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Aug. 25 - Westport, NY

Gunkholing
Partridge Bay - Anchorage

The last week or two we've been moving slow...very slow. Killing a little time, enjoying the great weather and exploring some out of the way little coves and bays...Gunkholing. Gunkholing is a boating term referring to a type of cruising, meandering around on the waterways, exploring and finding interesting and/or out of the way places to anchor. The term refers to the gunk, or mud, typical of the creeks, coves, marshes and rivers that are referred to as gunkholes, but here in Lake Champlain the coves and bays are beautiful with clear, clean water. Gunkholers typically seek out the serenity of isolated anchorages over the crowds of marinas and larger bays. Gunkholing is a little like backpacking with your boat, except at the end of the day you're looking for a place to drop the hook instead of putting up the tent. To many, gunkholing is cruising paradise and for us it has been. 

Today we only cruised 2 miles down the lake to Westport, NY. It's a beautiful little town crowned by the Adirondack Mountains. We anchored in front of the old yacht club, which is now the Bistro du Lac restaurant and dinghied into the marina. We walked up the hill (everything here is uphill) to the main street and went through a couple of shops then through the park and back to the marina for a little lunch. We live on a boat and our favorite places to eat are still on the water. You just can't beat the view.

After lunch we backtracked to a small, very protected cove called Partridge Bay...surrounded on three sides by cliffs and trees. The bay is very small, room for only a couple of boats and we had the anchorage to ourselves most of the day. It was a great place to spend the day relaxing, reading and swimming. I'm actually getting used to the temperature of the water and really enjoyed swimming today, not just floating on my raft. We've noticed the Canadians and local boaters wash in the lake...jump in, stand on the swim platform and soap up and then jump in to rinse off. Today I used the lake to wash my hair...it felt wonderful.

Westport, New York

Westport Marina
Looking down the hill to the lake
Our little piece of paradise

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