Our day started off pretty normally - we headed out to St. Johnsbury to do errands and stopped at the post office in W. Danville to pick up the Joe's Pond Association mail. Fred took pictures along the way to the village and while he was waiting for me. Joe's Brook is a lot prettier now than it was even a couple weeks ago, and there isn't nearly as much water flowing through the dam.

I'm posting a slide show - some photos were taken a week ago (I've been busy), some over the weekend, and some were from today. Spring is definitely here at Joe's Pond.SLIDES

When we got back home we had three phone messages waiting. Carolyn Hamilton called with the first message saying our pontoon boat was floating free off down the pond, then we got a second one from her saying she'd been able to reach Homer Fitts who was hauling it to the fishing access; the third call was from Homer saying he'd been able to get it to the fishing access. This all happened at around 10:30, and we didn't get home until around 11:30. We got to camp and Theresa was there but hadn't missed the pontoon boat. Fred and I fired up the aluminum fishing boat and went to retrieve the pontoon boat while she hunted for mooring ropes to secure it when we got back. These things always somehow get misplaced during the winter.

Our task was as simple as hitching on a rope and dragging it across the bay, right? Not quite. First of all our problems was the high wind coming down the pond. Then there was the top of the pontoon boat. It had been folded down, but the wind got under the canvass and by the time we got there the roof was standing almost straight up like a huge sail. With all that sail power, no wonder it broke the mooring. We got the top down finally, pretty bent and broken, and secured it with a bungee cord. Then we went to work trying to pull the heavy chain in that had been hitched to the mooring - and found out it was still hitched to the mooring, or at least part of the mooring, a really big piece of concrete. Fred was able to haul it onto the pontoon boat deck and we got a rope secured to the bow of the pontoon boat ready to haul it back to camp. Another problem. No place to hitch to the back of the aluminum boat. Ok. So one of us drives, the other one hangs onto the rope. It's been a few years since I've handled an outboard, so I volunteered to hold onto the rope.

Long story short - we got it across the bay, battling wind and waves, zig-zagging to compensate for gusts of wind - that pontoon boat's not easy to haul - we'd forgotten to raise the motor, which probably didn't help our situation, but we pressed on. When we got to camp, Theresa was waiting with mooring lines and we got the thing hitched to the dock. According to Theresa, the big block of concrete we hauled out was only part of what was used as an anchor for the mooring all these years.

Anyway, it was an adventure we hope we don't have to repeat right away. The boys will have lots of repair work to do on the canopy of the pontoon boat and Lord knows what else. I'm going to strongly recommend they abandon the off-shore mooring. The way the wind whips down the pond - or sometimes up the pond, anything tied out there is bound to break loose eventually.

We are very grateful to both Carolyn and Homer for alerting us and rescuing the boat. We would hate to see our pontoon boat hanging over the dam down in the village. We couldn't ask for better neighbors. We owe them both!

We noticed when we were in W. Danville this morning work has begun at the beach. The old shelter is gone and there are signs of work going on. I think Fred should go down and take some pictures tomorrow.

I've heard today from Marti Talbot that they got both parts of their dock back; one was at Ray and Evelyn Richer's, the other was at Craige's. I can't tell you about the other dock components that were misplaced, but hopefully they will belocated and everything will be in order again.

This also came today:

CABOT – Beekeeper and author Ross Conrad will be at the Cabot Public Library on Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00 p.m. Conrad is the author of “Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches to Modern Apiculture” (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2007.) He will present the best organic and natural approaches to keeping honeybees healthy and productive plus discuss the important role bees play in providing us with local food.
Conrad learned his craft from the late Charles Mraz, world-renowned beekeeper and founder of Champlain Valley Apiaries in Vermont. Former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, Conrad has written numerous articles on organic farming, natural healing, and health issues. His market-garden business supplies local stores with fruits, vegetables, and honey. He lives in Middlebury, Vermont.

Library programs are free and open to the public. For more information contact Connie Koeller at 563-2721 or email cabotlibrary@yahoo.com.