Heave away, haul away! Spring on Lake Champlain

2025 Full Circle Semester Blog #6

Heave her up you bonny bonny boys!
Heave away, haul away!
Heave her up and don’t you make a noise,
And we’re bound for South Australia!

Those Cape Cod girls don’t have no combs,
Heave away, haul away!
But they comb their hair with codfish bones!
And we’re bound for South Australia!

Monday, April 14, 2025

We biked away from Penny’s, flying down the hills as the sun peeked out from behind the mountains and melted the frosty grass. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day for a bike ride. While nine of us and Rebecca biked, our trusty support team–made up of the ill and injured (Lillian, Anneliese, Cecilia, ZZ, and Hope)–drove the van with all of our gear.

We followed Stannard Mountain Rd down into the Lamoille River valley and joined up with the rail trail, which was flat or downhill all the way, making for a speedy ride! The rail trail vaguely parallels the Lamoille River, periodically crossing and recrossing it.

We biked through Hardwick and stopped in Morristown for a long lunch break. We rested near the river in a patch of sunny grass.

Continuing on the trail, we reached our planned campsite, up a steep dirt road. We were met there by Hope and a very mud swamped van! We turned around on our bikes and continued to search for camp while the van was being pulled out of the mud. We looked across a field, behind a church, in someone’s backyard, but to no avail.

We made the decision to continue five more miles and camp next to the river. It was a beautiful time of day to be moving, as the last rays from the setting sun shone above the rolling corn fields dotted with small houses and cow farms.

The support team came to our rescue and found us a very nice campsite a little further on. We lugged our pack baskets and tents down to a pine grove right near the river. It was a great spot to end up after a long day.

Wednesday, April 16

On our third day, we awoke to strong winds and big waves. Instead of rowing straight from Swanton Beach, we biked further south to Hathaway point. The snow was falling in fat flakes as we biked, making it very hard to see where we were going. The lake water was still choppy, but much less so at the cove next to the point than it was in Swanton.

Our support crew was waiting for us by the dock with our boats, which are called “Cornish Pilot Gigs” and were built by high school students at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

We loaded our boats with all of our gear, after pulling on our new boating layers: long underwear, wet suit, sweater, rain gear, and life jacket. None of us had rowed before, and since rowing is all about moving in-sync, there were oars every which way, and we moved quite slowly.

We rowed to Burton Island, one mile off shore. The sun finally made its appearance from behind the clouds as we landed, and we had our first swim together in the lake.

Role of the Coxswain

The job of the coxswain is to keep the boat going straight and to keep everyone rowing in-sync. There are various commands that are used to keep things going smoothly:

“Toss your oars!” (Everyone picks up their oar and places the handle on the bottom of the boat, so that the oar is vertical with the blade in the air.)
“Set your oars!” (Everyone places their oar in the thole pins, holding the handle with the blade in the water.)
“Ready at the catch!” (Everyone leans forward so that their blade is behind them, ready to slice through the water.)
“Attention, row!” (everyone starts to row.)
“Catch, 2,3,4!” (Used to keep everyone in rhythm. All oars should hit the water at “catch!” and move back over the water during “2,3,4”.)
“Weigh enough!” (Stop whatever you are doing.)
“Let her run!” (Take your oar out of the water and hold it, so that the boat is just drifting.)
“Hold water!” (Everyone holds their oar still in the water to stop the boat.)

Friday, April 18

We slept the next night on Grand Isle and woke up early the next morning, hoping to get out on the lake while it was still calm. Unfortunately, the wind picked up very fast as we got onto the water. The waves were crashing over the bow of the boat as we tried to cross the open water between us and the New York shore. We had to make a crash landing on a private beach and were welcomed by a neighborhood of very kind retirees.

Everyone in Plattsburgh made us feel very well cared for and supported. We had a wonderful two days there, getting to know the area and the people that live there. We had a fun picnic with Erin and Skip, learning about the local history as well as family drama. Jackie put us in contact with all of the neighbors, Anne let us stay in her cow pasture, and Sue and Al were so kind as to let us pitch our tents in their backyard for three nights. We picked up trash to honor Vermont’s green-up day and spent a beautiful Easter with our new friends.

Spring travel

As we move into the spring on the water, we have to take liveovers when the wind is high and the water is rough. In the winter, we could schedule our liveovers every four or five days, but now, the weather determines when we can travel, as it would be dangerous to travel when the waves are very big.

