Looking Forward to Lake Groton

We currently have a week of rain hampering my efforts to get the boats ready for summer.  After this week of rain, I have only three more weeks to get the boats ready for our time at the lake house on Lake Groton.  Time is getting short but none of us are short on excitement...  nor a little anxiety!

My little bit of anxiety is due to the hullwork I need to get done on the sailboat.  I'm getting short on time and I have no experience in repairing fiberglass hulls so I am a bit unsure of myself.  On top of that, I need to install an inspection port which requires me to cut a 5" hole in the hull.  I must purposely cut a big hole in the hull of my dear little boat!  One should be able to understand why I am really anxious about that task.  All in all, I think I can get all the sailboat work done in a few days. That includes waxing the boat.  I could use another day or two readying the three kayaks too which could also use some good wax.

Anyway, while I am stuck inside, I thought I would put together a small photo album of photos from the past three years at Lake Groton.  We've had some great times on that lake already and we look forward to many more years of fun and relaxation there.

To go directly to the small teaser photo album of 33 photos, click here - Lake Groton Teaser - at my Zenfolio webpage.  Of course, I will have a whole new larger album to show after we get back home and I have a chance to sort through the photos.  Until then, this link will take you to a little teaser album with a few photos from the past three years at Lake Groton.

Sandy beach and picnic area to the left of the house...
raft with a slide sits in the water about 75' from shore.

In addition to shooting hundreds of photos like I usually do, this year I hope to have some really exciting videos of sailing.  I have a little waterproof Fuji compact camera that shoots HD video.  I designed and built three different camera mounts for the sailboat.  One mount is for the tiller looking forward.  One mount is for the end of the boom looking forward toward the mast.  And I designed a mount for the mast which can be mounted low, under the boom looking aft toward the cockpit, or high, at the top of the mast looking down at the boat from above.  We should get some really great action videos if the new waterproof camera works as expected.

Three years ago, we brought the kayaks to Boulder Beach State Park on Lake Groton to do some kayaking. We kayaked all around the entire lake and checked out all the houses. Waterfront homes have always intrigued me...  I love architecture with character and I love lakes...  put the two together and I am captivated.

From the moment we first caught a glimpse of this lakefront house, we knew we wanted to find the owners to see if it was available for renting.  The property was beautiful...  the house was clean and well-kept...   it had windows wrapping around three sides of the house overlooking the lake...   it had a deck...  a dock... a sandy beach...  and it was on a nice lake close to home!

This first time we saw this house, I shot a few photos of the house as a reference for my research in finding the owners.  I was determined to find out as much as I could when I got back home.  Actually, Sheila was just as excited as I was at the prospect of spending time at this beautiful, little lakefront home every summer.

When we arrived home, I immediately booted up my computer and jumped online to search the internet for properties on Lake Groton. Within a few minutes, I actually found the owners of this house and sent them an email asking about availability.  Both Sheila and I started thinking that maybe we were destined to find this house being that I located the owners so quickly after serendipitously stumbling upon the house while kayaking.

While we were waiting for a response from the owners, I posted some of the photos from our visit to the lake in Facebook.  My sister commented on the photo of this house stating that she would love to be on the deck of this house sipping a nice frozen tropical summer drink.  I hadn't even mentioned in Facebook yet that we were hoping to find the owners so we can possibly rent this house.   Now the house caught my sister's eye!  Hmmm...  perhaps this is another sign that this is the place we should be every summer...

A loon...

While I was explaining the story of how we came upon this house to my sister in this Facebook thread, a very close friend from my Air Force career noticed my photo of this house and wrote, "Hey...   that is OUR house!"

I always knew that Perry and his family went to Groton every summer but I always thought they camped in tents.  Turns out they too loved this house the first time they saw it and subsequently have been renting it every summer.  So, Perry invited us to stay with his family while they were there at the house.  Perry and I had always been very close and share many of the same interests so it was not much of a surprise that we both were attracted to this house.  It was, however, a surprise that we both felt compelled to act upon this attraction to the same house without the other knowing!

