We woke up ready to work. After breakfast, we bagged everything that was bagable including pillows, sheets, cushions, dishes, silverware, etc. and threw dryer sheets into the bags to deter the mice.
Then I cleaned the head, the refrigerator and got every little crumb off the floor while Matt took the duffle bags off the boat. After we pumped out the holding tank, we had to move the boat to the dock near the lift. The marina is very tight to manuveur in and the wind was gusty. Matt was able to get Blue Moon through the maze of docks and boats then to the staging dock without an incident. I was thinking at the time (and Matt later stated) that four months ago, that would have been an extremely challenging and stressful docking. After she was lifted out of the water, she was pressure washed to remove five months of slime and grime from her bottom. At 1:30, Tom and Luke went to work winterizing the boat and were done by 3:00. Tom commented that the best type of hurricane preparedness is to bring the boat up to Vermont. Matt finished up on a couple last minute chores, then paid the marina bill. At 3:30, our Enterprise driver arrived to pick us up. He was very old...probably 80 years old. He couldn't hear and he kept turning his head to lip read as he drove, making me very nervous. We picked up our Enterprise car and had a very pretty ride through Vermont country side. The leaves were beginning to change color. We spent the night at the Hillside Inn in Killington. We haven't been to Killington for 27 years. Once at the Inn, we checked on Irma and saw that it was tracking further west closer to our home. We also found out that our Monday night flight has been cancelled. We had expected that. So we have tentatively rented a car on Monday and we hope to start slowly driving home or maybe not. We're going to wait for an on-site update once the storm passes. By 7:30, we were getting hungry. We went to Charity's Tavern. It had been 27 years since we'd been there. Their French onion soup set the bar for all other French onions for the next 27 years and it's still the best! Tomorrow, we begin out journey to find a way back home. The Final Trip Total: 2055nm, 361hours, 541 gal diesel That's 3.8 miles/gallon or an average of 1.5 gal/hour. We spent $1308 for diesel and averaged $2.42/gal $1723 for repairs. Most of it was the the engine freshwater pump repair in Savannah. Other expenses were: $1565 for eating out (including beers) $1076 for groceries $767 for marinas $326 for mooring balls $516 for transportation (Uber, taxi, car rentalsand gas/tolls, air fare to Florida) $225 for maintenance (fuel filters, hull cleaners, and things on the boat that needed to be maintained, but not engine repairs). $206 for new equipment (bbq grill, water pitchers,etc) $156 for ICE CREAM! $123 for laundry $91 for pump outs $83 for tips (Uber,taxi and marina staff) $52 for stove alcohol $45 for ice $21 for general items (Dollar store, fun noodles, toys,etc) $18 for entertainment $1794 for winter prep and storage for 9 months. Nights spent:
Total cost including transportation home and winter storage for 137 days was $10,119 or $74/day, but the trip was priceless. Thanks for joining us on our cruise. Hope you enjoyed the photos.
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We awoke to a cool morning, but at least it wasn't raining. We walked down the road to the only restaurant around, The Bridge Restaurant, where we had breakfast.
After breakfast, we returned to Blue Moon and got to work packing and preparing while frequently checking on Irma's status. I repacked our duffle bags since we needed more clothes while we were in Connecticut. Matt went through his "boat cupboard" and put liquids that he was afraid of freezing into a bucket in case they leaked. Then we stuffed copper wool into a couple crevices in the back porchv so that mice couldn't have access into the boat. After that, I cleaned the inside of the boat and Matt put some insecticide down. The remainder of the afternoon, we read and played on the internet. When the 5:00pm Irma update was released and it was no longer going east. We are hoping to get home Monday night. If that flight is cancelled, there are no flights available until next Saturday. If that happens, we'll rent a car and drive home. After happy hour, we scrounged around and found the makings of grill cheese sandwiches, which I've been having a hankering for. Tonight is our final night on Blue Moon and that makes me very sad. Looking forward to returning in 9 months to explore this area further. Tomorrow, Blue Moon will be hauled out and that will be my final blog posting. At that time, I'll be posting all the stats of the cruise. It was another gray morning with a constant drizzle. Our minds were consumed by something 1500 miles away...Irma. We hoped it was going to go east to the sea and we were weighing the option of staying up here for a couple days to let the storm pass by Florida.
