In September of 1814 the American Naval Fleet on Lake Champlain, commanded by Commodore Thomas MacDonough fought and defeated the British Royal Navy at the Battle of Plattsburgh Bay. This conflict included the largest sailing vessels to ever operate on the Lake. But where were these massive American vessels built? It is well known that …
By Nick Patch, Champlain Longboats Director Since January we’ve been sharing weekly updates on our Champlain Longboats student boat building program as students from Middlebury and Vergennes learn how to build a pilot gig – a 32’ open-water rowing boat. Our boat building students have gotten pretty far in the past three months since we …
In mid-January, on a routine daily check of our replica boats at their winter berths at Basin Harbor, our staff discovered that the Philadelphia II was resting on the bottom of the lake. The boats are kept in a protected area of Basin Harbor for winter near the shallow western shore line and while we …
By Nick Patch, Champlain Longboats Director Big news from the boat shop: this week students from Vergennes Middle and High School along with teachers and museum staff celebrated the installation of the final plank on our new 32’ pilot gig that they have been working on since January. A major milestone in any boat building …
What is a Whiskey Plank? Updates from the Boat Shop Read More »
By Nick Patch, Champlain Longboats Director This past November, the Museum’s Champlain Longboats program embarked on an exciting new initiative with Two Roads Academy, a privately operated alternative education program based in Williston that works with public school students, to create a once-in-a-lifetime kayak experience for students. Students and staff from Two Roads Academy come …
Building Kayaks for Adventure with Two Roads Academy Read More »
By Nick Patch, Champlain Longboats Director In addition to our ongoing student boat building work in the boat shop, our students, staff, and volunteers have been busy repairing other boats in the Champlain Longboats fleet this winter. This week, volunteers John Woodbury and Wendy Lynch are replacing the two top planks and gunwales on the …
What is old is new again: Repair work for Osprey Read More »
By Nick Patch, Champlain Longboats Director On the morning of Friday, February 14, with temperatures topping out at 4 degrees on one of the coldest days of the winter to date, fifteen intrepid student boat builders from Middlebury High School and Vergennes middle and high schools along with school and museum staff traveled to Ron …
Boat Building Updates: A Forest Visit and Planking Read More »
By the Collections team at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Preface: This is the fifth in a blog series about Vergennes resident and steamboat captain Jahaziel Sherman. This series is based on the Museum’s digital exhibit Jahaziel Sherman of Vergennes, Steamboat Pioneer, which is free for all to explore online. We’ll be sharing more stories on Jahaziel …
By Meg Salocks, Director of Marketing and Engagement Today marks the first day of an exciting annual project here at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum: the first day of boat building! This year our boat builders hail from two local schools: Vergennes Union High and Middlebury Union High. Our flagship youth boat building program, Champlain Longboats …
New Year, New Boat: 2020 Student Boat Building Kicks Off Read More »
By the Collections team at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Preface: This is the fourth in a blog series about Vergennes resident and steamboat captain Jahaziel Sherman. This series is based on the Museum’s digital exhibit Jahaziel Sherman of Vergennes, Steamboat Pioneer, which is free for all to explore online. We’ll be sharing more stories on Jahaziel …
