July 3, 2013 Leaving for the Champlain Canal

The anticipated bad weather and flooding was only minor and we were allowed to stay on the Waterford dock until today.  The steam tug boats  will begin arriving today and we have to vacate.  So we're finally on the move again and heading for the Champlain canal and Lake Champlain.


 The boat has been slimmed down but to keep us below 17' we'll have to tow the dinghy.  The first Lock opens at 8am and we'll be part of a little flotilla of 3 other boats.  I took both radars down and cobbled together a crate and some bungee cords to keep the mast below the level of the solar panels.  As a last step we put up a whisker pole set at 17' 1" on the bow.  If it scrapes I know we have about 6" of space left.





We've been in Waterford for a little over 3 weeks.  All the folks here have been very gracious and we know many of them by name.  But as comfortable as it is, we are anxious to get moving.  We're still anticipating arriving in WI by early August.  We'll need to purchase a Rideau Canal pass in addition to the Trent-Severn Canal pass we've already procured.  Not sure what other unanticipated expenses we'll have but in light of the long delays on the Erie it's worth it.