Tag: Boating
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Midwinter Champlaining
As I see it, we’re about 2/3 of the way through winter with one month to go until we round the corner into springtime. Despite the fact that today didn’t exactly offer perfect conditions to launch the dory for a frosty February row, I do have a bit of good news. Atypically high water levels…
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Play Daily
From our first fanciful forays — pipe dreaming and what-iffing — Rosslyn represented for Susan and for me an opportunity to play more. Or so we imagined back in 2005 and 2006 as we slowly talked each other into a monumental life change. Although fantasy and reality haven’t overlapped exactly the way we conceived, most…
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Passing Split Rock
“I’m just now passing Split Rock,” I tell Susan while sailing north toward home. Or when heading to Point Bay Marina for refueling after a wakesurf or waterski session in Whallons Bay. Or when skating south on the frozen lake… Our Rosslyn lifestyle has been informed by the moods, temperament, activities, topography, and breathtaking beauty…
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Kestrel at Rosslyn Boathouse
This evening I return to a nostalgic snapshot steeped in the sepia tones of yesteryear. An artifact from our Rosslyn collection, this old photo was featured on February 24, 2014 in the Essex Community blog by Katie Shepard. As often, the discourse generated by this visual time, capsule provided valuable insight to the Kestrel, a…
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Brutalist Boathouse
This past summer, our friend, Teel, visited us at Rosslyn. Her energy and unique perspective made for plenty of indelible memories, but she recently added another visual chapter to her Rosslyn legacy. For Susan’s birthday, she painted and gifted her this potent painting, a brutalist boathouse rendering as captivating as its subject. Originating in (and…
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Teak Table Renewal
As a teenager, I spent my summers working at the Westport Marina, first as a dock boy, and later, managing a fleet of rental boats. My coming of age memories are intricately interwoven with my boating and boatyard memories. They overlap. They converge. A recurring narrative during the boating preseason was cleaning, brightening, and oiling…
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Champlaining & ADK Surfing
Sometimes in September, we’re still wakesurfing. Once upon a time we actually continued watersports right until the end of October, breaking ice off of the boat cover, cocooning ourselves in layers of fleece, mittens, and hats… But that hasn’t happened for a few years. So today’s ADK surfing superhero snapshot is, in fact, an illusion…
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Boathouse Gangway Redux
What a difference a year makes! Actually, Rosslyn’s boathouse gangway redux spans a 2-year timeline, but as a sort of Pollyanna prayer, let’s celebrate the progress since one year ago. The following excerpt and photograph appeared in my blog post one year ago today. Rosslyn’s boathouse gangway reboot… is back on track — safe, sturdy,…
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Last Boat Swim
During Carley’s last boat swim of the summer, Susan realized that she’d done such an efficient job of cleaning out the boat to prepare for hauling and winter storage that there were no longer any throw toys for our crestfallen Labrador retriever. Uh-oh. Nary a tennis ball or frisbee. Crisis? Hardly! Master of improvisation, Susan…
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Boathouse Rainbow
I’d been working on a different blog post to share with you today when this enchanting snapshot appeared on my phone. So I’m bumping “Whisper on Time” until tomorrow (I hope it’ll be worth the wait!), and showcasing this spirit-lifting boathouse rainbow photo instead. Just came off the ferry and this very bright rainbow happened!…
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After Rowing, Retrieving
After rowing, retrieving. A perfect pairing in the eyes of Carley, our Labrador retriever. Fall is upon us, but that’s no disincentive to man and beast from enjoying the still warmish waters of Lake Champlain. I find it challenging to capture in prose or images, but this autumn atmosphere and rhythm lend themselves to the…
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Sculling Into Autumn
Susan and I celebrated summer’s end by sculling into autumn on Saturday morning. Sculling. September 23, 2023. Summers end. Slightly alliterative autumn. The beginning of a new chapter. Crisper. More colorful. Susan, Carley, and I uncovered the dory and rowed out onto placid waters to better observe the beginning of fall foliage and to honor…