At 10:00, we left Chipman Point Marina and headed north. As we traveled north, I packed the clothes to take back to Florida in duffle bags. Then I bagged stuff on board that might freeze and leak. We hoped to go to Port Henry for the night, but we were unable to contact Van Slooten Marina by phone or radio. We arrived there at 13:00, pulled up to their fuel dock and filled the tank for the last time this year. They charged $3.20/gal(the most expensive rate for the trip). We needed 42 gallons of diesel. This marina had no slips available, so we set off to find a place for the evening. We wanted to have internet so that we could keep informed about the storm and we wanted electricity so that we could run the heater at night. We decided to go to Champlain Bridge Marina a day early. We were scheduled to be there on Thursday, but the marina was just across the lake, so we might as well go there today. We couldn't phone them, since we had no service and they don't monitor the radio, so we pulled onto the fuel dock and tied up. Matt went to the office to let them know that we were here then Brian (the owner) came down to see us. We confirmed plans to have Blue Moon hauled on Friday morning and to have them winterize it at that time, so that we could watch and learn. Then we went to work getting her ready. I scrubbed the back porch roof and floor, while Matt removed the batteries from all the flashlights & lights, recharged tools and inventoried spare parts. Later, we got the official word from Southwest Airlines that our flight had been cancelled. That made the decision for us. We would stay up north for a couple days. We rebooked for the first available flight on Monday night. Then we extended our car rental for two more days. We have just about eaten all the food on the boat. There is one beer and one or two glasses of wine left onboard. Matt made Jambalaimo with the last two sausages in the fridge. Trip Log-Day 135: 18nm, 3 hour, 42 gal diesel The Final Trip Total: 2055nm, 361hours, 541 gal diesel We woke up to a gray day with intermittent drizzle. That wasn't what the weather app indicated. Also, we heard the news that Hurricane Irma was now a Cat 5 and Florida is in the middle of the cone. Our house had the hurricane shutters in place and Blue Moon will be up here in Vermont, but it is suppose to head to the Florida on Sunday and we arrive home late Saturday night.
I baked they last batch of muffins for breakfast this morning. Then I stripped the bed of the sheets, blankets and mattress pads along with the beach towels and all the dirty laundry and headed to the laundry. This is the $1/wash place, but the washer takes an hour and the dryer's only setting is "extremely hot". So I had to stay there to man the dryer, pulling out the items as they dried, before they fried. At 12:15, the laundry was clean and stowed. Then we applied two coats of Fleetwood wax to the back porch area. It was raining intermittently, but that didn't stop us. With that done, we had finished watching the whole boat. We spent the rest of the day reading and waiting for updates on Irma. After happy hour, we had a dinner of left over soup and a sandwich. We awoke to a sunny day. The rain had finally stopped. The water level in the canal was about 6” higher so it was easier to climb onto shore from the boat.
After breakfast, we left the town wall and hailed the lockmaster at Lock 12 to request passage. She needed 10 minutes to refill the chamber, so we waited. At 9:10, we headed into the Lock, where we were lowered 15.5 ft back to lake level of 96 ft. We pulled up to Chipman Point Marina at noon, tied up at the dock and went to work. Matt drained the dinghy carburator and added gas stabilizer to the gas. We haven't needed to buy gas for the dinghy or generator since we left home five months ago. We've only used 4 gallons of gas in the 5 months! Matt then changed Blue Moon's oil. While he was doing that, I took the fender covers off the fenders and gave them a good washing. The sides of the locks are very slimy and they make the fender covers slimy. Next summer, we plan to be going through lots of locks and our fenders will be naked (no covers). After washing the fenders, I took down the back porch screens, cut the screens away and washed the sunbrella borders. We are taking them back to Florida with us where I plan on replacing the screening and bringing them back next year. While those items were drying in the sun, I cleaned the soot off the transom, then waxed it with the Fleetwood wax. After that, I cleaned the fiberglass on the back porch area. At 3:30, both Matt and I were finished with today's chores and it was time for showers. In the shower, Matt pointed out that the beams were built in the 1800's and we could see the axe marks on the beams. After getting all cleaned up, it was time for Happy hour. For dinner, we had leftovers as we continue to try to eat all the food on the boat before we leave on Friday. Trip Log-Day 133: 17nm, 3 hour, Trip Total: 2069nm, 344.25 hours, 499 gal diesel We awoke to an expected chilly and rainy morning, but the portable heater was keeping the cabin warm.
