Is anybody home? April 9, 2008
I notice this forum has not been active for over a year, but here goes anyway.
I'm a member of the Woods Hole (Massachusetts) Yacht Club and hope to cruise on Lake Champlain this summer. I would like to confer with someone familiar with cruising on the Lake. I would be trailering my 18 ft. Marshall Cat and launching somewhere on the Lake. I have a cruising guide with charts that lists over 30 marinas of which some look appropriate to launch my boat. I would also need to step the mast.
Are there any prevailing winds on Lake Champlain during summer? In Woods Hole it is the afternoon SW you can always count on--sometimes more than you'd like.
Is it always calm at night time on the Lake (i.e., is it prudent to anchor in unsheltered waters at night?)?
Is it permissible to camp on uninhabited islands?
Are the larger marinas likely to have wireless for internet?
I hope to sail most of the length of the Lake, but not necessarily round trip (I'd retrieve my trailer by land connection).
Right now it looks like I have a week to 10 days for this cruise. My friend Bruce Corliss owns some land on Butler's Island, so I'l likely stop there at some point.
Arthur Gaines
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
againes@whoi.edu
Re Crusing Lake Champlain
A partial answer
Winds: Lake winds are generally southerly before a cold front and northerly thereafter and can be 20 to 30 knots at times. With a high pressure system over the lake, winds will be light and variable. With thunder storms around, winds will change rapidly and can be over 30 knots. Some nights are calm but not all. If anchoring, you should be prepared for a possible wind switch overnight. Good places (south to north) are: off Fort Ticonderoga, just south of the Champlain Bridge, off Westport, Partridge Harbor, Porter Bay, Kingsland Bay, Converse Bay, Willsboro Bay, Shellburne Bay, Valcour Island, Deep Bay moorings, Burton Island moorings and docks, Pelots Bay. Don't know that much about Malletts Bay or the northern end of the lake.
Camping: Other than Schulyer Island, most of the uninhabited islands I know are bird sanctuaries and not suitable for camping. I recommend you look at the VT and NY state parks along the lake as better places to camp -see: http://www.vtstateparks.com Possibilities are: DAR, Button Bay, Valcour, Burton Island.
Internet: No knowledge of what is available. We get internet service through our cell phone when cruising.
With a little cooperation from the weather, you will have a great time.