rock was great. It was simply daunting, because it is a small cove with a very steep dropoff. There’s a narrow window between too-deep and too-shallow. In hindsight we could have anchored farther in, but we didn’t want to cramp our neighbor.
We could hear them from almost a mile away – the sound of kids, rowing hard in a race across the lake. By the time we climbed down and were sailing again, they were rowing back, and we steered around them.
The weather was predicted to be formidable Tuesday (Day 4) and possibly thunderstorms on Wednesday, so we set out to “home base” of Point Bay Marina. As I recall though, after consulting with the owner and looking at the wind, we opted to stay in Kingsland Bay, south and facing north across Town Farm Bay to see “home base”.