Monday, April 21

Waiting out the wind brought us the reward of a gorgeous calm day on the lake! We rose at four in the morning, moved our stuff down to the beach, and ate our breakfast while the sun rose from behind the green mountains. It was amazing to be able to see all of the mountains that we had skied over during the winter.

We climbed into the boats and were pushed off by our new friends, Erin and Skip.

The lake was as smooth as glass, and we were cruising in no time. It was much more satisfying to dig our blades into the still, clear water than it was to splash and maneuver around large waves.

That day, we were moving so fast that we decided to do a push day and combine two days into one. That meant that we would row all of the way to Burlington, a total of 23 miles! The crossing to Vermont was long and hard, but we kept ourselves going with songs and stories.

Songs in the boat

We have done a lot of singing while we row, most of them sea shanties. It is a very good way to keep us in rhythm, but some songs don’t work so well. We will start belting out a favorite song, and before you know it every oar is in the water at a different time.

Bad songs:
Spanish River
Oh the Wind it is a Song
Firework
That’s What Makes You Beautiful

Good songs:
Wellerman
Roll the Old Chariot Along
Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her
Hey Ho Cried the Merry Dwarves

April 21 continued…

We arrived in Burlington just as the wind started to pick up, and we pulled onto a beach just north of the city. We spent the night in a few cabins up in the woods that are part of an old Christian summer camp. It felt really good after such a long day to not have to set up our tents.

Island Hopping

As we row, we like to stop near islands, or sometimes on them, for lunch or snack. From faraway everything seems to be part of the mainland, until you get closer, and a little rocky island pops out from the shore, with its own special gift for us.

We spent a few hours wandering around Valcour Island, which is just south of Plattsburgh, NY. It was the location of many battles during the Revolutionary War and The War of 1812. Cannons, arrowheads and bullets have been found there. It is also known for its many fossils that hide in the piles of pebbles that line the waters edge. We had planned to camp there, but rowed to Burlington instead.

A very small island right near Valcour, empty except for a few scraggly trees and sun baked boulders, surprised us with an amazing sight. On a taller tree in the middle of the island, there were six great blue herons sitting completely still next to four round nests. Five of them flew away as we approached, flapping their big silent wings as they circled around the island. The sixth sat regal in its place, continuing to stare at us with its beady eyes, following our every move. The small waves lapped our boat as we sat completely still, watching each bird.

Southwest of Burlington, is a cluster of four rocky islands, known as the four brothers. As we came nearer to them we heard a mysterious grunting and squawking, and all of a sudden the air was full of flapping wings and screaming cries. One of the islands was covered in cormorants in every position: flying, sitting, walking, or sleeping. We could barely see the ground beneath them, and the sea of black feathers was broken only by the white ones of a few lone seagulls.

Tuesday, April 22

The next morning, we woke up to the sun shining in the windows of our cabins. We walked down the bike trail into Burlington. The Echo Leahy Center is right near the water, and we learned a lot about the ecology and geology of Lake Champlain while we were there. We talked with one of the staff members and explored their large collection of books on local wildlife and geology.

We ate our lunch in the grass outside and walked through the city, stopping at April Cornell and the co-op to carry back the groceries that the food managers bought. We received many questions, as we walked down the street with pack baskets full of kale and Cliff bars on our backs.

We stopped to get ice cream on our walk back and ended the day with a bonfire.

Wednesday, April 23

The next morning, we left the beach after saying a sad goodbye to Schuyler. We had a very moving appreciation circle, and Schuyler gave us each something to take with us, so that we still have a piece of him on the journey.

Sunday, April 27

We continued down the lake for the next few days, rowing in mostly still water. We went swimming in a waterfall, searched for macroinvertebrates, and ate our first ramps (wild leeks)!

On Sunday, we were blessed with a steady northwest wind that meant sailing! We rigged our tarps as square sails, tying the top two corners to the handles of two oars and the other corners to the gunwales of our boat. Jem and Thomas had to hold up the oars and would move them forward or backward depending on the direction we were traveling.

It was very exciting to watch the shore fly by and sit back in the boat. The bow of the boat was plowing through the water and there was a long wake behind us. Even though the skies were cloudy and there was rain on our faces, the spirits were very high.