Last night's marine forecast for today was for 10 - 15 kn winds in the AM decreasing in the afternoon with a high probability for thunderstorms. We left early enough to escape most of it, knowing we had only 25 miles to go. We lumbered along for a while, then picked up speed as the wind increased. We got into Willboro Bay Marina in sufficient time to avoid a brewing storm and were assigned a slip well into the marina. Willsboro Bay is a beautiful spot, a deep long throat of a bay surrounded by the mountains that define it. You can be 30 feet offshore and still be in depths of 130 feet.
Sheer clifts into 100 feet of water
Willisboro Marina - Sailboat Country
Behind us at the marina sat La Crapacine (seriously, that's the name) a 32 foot sail whose owners decided to take her out and go for a swim. Blue Belle's captain commented that he thought this was a good idea but the crew ignored his remark. A stroke of genius. La Crapacine was out of her berth no more than 15 minutes when the "crapacine hit the fan," so to speak, weather-wise. The skies went black, the lightning struck down, and, the rain came in sheets. But, worst of all, the winds blew at over 40 mph. Some of the huge sailboats tied up at the docks were literally heeled over in place. Blue Belle rocked violently side to side like all the others, but her owners were simply grateful they were not at anchor going for a swim. La Crapacine returned hours later, far more composed than we would have expected.
Sometimes you just have to know when to ignore the captain.
Black Sailboat was trying to sail on its rigging
Got leaks?
Tomorrow we do a short run to Burlington where we will meet our friends, the Buxtons, for dinner. We're also hoping the Kellers can join us which would constitute a mini-high school
reunion for Bert.
For the duration of the storm, the mountains disappeared in the fog.
Full set of pictures are at: https://picasaweb.google.com/golphinut/201107BlueBelle02?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Click on any of the photos above to enlarge them.
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