Lake Champlain

[darekluczak]

Hi there!

I'm planning 3-4 day trip with my to Lake Champlain. There was a good article in BoatUS magazine on it. I'm wondering if I can get some help from fellow MacGregorians. I'm interested in boat ramps for good for Mac, places to overnight ( marinas, anchorages ), places to visit and see, restaurants etc.
Have any one sailed there ? I would like to do it sometimes in July or August.

[K9Kampers]

darekluczak -

Welcome! Lake Champlain is indeed a great place to sail. While there are several points of access on both sides, the two that I'm familiar with are at Mallets Bay & Perkins Pier at the Burlington waterfront. The Northeast Trailer Sailors, a predominately Mac group (but not limited to), has a scheduled rendezvous there this year June 26 thru July 5. Most of us launch at Mallets Bay.

Mallets Bay is a great public resource. It has a large upper grass lot for rigging and trailer parking (free, unlimited overnight parking!), and the lower paved lot includes a four-wide paved / concrete launch ramp. There are even porta-potty outhouses. The drawback is small launch / haul ready docks on either side that make for challenging hurry-up-and-wait / I-was-here-first jockeying during busy launching times. During a NE-TS event, there are always hands-to-help. There is also a great hardware / marine store a short walk from the ramp for last minute items.

Mallet's Bay Inner Bay & Outer Bay are great for sailing semi-protected if you don't want to venture into the larger part of the lake. Anchorages I've visited include Niquettes Beach, North Beach, Valcour Island and Deep Bay. There are many other great anchorages the NE-TS group visits including Burton Island State Park.

In the past, boater's use of Niquettes Beach was free, however, two years ago, they started charging for people coming ashore. Dog friendly and a great first night anchorage for late arrival / launch.

North Beach is VERY busy on weekends...free access to beach by boat... pay-to-play for landlubbers. Access to the Bike Path for a short walk to the Burlington waterfront.

Here are some links of interest:

NE-TS

Perkins Pier & Burlington Waterfront

ECHO Aquarium & Science Center

Niquette Bay State Park

cruising guide

btw- Where are you from?

[NiceAft]

BOATUS has a ramp indicator that you can also use. http://www.boatus.com/trailerclub/locat ... _id=400069

If I may, I suggest going to your profile and updating the information. If you had where you are from, members might be better able to help, such as which side of Lake Champlain is closer to you.

Ray

[Hamin' X]

Another excellent resource is: Active Captain. It is a sort of Wiki for boat ramps and facilities.

~Rich

[darekluczak]

Thanks for the info.
K9Kampers you gave a nice run down on everything.
I'll try to get more info from the web site about the meet. It looks like from your post that it's too long for me but maybe
I can join for few days.
The weather there is probably perfect there around that time. How about water, warm enough to swim ( I have a 11 year old son ).

I've updated my profile, it shows my location now.

Thanks again.

[Paul S]

Champlain is one of the major events for ne-ts. We haven't gone ourselves (we do the July 4th fireworks on the Charles River)

http://www.ne-ts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=79

http://www.ne-ts.com/re/re-911champ.html

http://www.ne-ts.com/re/2007_champlain.aspx

We have it on our rendezvous schedule for 2009!

[K9Kampers]

Any NE-TS event, especially Champlain, boats join & leave as they desire. Not everybody attends the entire event. Due to the potential number of boats, multiple smaller groups may form to cruise different parts of the lake. Destinations are dependant on the weather and the will of the group. On the NE-TS website, read the Rendezvous reports, Individual sailing & General articles to get a better sense of it. Generally, the water is warm and the swimming is great, but not always, as recent weather will determine that.

[Kelly Hanson East]

Port Henry has a free launch ramp and trailer storage. Westport has a nice full service marina.

Champlain is really a Great Lake - when weather blows up it should be considered as something in between offshore and inland lake sailing.
My insurance company (and Boat US) have a separate category for Great Lakes sailing.

Be careful

[darekluczak]

Champlain is really a Great Lake - when weather blows up it should be considered as something in between offshore and inland lake sailing.
My insurance company (and Boat US) have a separate category for Great Lakes sailing.

Be careful

That's sounds scary
Thanks for the warning.
How do you feel about Lake George.
I got my first 2003 Mac 26M from a place @ Greenwood lake and stayed there for entire season. I didn't much like sailing up there because of changing wind conditions. Sailing on the mountain lakes is a bit unpredictable but maybe Lake George is big enough not to affected by changing winds.

[Kelly Hanson East]

Smaller and more spotty winds than Champlain. Also Lake George is over-run by powerboats..even the powerboaters think this

[NiceAft]

Now just hold no there Stephen! I know you live a heck of a lot closer to Lake George than I, but I suspect that my 29 years of sailing there for two weeks, for almost every year for the last 29 counts for something on this topic. You're wrong about that

over-run by powerboats..even the powerboaters think this

remark.

The sailing there is great. The only problems I have ever had with consistent spotty winds is around Dome Island. Rick Boucher (Bermuda Breeze) calls it the curse of Dome Island Rick has kept Bermuda Breeze on that lake for years, and loves it there. Whenever possible, we sail together. Are there a lot of power boats there? Yes, but the lake is thirty two miles long That's a lot of water to share


Ray

[Chinook]

We launched at a nice county park about 6 or 7 miles south of Plattsburg. The ramp was good, and as I recall there was no charge for launch or parking. It's almost directly across from Valcour Island, where Benedict Arnold's little fleet of gunboats slowed the British down enough to forestall invasion in the fall of 1776. Very interesting area to sail.

[Captain Jim]

We were out sailing Lake George today around 4pm and we just about had the whole lake to ourselves. What a beatiful day for a sail! We sail out of Warner Bay and stayed on the south side of Dome Island today.

Jim
S/V BOLD VENTURE

[Kelly Hanson East]

I will certainly defer my comment on Lake George to those who sail her, I confess I have passed on hearsay as I havent been on this lake in the last three seasons., so please take the advice above over mine. May is still pretty early for boating season in upstate though.

The North Basin of Lake George is the place to head to - the South end is the end which tends to collect traffic on season.

I would take Champlain over Lake George though, anyday/season.

[NiceAft]

Darek,

Just like Lake Champlain, Lake George can have storms suddenly come at you. They can come over the mountains rather quickly. Whichever lake you go to, be on the look out.

Keep you radio on, and always keep a check on the horizons.

Ray