Day 36

Today we passed into the US!

Getting through Customs took about 1.5 hours. You arrive at an unmanned station and check in using an I-pad affixed to the wall of a 6x8’ ply-wood structure. The spiders had decided it was a nice home and webs festooned the shack and the only light was from a semi-translucent corrugated roof. Did I mention no ventilation?

Anyway, after an hour of entering data and applying for a boat decal on our phone (this is rather new) we finally finished the application. That was not the end. A customs officer had to review the application. After 20 minutes of waiting (and 2 Canadian families waiting for us to finish) a custom officer showed up on the I-pad and interviewed us. Easy-breezy process.

Once we left Customs we were off in some rather choppy water and stiff winds to Valcour Island ( considered the jewel of Lake Champlain)

As we got close to the island a storm front was coming through but luckily the thunder and lightning stayed a few miles away from us. We tucked into a cove with about 6 other boats and enjoyed hearing the rain patter on the canvas as we sipped drinks.

Day 37

Today we took the dingy to the island and hiked in a loop around 1/2 of the island. (about 5 miles) The Island is the site of the fist maritime battle in the Revolutionary War. There is a cemetery for the fallen soldiers but we didn’t find it. The island is a NY nature preserve park and has no inhabitants. There are all kinds of trees and flora to see and some bugs to annoy you. (I’m currently reading “The Overstory” and was seeing all the trees through new eyes.) After our 2 hour walk we went swimming and eased our muscles and calmed our bug bites:)

Later in the afternoon, another storm came through but yet again the lightning and thunder seemed to stay a few miles away from us.