slow boat big lake

Cruising Lake Champlain in a houseboat is an adventure like no other.

Little Outdoor Giants and friends aboard the 38-foot houseboat they floated from the southern end of Lake Champlain to its northern islands, exploring coves, lakeside villages, and local farms along the way. They began as boating novices, but “when we got back we definitely had sea legs.”

Photographs And Illustrations

As the houseboat passed beneath Lake Champlain Bridge, which connects Vermont to New York, Elizabeth Yon kept an eye on watercraft sharing the narrow southern part of the lake.

BOTTOM RIGHT : n an early Saturday morning last July, a houseboat left Chip Taube’s marina in Orwell, Vermont, near the southern end of 120-milelong Lake Champlain, and began chugging its way north at 8 mph. Steering the boat—and decidedly “out of our comfort zone”—were Jarrod McCabe and Dominic Casserly, a pair of Massachusetts photographers known as Little Outdoor Giants. They, along with a few friends, had rented the floating home from Taube; it’s one of two he maintains for intrepid travelers. Previously for Yankee, Little Outdoor Giants had followed Thoreau’s wilderness paddle in Maine and hiked across New Hampshire’s Presidential Range. This time the plan was simple: to see what would happen during one summer week on a houseboat on New England’s biggest lake. At the end of each day, they wrote and drew in one of their signature leather-bound journals. It’s funny how on all trips I feel anxious that by the end of the trip I still haven’t relaxed, muses one of the entries. Here I find what I was looking for. All the adventure, the natural beauty, the opportunity for a one-of-a-kind New England vacation....

The first day’s anchorage at the historic Basin Harbor Club, about 30 miles into the journey. “A killer spot,” according to that day’s journal entry.

There were some tense moments during the trip—when winds made the waves crest as if at sea, and when throngs of pleasure boats required both patience and attentive steering—but the days proved largely carefree. The travelers learned to navigate coves and narrow streams, chatted with people from around the country, snorkeled, fished, ate well and often, lazed on beaches, walked and biked on shore (and, yes, swatted mosquitoes), and discovered that when you make a slow boat your home, it can take you places you never knew you could find.

—Mel

Allen

ABOVE : “Eating on the deck, watching the sun set over the green hills. Not a bad way to start a trip.”

TOP RIGHT :

Jon Porter has been at the helm of the Fort Ticonderoga Ferry for 50 years, taking passengers on a seven-minute shuttle between Shoreham, Vermont, and the famous Revolutionary War battle site in Ticonderoga, New York.

BOTTOM RIGHT :

After leaving Basin Harbor, the houseboat had entered Otter Creek to reach the center of Vergennes, docking here. “I felt like Samuel Clemens piloting a riverboat through a narrow and shallow river. It was nerve-racking but successful, as we came out in a lovely cove, with a short walk up to the main street and awaiting ice cream.”

“Lake life is good. I haven’t checked the time in quite a while. The boat has the feeling like it belongs somewhere with cypress trees and Spanish moss. As we wind up our shenanigans at Kingsland Bay State Park (fishing, jumping off the boat, inner tube floating), the low summer sun is shining into the dining room window, and reflections off the water dance on the ceiling. The boat sways with swell. The New York mountains are silhouetted against a pale blue sky with a few lone clouds. The boat swings around the anchor, giving us varying views of 20-foot cliffs and the distant lake.”

LEFT :

“Our anchorage on the north side of Malletts Bay (where Elizabeth snorkeled in crystal waters at sunset) is a dream. We caught sunnies for dinner. Watched a movie we brought: Fool’sGold. A terrible movie, unless you’re sitting on the bow of a boat anchored for a beautiful evening. Then it’s great.”

TOP RIGHT :

In North Hero the crew docked at Hero’s Welcome General Store, where they fortified themselves with doughnuts, then rode bikes to Pomykala Farm. There to greet them was Ben Pomykala, gathering cucumbers.

MIDDLE RIGHT :

Back on the water and heading to Grand Isle, they approached the drawbridge in a section of the lake known as the Gut, where bass fishermen often have good luck casting their lines.

BOTTOM RIGHT :

Charlie’s Boathouse, owned by the Auer family and located on the Burlington Bike Path, was a memorable stop. “Charlie’s is on lake time. It was so dark inside— not a single light on. I ordered a cheeseburger, and Charlie’s sister, Christine (pictured), told me to ‘sit on the swing outside and enjoy the view.’ She told that to every person. Most things on the wall or on the shelves seem like they’ve been there for 50 years. There were vintage life jackets and bamboo fishing poles, and Charlie’s beagle looking for snacks. If Christine and Charlie aren’t around, just ring the bell that’s on the counter. She said it’s been there since her grandmother’s time.”

“In Plattsburgh we slipped through a sea of moored boats, then docked and found a harbor master to get a spot….

When we left, the lake was glassy, with reflections off the water filling the wheelhouse.”

TOP LEFT :

After North Hero it was time to seek out some of the smaller islands of Lake Champlain. Off the tip of St. Albans Point, Burton Island State Park beckoned—and proved to be a great spot for a quick dip.

BOTTOM LEFT :

“The cruise to Burton Island was magical. The weather has been insanely good. I fished the docks with the local gang of kids. Peter Jolley (pictured) reeled in a whopper of a bass on a rubber worm. We loved the seclusion we found on the island.”

RIGHT :

“How have we never heard of nor visited Ausable Chasm?! Our boat adventure has been filled with all sorts of amazing swims, but this was on another level! We docked on the New York side, in Plattsburgh, then took a taxi to Port Kent. The chasm does not disappoint. We walked on paths, boardwalks, and trails carved into the rock, 100 feet above the water. The canyon winds and bends on the hike toward the float launch. We floated, relaxing, swimming, and cooling our way through a twisty-turning natural wonder. On a hot summer day, floating down a lazy river, smelling the pine forest, and having a cheeseburger at the snack shop at the end— can’t get better than that.”

The houseboaters’ final day and night was spent on Valcour Island. “A state park of New York, it is a tiny island with a pristine cove, south of Bluff Point, where we anchored for the night. We explored a picturesque sandy beach with tropical-looking foliage and tall grass coming right up to the sand. There was a hiking trail ringing the island, and we followed it to a pictureperfect lighthouse. We watched ospreys nesting in a radio tower, and walked barefoot for miles around this paradise of an island. We made a feast and a fire on the beach, watching night come on over the cove and our houseboat anchored offshore. This is the kind of quiet, adventurous, beautiful, and natural vacation I imagined you’d have to go to the Caribbean or Australia to find. This is why I love New England: paradise in our own backyard.”

IF YOU GO: Champlain Houseboat Charters rents 38-foot houseboats for cruising Lake Champlain in the summer and early fall. Each boat is built to sleep six, but can accommodate eight, and costs $250 per day plus fuel and a cleaning fee. Booking well in advance is highly recommended. For more information, go to champlainhouseboatcharters.com