By Chris Sabick, Director of Archaeology This month, our underwater archaeology team – including myself, archaeologist Cherilyn Gilligan, dive master Ron Adams, and occasionally Willa the dog – has been conducting end-of-season site inspections on the Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve sites. What is the Vermont Underwater Historic Preserve? Operated by the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation and managed by Lake …
By Art Cohn, Director Emeritus, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Top image: Ensign Phil Lundeberg aboard the USS Frederick C. Davis just two weeks before it was struck by a German torpedo and sunk in the North Atlantic during WWII. On October 3, 2019 the world lost a great humanitarian and scholar and I lost a mentor and friend. Dr. Philip …
By Ben Mayock Last Tuesday, very early in the morning, I set out on a mission to Vinalhaven, Maine. Usually when I head to Vinalhaven it is for the express purpose of enjoying the inescapable magic of Penobscot Bay on vacation with good friends, but this time I had a different mandate: go to Vinalhaven to pick up the Lake …
By Elisa Nelson, Schooner Tour and Volunteer Coordinator On the calm morning of September 3, the crew of the Lois McClure took a short trip to Shelburne Shipyard for our Coast Guard-required haul-out and hull inspection. This meant, of course, that Lois had to come out of the water, so we had an exciting (but actually quite slow) morning maneuvering …
By Cherilyn Gilligan, Archaeologist Editor’s note: This summer, we welcomed underwater photogrammetry expert Kotaro Yamafune (Kota, as he is referred to here) to lead courses on photogrammetry for our local diving community and join us as we put this technique to practice on some wrecks in Lake Champlain. Museum archaeologist Cherilyn Gilligan shares her experience and photos from a great …
By Nick Patch, Champlain Longboats Director The week of September 9 was a week to remember for Lake Champlain Maritime Museum rowing programs. On Wednesday we hosted 95 Otter Valley Union Middle School students at the museum’s North Harbor for a team-building day and on Friday we hosted Colchester Middle School in Burlington with another 90+ rowers. All of these students spent …
By Lisa Percival Recently, on Thursday, September 12, the museum had its annual moonlight row with members of our Community Rowing clubs and staff. Enjoy this account from museum staff member and Community Rowing Club leader Lisa Percival, and photos from participants Pat Jackson, Kris Jarrett, Andrew Rainville, and Mary Micklas. In total, we had a group of 29 rowers …
Eight summer campers recently took a step back in time and spent a week in the 18th century; learning first-hand what life was like in the Champlain Valley for a soldier or sailor of the revolution. Over four days of camp and one overnight the crew immersed themselves in history, learning and experiencing the skills, crafts, and lives of those …
Wood is a deceptively challenging medium to work with: easy enough for a first-time builder to work with, yet with a learning curve so steep and so broad that no carpenter could ever seriously claim to know absolutely everything about it. And while the tools have improved and techniques debated and refined, the basic principles and traditions behind woodworking have remained unchanged for millennia.
On the run south from Burlington to our first tour stop in Westport, New York, the crew let fly every inch of canvas available; in its element on a comfortable broad reach, with the winds whistling out of the northwest over Split Rock, Lois came tantalizingly close to its all-time speed record of eight knots.