Sunday – Day 65 – 10/5/08

We have spent most of the day planning our return trip home. As it now looks we will probably take a train from Port Henry about 8 miles from here later in the week. With all of the problems of getting to the airport from here and other related baggage issues it’s easier and less expensive to just have the train “schedule a stop” in this little town around noon and show up in Chicago 20 hours later! The train follows the canal system for most of the day light hours so we’ll get to see the canal from another perspective. Renting a car one way is almost impossible and when available not very cost effective.

Another reason for putting the boat up here is that when we were traveling yesterday, I picked up something on the starboard prop. I thought it was a clump of weeds but after stopping the boat then reversing the engine something is still there! Not bad………..but not perfect! Tomorrow we are going to take one last slow cruise north up Lake Champlain about 15 miles then turn around and bring her back to this marina and have her pulled and winterized on Tuesday or Wednesday. The items that need to return to Illinois will be shipped via UPS. The dinghy will be rolled up and placed inside the boat. The out board will be stored in a heated building that is only used for that purpose. Batteries are removed from the boat and are maintained in a different facility where they are trickle charged during the winter months. I will replace two of the three when I return in the spring so only one will have winter service.

There are still a lot of things that Barb and I need to do before we can leave here. We will probably rent a car for a couple days to bring this canal show (not road show) to a close. Yes – we do intend to return to Illinois!