My trip to VT began on Friday evening (4/4/03) when I arrived home from work (about 6:30pm). Actually, my wife, Marty and I had been talking about the trip for several days, off and on. First she wanted to go, then she had too many other things going on and couldn't, then every thing had been worked out and she was able to go, so WE went. (The original plan 'A' was that I would get up early Saturday morning and do the whole thing myself. Plan 'B' worked out to be much better) Mart had made reservations at a motel in Kingston, NY (south of Albany) for Friday night. Booking on-line was cheaper than in person by phone with the front desk clerk.  Therefore, by 6:48pm WE were on our way.  Kingston was a little less than half way, but we felt it would be better to go part way, rest a while then continue in the morning. It was raining / sleeting when we arrived around 10pm and in the morning everything had a thin layer of ice on it.  While taking stuff out to the van, I decided to take a picture of the front of the van, with its ice coating and the motel in the background.

Then on my way to put the camera back in out of the weather, I slipped on the slanted edge of the parking lot and went down on my left knee. It ended up bothering me for a week.  As we drove further north, we saw that the area above Albany had received about 12 inches of new snow overnight.  We were thinking nice South Jersey Spring like thoughts when we started out, grass starting to green up, leaves beginning to bud, forsythia blooming and daffodils all over the place. Therefore were definitely underdressed for the occasion. The outside temperature according to our van thermometer was 31 degrees all day, until we got back into New Jersey, when it rose gradually to a toasty 45 degrees. While the roads were plowed and basically clear, we did see ten different situations where cars, SUVs etc. had slid off the highway into ditches. There was even one pair of tractor-trailers that had tangled and gone off into a jumble, hard to tell in most of these if anyone was hurt. Chances were good though in the two that had rolled completely over (at least once each).  Fortunately, we had no trouble. About an hour from our destination, I called and confirmed our arrival time and received updated directions. We crossed the Champlain Bridge (Mart is a great navigator) into Vermont turned north for about 20 minutes and arrived at The Place.

>This Moth (original racing number 2425) has been stored for the past several years under the main house of a boating / fishing camp on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. The house was built in 1895 and the home of the father of the boat's owner (Alan Walsh of N.C.), right next door, was built in 1892. Both were on a bluff overlooking the lake (great view). The sail, spars, blades and all the metal parts and fittings were available. Mr. Walsh, his son Peter and I slid the hull out from under the house, and then across the snow to the side of my van in the driveway. I put the car top racks onto the top of the van and we lifted the hull and spars onto the racks. All the other stuff went onto the back seat or behind the seat.  I tied everything down. Mr. Walsh observed that I must have done this kind of thing before. So, I told him most of my sailing life story (mostly the parts about racing in regattas in South Jersey, traveling with my parents who raced in the Comet Class, or traveling to races on my own). Once every thing was secured, we started toward home.

There was some light rain off and on almost all the way home (it's a seven hour drive each way (up hill both ways) and ended up being just about 800 miles round trip). We stopped a couple of times to check the tie downs and to get a bite to eat or fill the tank. The only thing that was unexpected was the coating of ice on all the tie down ropes, the radio antenna and the front edge of the racks, from the rain and high speed. Now the boat is in the side yard waiting for some minor wood parts to be replaced, the rubber rub rail to be replaced with something in wood and a more modern rudder blade. Then I think I'll have the number changed on one of my other sails (that currently has no boat to power) and this sturdy little craft will be ready for someone to show up on the starting line. Ready to Race!

>I had originally offered to travel to Vermont to pick up the boat in mid-May (You know…warmer weather, nice scenery, fit into my schedule, etc.). As things worked out, some of the Walsh family wanted the boat moved quickly and there were others expressing interest in this ‘old’ boat. Therefore, I said I would go and get the thing right away. Once I had examined the hull and verified the original racing number, I realized that I was probably the one who built this Moth in the shops of Fletcher Marine Products, in Cherry Hill, NJ back in 1964 or ‘65. I worked for Blair full time in those days and my primary duties were to fabricate and assemble the fiberglass Moth hulls. While this whole outing seemed like it was going to be a mad dash to and from Vermont, it ended up being a long trip down memory lane. Now I can look forward to spending some time refurbishing one of ‘my’ old boats.