For breakfast, I baked some muffins. We are trying to eat all the food on the boat and it looks like there won't be much left by the time we leave the boat for the winter. We had no plans for the day. We don't have any cellular signal here, but we are able to get a weak internet signal from the library across the canal, which it nice. All day it rained and the temperature didn't get above 57°. Two boats joined us on the wall, one of them was the couple from Maryland, who we met in Vergennes. As a whole, we have been very fortunate with the weather on this trip. Neither Matt nor I can remember, in the last 132 days, a day when it rained all day as it did today. This was, of course, the perfect "Soup Day" and Matt cooked up a batch a Whitehall Soup. Tomorrow, the sun is suppose to shine and it will warm up to 80°. We plan to return to Chipman Point Marina and start the process of packing up. It was a cold night last night! We kept the portable heater on "low" all night, so we were warm. At the 7:00am, it was 42° outdoors and 74° inside the cabin. At that time, there was thick fog over the canal but that disappeared when the sun became stronger. We went across the street to the Historic Grounds for breakfast and shared a Belgium Waffle and a Popover filled with egg & cheese. After breakfast, we returned to Blue Moon to read, and to wait for it to warm up more. By 10:00, the temperature was 71° with a very light breeze blowing. By 11:00, it had warmed up to 77° so at noon, we ventured out for a walk. We did the loop around Whitehall. First we crossed the bridge, then walked south on the east side of the canal, then we crossed over another bridge and walked north up the west side of the canal back to the boat, with a few detours along the way. We stopped at Stewart's for our last Stewart's ice cream sundae of the season (ice cream #33)...so sad. Back on Blue Moon, we read and relaxed while waiting for Happy Hour. There were showers available in the park recreation building, which I took advantage of, but Matt opted for the shower on the boat. For dinner, Matt cooked up some Mattatoui. It's a good cold weather meal. After dinner, we filled Blue Moon's water tank and our drinking water containers for the last time on this trip. I wonder how many times we've done this in the last 131 days. Tomorrow, is going to be a cold and rainy day. The forecast is for a high of 57°, 100% chance of rain with an 1"of rain predicted. We are planning on staying here in Whitehall, even though we'll be past the 48hr max stay. We're hoping that they won't kick us off the wall if the weather is bad. We will turn on the heat and spend the day hiding from the cold. Monday, is supposed to be 80° and sunny, so we'll leave then. At 5:00am, the cabin was starting to get cold so Matt turned on the portable heater and we went back to sleep.
We were out of bed and dressed by 7:30. For breakfast, we went to the Ship Store and bought a couple large muffins and cups of coffee for the price of $2.50 TOTAL! There was no one around to pay, so we started an "IOU" tab and added it to the bulletin board. We returned to our warm boat to enjoy our treats. After breakfast, Matt found Pat and paid her for our breakfast and for a pumpout, which was only $5, a bargain for this lake. We then moved to the service dock for a pump out where Pat assisted us. This pumpout was different. It was just a suction hose with a rubber tube at the end which slid onto a pipe which screwed onto our fitting. Pat said that it's the same setup as when they bought the marina 24 years ago. With that chore done, we headed south to Whitehall. At 12:30, we approached Lock 12 of the Champlain Canal and requested passage. Another boat going north was locking thur so we had to wait 15 minutes before we could enter. Once in the Lock, we were raised 15.5 ft to 112 ft above sea level then we proceeded to the town wall at Whitehall. The water height was down about a foot since we were here in July, so it was a little challenging to crawl up on to the wall to get the lines around the cleats and secure Blue Moon. We were the only boat on the wall today. There is no charge to stay at the town wall and there are electric and water hookups available. We spent the remainder of the afternoon reading and relaxing onboard. Later in the afternoon, the Welcome Lady came by to tell us about the town. She was very nice but she was a talker. Matt and I went to Big G's Pub for drinks and a dinner of appetizers. When we were returning to the boat at 7:30, the temperature was already down to 57°! Tonight, it is suppose to be the coldest night (only in the high 30's). But they're predicting temperatures in the 80's on Monday and Tuesday. Trip Log-Day 130: 17nm, 3 hour, Trip Total: 2052nm, 341.25 hours, 499 gal diesel |