Miss Lois Passes By

Dave and I were at a neighbor's house when he stepped away to answer a phone call. He came back with exciting news, the replica 1862-schooner, Lois McClure, was rounding the side of Isle La Motte on her way from Quebec to Burlington. If we got outside quickly (the neighbor lives on the west shore of the island), we would see her pass by.

Not one to sit and watch the world go by, our neighbor invited us down to the dock and we hopped into one of his boats for a trip out to meet the old girl. (Now I say "hopped," but it was a trick getting into the boat with the lake so flooded from rain. His actual dock is under water, so we had to pull the boat up into the muddy shoreline and climb through the water to get in -- I'm glad my standard outfit is Crocs and capri pants. I didn't get too soggy at all.)

We rode out to see Lois; none of her sails were up, and she was being pushed along by a tug, but she was stately nonetheless.



Three other neighbors rode out to meet the schooner as well. It was quite an event among the historical society crowd. We followed her to the end of the island, keeping an eye on the storm clouds gathering to our west. After a soggy dismount, we were back on dry land, just in time for the rain to arrive.

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