Landings

Blanche DuBois had it right about depending on the kindness of strangers. In this forth year of wandering on the Great Lakes and their tributaries Carrie Rose has relied on the help of both strangers and friends to make it to Ladd’s Landing Marina on Grand Island, Vermont. As its name implies it is an island that along with South Hero, North Hero, and several others delineates Lake Champlain into the broad lake and the inland sea.

The marina is tucked into the northeast corner directly south of the only drawbridge on the lake. It opens on request every half hour, and so I have been watching a parade of sailboats cross from one part of the lake to the other. It ding-ding-dings as it stops the traffic hopscotching from island to island on their way from Vermont to New York and visa-versa.

Ladd’s Landing is a family run operation with mom, dad, and at least one (maybe two) young daughter running the show. We are here because Water Horse’s captain boarded Carrie Rose at U.S. Customs and politely hijacked us here to his marina. Water Horse is a similar vintage Nordic Tug to Carrie Rose and thus the instant camaraderie between us.

On the way into the marina, I maneuvered alongside a dock of small sailboats, and then turned left down the second dock and into the last slip, which is made up, on our starboard side, of the main walkway connecting all the docks. It took Charlotte and I about a minute to decide to settle in and leave Carrie Rose here for the winter.

Ever vigilant, I noticed a few oddly place mooring lines as I motored to our slip and stored this away for further investigation. While I was securing the dock lines I looked up to see an open fetch of water from the northeast for which this marina offers no protection, and understood at once the reason for the odd lines . . . I am anticipating a few rough days and nights before we depart. But I am sure that whatever befalls us here friends and strangers alike will lend a hand.