by Roger Taylor Kathleen and I rejoined the Lois McClure on June 18th at St. Albans just in time to get underway for Rouses Point. It was blowing a strong breeze out of the South, and, by the time we were ready to cast off at about 11:00, it had backed just enough toward the East to let us ease …
Historic Horsepower on the Chambly Canal
The Chambly Canal, like most 19th century canals, were designed with a “towpath”, a trail that paralleled the canal and permitted horse and mule teams to slowly pull canal boats to the other end of the canal. The Chambly Canal was considered by many canal boatmen to have one of the best towpaths on the integrated waterway system and on …
Rouses Point
by Isaac Parker The sounds of church bells from the nearby St. Patrick’s Church announced the arrival of the Lois McClure to Rouses Point. After a long day battling the waves and wind of northern Lake Champlain, the Lois had finally arrived outside Gaines Marina. At first, we tried to thread the Lois along with the Churchill through the immense …
St Albans
by Art Cohn Returning to St. Albans Bay is always like returning home. I lived in Fairfield, just east of St. Albans, for 25-years and still own land on French Hill in St. Albans town. I began my career as a diving instructor at Hathaway Point teaching classes at Camp Kill Kare, a Vermont State park. It was at that …
A Final Reflection of the 2011 Farm, Forest and Fishery Tour
by Art Cohn The now familiar post-tour transition to winter is almost complete. The Lois returned to her winter berth at King Street and the Churchill is back at her long familiar winter quarters at the Shelburne Shipyard. We are developing a list of maintenance chores for these two hard-working wooden boats and hoping that the success of this year’s …
THE RETIRED CAPTAIN’S LOG
by Roger Taylor Captain Erick Tichonuk was kind enough to invite my wife, Kathleen, and me, two retired crew members of the Lois McClure, to join the vessel as volunteers for the last trip of the season, from North Harbor to Crown Point, and back to Burlington. We accepted really fast. The short voyage was planned so that the schooner …
Kingsland Bay
by Art Cohn I had been looking forward to our scheduled visit to the Vermont State Park at Kingsland Bay not just because it has great history and we had not brought the schooner there before, but because it is located in Ferrisburgh, my hometown. Well, Hurricane Irene hit the region just before our scheduled August visit and so as …
Welcomed in Westport
by Tom Larsen October 6, 2011 We returned to Westport this year for the third time. It’s a great place to stop, due to the always warm hospitality and wonderful scenery. Our hosts, the Carroll family who owns and operates Westport Marina, couldn’t have been more gracious. Despite this spring of record high water leaving a large part of their …
Port Henry
by Matt Witten October 3, 2011 Port Henry, former home of blast furnaces, dock wallopers, and most recently, of the Champlain Bridge’s new arch. Port Henry’s massive concrete jetty makes an easy target for docking, and sheltered both the Lois and our companion, the historic New York State Tugboat Urger, from the north waves. The town dock is only about …
Schuylerville
by Steve Pfanenstiel September 28, 2011 It was the best of times. In looking back on our time in Schuylerville, docked at the Hudson Crossing Park, I think we had a great experience. The community really embraced us; from the welcome BBQ on Monday night, to the constant deliveries of ice, food (especially the apple cider donuts!) and well wishes. …