Destinations
Excellent cruising guides to Lake Champlain are available for purchase, and most LCYC cruisers have one aboard. So the purpose of this site is to provide insights and comments about "members' own" favorite destinations. We seek volunteers to select the sites and provide brief comments and descriptions. We will provide composition, editing, and site mounting help as needed. Contact Doug Purdy or Dale Hyerstay, or post your ideas in our listserve and we can take it from there.
CANADA: Richelieu River from Canada border to St Lawrence River
About 7 miles north of the border, in mid-river, is ISLE AU NOIX, the Isle of Nuts, about the size of Valcour Island, and a great stop for kids and adults. There is a mainland marina on the west branch of the river (check the chart for depth data), and a modest dock on the east where the water is deeper but with a 3 knot current. We anchored close to the island near the dock. On the island is a fort built in pre-colonial times with its cannons pointed south. It is the only fort on the continent that still has a moat. The fort is a museum worth visiting. The rest of the island is a large grassy picnic area surrounded by trees. Customs stops were simple, cordial, and relatively short. (We were last there some time ago, so someone check me on current accuracy.) [Submitted by Dale Hyerstay 3/16/06]
NORTH: From Cumberland Head to Canada border
MIDDLE: From Diamond Island to Cumberland Head
The cove at JONES PT, is a very pleasant lunch/swim spot on a warm sunny day with a moderate breeze. It is about 1.4 nm north of Boquet River Pt on the NY shore, and about the same latitude as Quaker Smith Pt on the VT shore. You can anchor in 25-30' of water, with good holding for rafting. It is a perfect distance from the club for a nice sail over and back; or it could be a nice mid-day stop on your way south. A S to SW or NW breeze is preferable - the point provides a decent wave dampener against southerlies, as does the shore for NWesterlies - and those winds gives you nice beats or reaches. The near shore is pastoral with a couple of summer places, and the view of Vermont is expansive. When the water is warm the swimming is delightful. Beware the unmarked charted rock pile near the shore to the north - the keepers of the shoreside cottage mark the rock pile with a milk jug, a good intentioned trap that makes you think it is merely a mooring marker. [Submitted by Dale Hyerstay, who has on his desk a piece of the rock pile that lodged in his keel a few years ago. 3/16/06]
SOUTH: From Whitehall to Diamond Island
