Although still excited by last night's amazing sunset, I fell asleep quickly and slept well. I awoke at 4:45 and saw a hint of pink out the window -- enough to get me out of bed and upstairs to check out the sunrise. As dawn brightened, the sky once again turned vivid shades of pink. A few clicks of the camera later (to show Barry what he missed), I was back in bed by 5:00 and slept in until 8:00.
As predicted, the wind clocked around 180 degrees overnight and by morning it was blowing from the south. We came into Button Bay seeking protection from a northern blow. We were now exposed to the southerly breeze and waves. Luckily both were minimal and caused no issue pulling up the anchor. The chain came up clean, but the anchor was covered with quite a bit of vegetation. As the rain began to fall, I pulled out the boat hook and scrape off the "seaweed." Before we entered the main channel of Lake Champlain, the anchor and bow were clean and I was inside changing into dry clothes.
As long as I have sailed, I have always been trained to keep an eye on the depth meter. In the Chesapeake Bay, low water is always an issue. Today, Barry and I marveled as the depth kept increasing and then increasing some more. The deepest reading we saw was over 400 feet. Barry said he didn't even know the meter would read that depth. Now we know. As we neared Burlington, we were joined on the Lake by quite a few sailboats. They were all flying along in a perfect breeze.
Approaching Burlington, it reminded me a bit of Annapolis. We pulled in behind the breakwater and did a port side tie up to the services dock for a pump out of our waste tank. The marina did not have any slips available so we headed back out to the mooring field. A perfect pick-up of the pendant off the starboard bow had us secured and all was good. Then we spotted a roomier mooring further up. I dropped the first pendant back in the water and proceeded to grab the next pendant to port, again on the first attempt. Feeling pretty good about this string of events, I cleaned up the lines and fixed lunch. Then the harbormaster came by and informed us a slip had become available if we'd like it. We quickly cast off the second pendant and readied fenders and lines for our second docking of the afternoon, this one a starboard side tie up. Barry maneuvered Crossroads in slow and easy and now we are set for a few days.
Barry quickly went into town and got a haircut. Then we both went up and saw a few sights on our way to the City Market Co-op (sort of like a small Fresh Market) where we got some fruits and vegetables. On the way back to Crossroads it started raining again. Although we didn't stop, we identified the Church Street Marketplace as our next destination.
Shops and restaurants line this pedestrian mall. We enjoyed several street performers, including a juggler and a very good bluegrass band. We walked to the end of the street and saw the namesake church. Barry did a little shopping as I had convinced him he needed some Keen water shoes like mine.
Back to Crossroads and call it a night. We hope to get to Walmart tomorrow for some more serious provisioning. By the end of the week we will be in Canada and we'd like to be self-sufficient during our time there.
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