Vergennes, Vermont

August 26 – September 2, 2011

The first thing you should notice are the dates which indicate that this is the longest that we have stayed in one place for the entire summer. Of course, that wasn't totally by choice as I indicated when I posted the Irene update three weeks ago when we were “trapped” in Vergennes.

Otter Creek Falls

This time I will be writing about what a wonderful little town Vergennes is, another place that should be on every cruiser's list. I would tell you the same thing if you were traveling by car. Otter Creek Falls are so beautiful, except during a storm rage when you are wondering what may be coming over the falls and heading towards your boat not far away.

When we first arrived, we tied up to the floating portion of the dock since the stationary, solid wall had a couple of other boats on it. One of the people off one of those boats said they would be leaving in a couple of hours and that we could move onto the more secure wall after they left. When that time came, a kind boater from Montreal moved his boat, which was smaller, more forward from the wall and helped us with our lines such that we were securely in place. We were happy to be set and thought we would be safe for the storm event.

Historical information says that Vergennes is Vermont's oldest “city”, created in 1788. Because of the 40' high Otter Creek Falls, the village prospered as an industrial center with forges, blast furnaces, and a wire factory.

Shaping history

Because of its protected location, 7 miles off Lake Champlain and up deep Otter Creek, and having already established industries, the ship building business took off. After the War of 1812 ended, the Lake Champlain Steamship Company used the shipyard to build 4 lake steamers. Ruins of the shipyard are still visible right next to where we were docked.

Old distillery

This picturesque distillery building, converted to a private residence, is right next to the public dock. Matt, the current owner, should be given the title of Ambassador of Vergennes since he heartily welcomes boaters and takes it upon himself to keep the creekside park area picked up. We talked with Matt almost every day after he got off work, mostly about the water level in the creek. Eddie and I spent a day after the storm cleaning up the whole park, using Matt's tools that we took out of that beautiful red barn. We collected a giant pile of debris and put it in a pit next to one of the shipyard ruins where Matt would burn it when conditions were right. We felt that we should do something to help the community since we were staying at the town dock for so long.

There is a big house across the street from Matt's dating back to the late 1700s that was used by the military and travelers for boarding. Today it is a private residence named The Otter Side, which I thought was really clever.

My security

This is the first street adjacent to the town dock. I laughed the first day we got there, knowing that Irene was coming and hoping that we would be comfortable there. The street is on a steep hill; it took me 6 days to be able to walk at a brisk pace to the top of the hill without feeling like I needed to stop because I couldn't breathe or my legs hurt. I am such a flatlander!

Early one morning, Wayne and I were trudging up Comfort Hill, and a little boy stepped out to us, pulling on his backpack, and said “First day of school today. I'm in 3 day!”. He was so proud to be starting school. His older brother stepped forward, with swagger, and said “Well, I'm in kindergarten!” They were so cute and as excited as could be. We told them they were lucky and would be able to meet new friends and learn exciting things.

Main Street

The original city street is still intact and most of the buildings are occupied. There are several good eating places (don't miss 3 Squares for a delicious sandwich), some boutiques, banks, the historic Old Opera House, and a chocolate store, but the ice cream shop is a good walk a few blocks north of the main part of town. It is a delightful place to walk around, and when you need a rest, just stop at the town green located right in the middle of town. Wayne went to one of the banks to change Canadian money back into American, only about $100. The teller told him that the bank charged a flat $20 transaction fee plus the regular exchange rate. He asked if all the banks did the same, and she whispered that she didn't think that the bank around the corner charged anything. That's where he went, and there was no ridiculous fee.

Patriotic gate

You will walk pass this pretty gate when you head downhill to the ice cream shop. Get a double scoop since you will need the extra energy to walk back uphill to the main part of town again.

It was just a coincidence that we happened to wind up in Vergennes on Saturday, August 27, the town celebration of Vergennes Day. There were several events going on, including a music fest on the town green Friday night which kicked off the event. Eddie went to that and had a late night out.

Vergennes Day celebration

The morning started off with a 5K and 10K run which began and ended right next to the town green. By 10:00 a.m. vendors had set up booths for arts and crafts, baked goods, and public service presentations. Musical groups played live music throughout the day. The Lions Club was getting everything in order to hold their annual chicken BBQ, and I shucked corn for them for an hour to help them out. They thought I was a new person in town and wanted me to join their club until I told them I was on a boat from Florida trying to hide out from Irene.

Let the race begin

The Rotary Club's annual event is the Rubber Duckie Race. Eddie and I bought 4 chances each, but our duckies didn't reach the winner's line. To start the race, the ducks are all dumped out below the Falls, as seen in the photo. The fire department stretches a hose across Otter Creek a short ways downstream. The first 3 ducks to touch the hose are the winners: $250, $100, and $50.

The arrival of the Lois McClure

The 1862-class replica canal schooner, the Lois McClure, arrived for Vergennes Day festivities. The schooner was built by using plans derived from underwater studies of two schooner shipwrecks on the bottom of Lake Champlain. Lois McClure's home port is the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, located on Lake Champlain, not far from Otter Creek.

Canal schooners like the Lois McClure were usually run by a family who lived aboard and ran a business of hauling freight of all kinds: apples, grains, timber and stone products. When the schooners were in the canal system, they had to be towed by mules since they had no engine and their masts had to be lowered. However, when they were moving on the Lake, they could hoist sail and move efficiently under their own power. Lois McClure is capable of going 8 KTS, about what we cruise at aboard FLUKE at times. You can see the old tug moving Lois in the photo; the tug is her water mule!

Behind a bigger wheel

Lois McClure is an ambassador for the Maritime Museum, going from port to port to promote the history associated with the commerce, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries of Lake Champlain. She is open for free tours, and it is fun climbing on her decks and in her hold, wondering what life was like for her owners back in the 1800s.

Farmers market

While the storm event damaged many of the local vegetable crops, a few vendors did show up for the Thursday afternoon colorful market at the town green. We always welcome the chance to buy just picked produce or homemade jellies.

Even though we had been at Vergennes for 8 nights, we probably would have stayed longer. We were planning on heading south to the Champlain Canal, and it was closed with reports of some locks being damaged. Extremely high water levels were prohibiting operation of the lock gates, and until the water drained, the Canal would have to remain closed. Heavy amounts of debris were reported on lower Lake Champlain and on the Canal. So, we really didn't have anywhere to go.

However, when the weather forecast indicated possible heavy rains associated with remnants of Lee passing through our area, we figured we had pressed our luck enough with the dock at Vergennes. Water levels had fallen for 3 days after Irene, but then went back up again as more water drained into Otter Creek from upstream areas. We didn't want to be at the dock or take a more risky ride out the Creek back to Lake Champlain with more water rushing over the Falls.

Suited up for safety

Getting off the dock with the current and wind trying to push us back onto the dock wasn't going to be easy. We made sure Eddie had on a life jacket in the event he fell off the dock while he was trying to throw off the lines to me. We even talked about what we would all do if he did fall in and got quickly swept away. The water you see in the photo to the right isn't supposed to be there; it is on the land side of the dock, so you can see how high it still is over a week after the main storm event.

Wayne gave FLUKE a power boost to pull away from the dock. Once the current got us, we were swept quickly downstream. The trip out to the Lake went smoothly, but Otter Creek sure looked a lot wider than when we had gone upstream the previous week!