Boating again! To Westport, New York

Saturday, August 27 -- Burlington, VT to Newport, NY (30 miles)

It's been over two weeks since we were last out on the boat, so it was really nice to get back on the water again today. We left the Burlington Harbor Marina at 9:45 for a short run down the lake to the Point Bay Marina in Charlotte, VT to top off the fuel tank (it's the last available diesel stop in Vermont heading south, and VT prices are much better than NY prices due to lower taxes), get a pump-out and meet some friends to give them a tour of the boat. They took this great picture of us as we pulled away after dropping them off after a brief boat ride.

The scenery on Lake Champlain is spectacular, with mountains in the distance on either side. The first photo looks west to the Adirondacks just after leaving Burlington (with Dunder Rock in the foreground); the second shows some of the mountains behind Charlotte, VT (with Mount Philo in the middle); and the third shows the village of Essex on the New York side, with the Adirondacks in the distance. 

There is a car ferry that makes the three-mile crossing between Essex and Charlotte every half-hour during the summer (less frequently in the spring and fall, and not at all in the winter). Here is the ferry dock on the VT side (behind all the anchored sailboats),

and here is its Essex, NY dock (taken during lunch at the restaurant next door).

Westport is a charming little village, with many homes from the early 1800s, a few inns and shops, one main street, and no stop lights. The marina was a bit worse for wear, but the owners were friendly and competent, and it's right in town next to the town park and beach.

We arrived at Westport at 12:30, had a late lunch at the Gables Inn, then walked up the hill a quarter mile to a public golf course with some incredible scenery. We didn't see anyone else on the course until the final hole, so it was like playing on our private country estate course. John played eighteen holes in just over two hours, with Janet riding along for support and coaching. It was an unexpected and delightful treat. 

We had dinner on the boat because the marina restaurant looked a bit sketchy. We had good TV reception and treated ourselves to a couple of prime-time Saturday night PBS shows.

Sunday, August 27 -- Westport, NY

It was cool and windy today, with some chop on the lake, so we decided to spend the day in Westport -- with a morning excursion to Essex, another lovely old village (it's town hall dates back to 1790) about ten miles north. We had a "cab" driver recommended at the marina drive us to Essex in time for the 10am service at St. John's Episcopal Church, which was nice and very well attended. We had lunch afterwards at the Old Dock House, where we could watch the car ferries comes and go. The same driver then met us and drove us back to Westport. The driver grew up in Westport and now lives back in the area after many years in Albany and Buffalo and it was interesting to listen to her stories. 

We spent a quiet afternoon reading and resting, then had a lovely dinner at an upscale lakeside restaurant -- The Westport Yacht Club (though it is not really a yacht club). Here is the view of the Vermont shore and the Green Mountains that we had from our table.