Sliding Through The Muck

So there I was...attempting to enter a small cove on the very southern end of Lake Champlain before you get to the locks in an area called The Narrows.  It is a very desolate area with no cell phone reception and you rarely see another person.  It was getting toward evening and though none of the cruisers had ever attempted this cove for anchoring, it's 75 ft high rock wall on one side and grassy marsh on the other side toward the main channel drew me in with it's beauty and secluded atmosphere.  The entrance was going to be tight but there was 8 feet of water once you got in.  My 17,000 pound boat requires a bit over 3 ft of water and it concerned me when I read 2 ft on the depth finder.  As I slid through the muck holding my breath the thought was going through my head that even if I got in, would I be able to get back out in the morning?  After succeeding and dropping my anchor I heard an airboat, the kind they use in the everglades, come flying through the marsh and into where I was with a look on the occupants faces that said, "How did you get that boat in here?"  It was a fantastic anchorage and after a narrow escape in the morning I made my way into the Champlain Canal and now sit at a dock in Mechanicville, NY, just south of Lock 3, where tie-up, water, and electricity hook-up are all free.  They like boaters.  Last night the previous owner of Eventide, who lives not too far from here, came to see his old boat at my invitation.  We talked and told boating stories until 11pm and one of the stories was how he had run Eventide onto the rocks at Colchester Shoals in Lake Champlain (see previous post) after leaving Fourth of July fireworks festivities in Burlington after dark.  Fortunately, very little damage was found after the Coast Guard pulled him off but what a coincidence that I just wrote about that shoal.  Checked out a museum in Shelburn, VT, aptly named Shelburn Museum, that has an incredible collection of Americana spread out over many acres.  It's worth a road trip and you can take in nearby Burlington while you're there.  Lots to do in that town and a great waterfront.  I'll finish up the Champlain Canal and locks tomorrow morning, then it's onto the Hudson River heading toward New York City.