Lake Champlain, NY

[Mr. Fixit]

 Last fall due to my late start I did not get to Lake Champlain--does any one have any first hand info on the lake, anchorages etc. I have been in NYS for 10 years, 9 of those i was working day and night and did not get to travel much--although i live within 100mi I have never been to the lake. Hopefully that will change this summer. I am also looking forward to sailing south in fall. I had a sailboat on Chesapeake Bay (Sassafras River) 20 years ago and look forward to seeing the eastern shore again.

[AdriftAtSea]

The following websites might be a good choice to start reading.

http://www.windsofireland.net/lake.htm

http://www.harborwatch.com/cruising.htm

http://communitysailingcenter.org/

I hope that helps. :D

[Oldrig]

Hey Fixit:

Eight years ago, I cruised the southern half of Lake Champlain on a pow*r boat.

It was very scenic, and as we moved farther north, where the lake widened, it looked like there would be some wonderful sailing--and great anchoring spots.

We especially enjoyed visiting some of the less tony places on the western (New York State) side, including Essex, NY, which is almost like an old coastal town preserved in amber.

I wouldn't dare recommend marinas, because I was up there a long time ago. I know, for example, that the marina we stopped at in Essex was up for sale.

And, on the Vermont side, Burlington is considered one of the nicest small cities in the country.

Don't miss the maritime museum -- and watch out for the zebra mussels.

Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal are sometimes called the West Coast of New England -- and the views, especially of the Green Mountains to the east, are spectacular.

Enjoy it.

--Joe

[Mr. Fixit]

thanks for the encouraging info--I will look into zebra mussels-I have water inlet on my saildrive and will try to find what problems could develope

[Jim_ME]

I sailed on a friend's family sailboat which they had moored at Mallet's Bay, a few miles North of Burlington. I second Joe's suggestion to see Burlington.

The last time that I visited Lake Champlain was in the fall of 2000, and took my girlfriend and her father out for a sail on a neighbor's boat, which was for sale. We sailed past the Shelburne Museum, which is located on the West side of the point to the West of Shelburne Bay, just a few miles South of Burlington. We had visited the museum the previous day, by driving over to it.

http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/

I found the historic buildings/museums especially interesting;
http://www.shelburnemuseum.org/buildings_and_grounds/index.php

There is the Shelburne Shipyard (marina) on the West side of Shelburne Bay (just inside the mouth of the bay)
http://www.shelburneshipyard.com/
(it has been decades since I've done business there, so I have no recent knowledge to offer about them.)

[Jim_ME]

I just found, through the network of linked cruising blogs, one for S/V Shaka including a photo gallery, Vacances au Lac Champlain 2008, in French.

http://picasaweb.google.com/shaka375/Champlain2008

An interesting view of the area, and of the cruising life with young children. I especially like the photo of a toddler taking a "sieste" on the windward side deck in the shade of an awning made from a towel.

I believe that some of the photos may be from the Shelburne Museum, that I mentioned in my previous post.