Early morning mist on Lake Groton...

Considering all the waterfront homes in the northeast, the odds of the two of us finding the same little house, without purposely going out and actively searching, were exceptionally low.  It is like both of us being pricked by the same needle in a very large haystack, at different times, and then after being pricked, both of us finding beauty in this simple little needle.  What are the odds?  (This is a rhetorical question... no need for you probability experts to try to figure out the true odds!) There is no doubt that Perry and I do think alike!

So...   First, we saw the house while kayaking and loved it...  it drew us in and we were determined to find the owners.  Then my sister saw the house in the background of a photo of mine (the photo was actually of Adam, but the house was in the background) and she loved it before I even told her anything about our interest in the house.  Then, we find that very close friends of mine rent this same home every summer!  We were clearly seeing a pattern here...  we felt this was definitely a path we were meant to be on at this point in our lives...

One of the things that captured our attention about this home is that the house overhangs the shore and projects out over the lake.  It has a large deck wrapping around the lake-side of the house and a dock also wraps around the house a few steps below the deck.  Although the house definitely has the character of a mountain lake home, it also reminds me of the unique houseboats of the Pacific northwest because of the deck and dock that wrap around the house and overhang the lake.

Sandy beach and picnic area...

Off to one side of the house is a small sandy beach, a grassy area, and a picnic area with a firepit.  There is a floating raft about 75 feet from the shore sporting a slide for the kids.  There is plenty of room for our kayaks and sailboat as well as occasional visitors with their own boats.

Loons are all around the lake and tend to be very playful while you are kayaking disappearing underwater on your starboard side only to pop back up next to you on your port side.  You can hear the warbling loon calls all day long but it is particularly noticeable in the stillness of early morning and early evening.

Yellow Perch around the dock...

We don't do much fishing but the fishing is pretty good too! For the most part, we just catch and release.  Lake Groton has the usual minnows and Sunfish while schools of Yellow Perch always seem to be swimming around the dock. The right time of day and the right bait can produce a great selection of smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and pickerel too!

Last year, after the initial stage of re-rigging the sailboat and testing it out in the Waterbury Reservoir, we brought the boat to Groton where it can get much windier in the afternoons.  We have found that the sailing on Lake Groton is great.  The water is relatively warm in summer for being in northern mountains and the winds are usually great for sailing in the afternoons.  Mornings and evenings are typically placid and good for paddling around in a kayak.  I particularly enjoy heading out on my kayak early in the morning while the lake is still misty and quiet to just quietly paddle and watch the wildlife and lake come alive as the rising sun warms the chill out of my bones.

Lake Groton...

For those who know me, you know I am active in the arts and that one of my favorite hobbies is photography.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will capture some beautiful photos while we are at the lake this year.  I already have a few new ideas for landscape photos and, of course, candid people photos are always nice!  I am really looking forward to our time at the lake even if only for the photographic opportunities.

A watercolor sketch of the lake house on Brant Lake
where we vacationed every summer of our childhood.
(preliminary edition watercolor sketch - unfinished)

My parents blessed us with summers on a lake in the Adirondack Mountains.  This is something we did every summer of my childhood.  We were always there with a very large group of our aunts, uncles and cousins every year from my birth until I left for the Air Force after college.  I still try to visit that lake annually.  It has changed considerably over the years but twenty years of happy memories will forever be warmly etched in my dreams, my visions and my heart.

Needless to say, we are all excited to be heading to the lake soon!   Those annual lake visits in the rugged Adirondack Mountains have always been such a inspiring part of all of our lives that it is like home to me, and, I suspect many of my siblings and cousins feel the same.

This tradition of family at the lake every summer is worth continuing so we are excited to have found this beautiful property to share with new generations of family and friends.  Everyone should have the warm memories and experiences my family shares from decades at Brant Lake.  These memories and experiences have enriched my life and continue to enrich my world each and every day.  We hope to recreate a little of that here again with new family, new friends and new generations.