posted August 10, 2004 10:36 PM               

We live in the Upper CT River Valley (VT/NH line) & have been thinking about heading up that way trailering our S565 for Labor Day W/E. I have the name of a guy who may have some info & will pass on anything I may find out.

Of course, many of the best spots are undoubtedly booked for that W/E, so we may head back down to more familiar waters in LI Sound instead. But it's definitely a body of water we want to explore in the near future and/or next season. Let's be sure to compare notes!

posted August 11, 2004 06:48 PM               

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Originally posted by bobc:
I live in Millers Falls , Mass so I think we are probably neighbors or close to it.

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posted August 12, 2004 08:13 AM               

We get up there once and a while when we are not sailing on the CT. River. Nice place with "interesting " scenery at the Ledges.

posted August 12, 2004 11:36 PM               

What or where is Harriman? Sounds interesting.

To be candid, we're just in the embryonic sailing stages here. We purchased Shortstay about a month ago. Had some issues getting her & the trailer registered. Our first time on water was an evening on Lake Mascoma, up near Dartmouth where my wife works, but there was no wind, so we just motored. We were relieved she floated! We'll probably go back there again this season. Sunapee is probably the best nearby lake & I hope to get there before the season ends. Champlain holds great allure for future exploration, if not this season then most definitely next.

posted August 23, 2004 11:34 AM               

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Originally posted by bobc:
I have not been to Sunapee but was looking at it on the Topo map and it looks promising. What is the launching situation like at Sunapee ?

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Just back from vacation in Virginia.

Thanks for the info on Harriman, Bob. I'll have to get up there.

I've been by Sunapee tons of times & have skied on the mountain often. However, I haven't checked it out from a sailing standpoint yet, but hope to do so not too long from now. I'll let you know what I find out. I understand it's a great body of water.

posted August 23, 2004 12:22 PM               

The area that we were in was St Albans. This gave us a chance to explore the Champlain Islands area which consists of , Grand Isle , Isle La Motte and many lesser islands. I was interested in Burton island state park which is an island with 17 tent sites 26 lean two's and a 100 slip marina. It has a store , bath houses etc. There are no cars on the island and is only reached by boat. There is a launch at Kill Kare state park accross fromm the island and it is a short approx 1/2 mile trip to the island. We notice several nice public launches in the Bay known as St Albans bay. The other interesting site was Mallets Bay. This area is home to the international sailing school and boasts quite a large number of sailboats. There is a public launch site just west of the marina and sailing school. The bay is quite large and protected.

The third area we checked out was Burlington harbor. This was a nice harbor with ferry service leaving to Plattsburg N.Y. The lake is about 15 miles accross at this point. There is a nice public launch next to the coast guard station . Burlington is a college town with great resturants lots to do.

We are thinking of renting a cottage in the St Albans area and using that as a base. We are toying with the idea of camping at Burton island also. With a Piper you could just stay at the marina at Burton. The only thing we noticed is that motels in the upper lake area are few and far in between. Burlington was not a problem but can be pricey.

In short the upper lake is rustic with lots of islands , Burlington is the cultural center with a broad exposure that judging from the breakwater could get rough in any type of serious weather.

We are going to check out the southern part of the lake as well. Hope that helps.

posted August 24, 2004 12:27 PM            

Are there long tracks of uninhabited shoreline on Lake Champlain? Is it possible to anchor and not be on someone's beach? Are the islands undeveloped?

I may not require privacy for myself, but I do not want to invade another's privacy. Boats sharing an anchorage is OK.

posted August 24, 2004 04:36 PM               

As far as undeveloped shoreline I think its pretty much spoken for . The other area that I have thought about is Rangely , Maine. I guess the lake at Rangely does in fact have wilderness areas on its shore.

The Wayfarer group a few years back had a rally at buttons bay on champlain. Its on their web site and I will dig up the link. I seem to recall they went down the shore stopping at different marinas and campgrounds. It may be worth checking out .

posted August 25, 2004 07:33 AM               

Here is the correct version
www.uswayfarer.org/cruising.html

posted September 02, 2004 12:49 PM               

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Originally posted by Shortstay:
I feel like a sluggard that I haven't contributed anything positive to this thread yet. I hope I can remedy that failure soon!

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Bob, it looks likely we'll be checking out Lake Sunapee this weekend. At this point, we know we can launch for $8 at the state park in Newbury (right by the ski area). Odd thing is you can't launch til 9:30a. Seems a bit late to me.

posted September 10, 2004 11:14 AM               

Thanks for the launch site info. I don't know if we will get up there this season but I hope so. Let me know what the ramp/parking were like .

posted September 10, 2004 02:07 PM               

Bob, parking was no problem. Plenty of room in the spacious lot.

The ramp, on the other hand, was not ideal. A single ramp into a narrow, shallow channel with a couple of branches overhead making it a little tricky to get through without the mast hitting. Not big branches, but a nuisance. Once out of the channel, it's shallow for another 100 yards or so before getting to deeper water. The other nuisance is a washed out gully on the port side of the ramp.

Despite that, I could launch the S565 with no real difficulty, so a CL16 should be cake. And once out on the lake, the sailing was great. It's a bit narrow going north to get to the biggest/best part of the lake, but plenty deep and, hey, that's sailing!

The other bother is the state park locks the gate at 7:30p, so ya' gotta haul out in time to get stepped & stowed. The first evening, we had to finish stowing/securing outside the park gate. The second night, we got in 20 minutes earlier & had no problem.

The only other ramp is up at Sunapee Harbor to the north. also on the west side of the lake.

Plusses: Free; closer access to best part of lake; 24 hour access.

Negatives: Much busier area; they make you loop around up a hill to wait for your turn; parking is streetside, but a bit a of walk away; no easy place to park the boat in the water while parking the trailer.

If you go, be sure to go to the gift shop dockside in the Harbor to get a chart. The best $8 you'll ever spend! You could also check out how busy it is at the free ramp & launch there if it looks good.

There is one last public ramp in George's Mills at the northern most part of the lake, but there is NO parking at all. Effectively, that makes it unuseable for most of us!

The state has been diddling around about building a better public ramp, but it's bogged down in local politics & won't happen any time soon.

posted September 11, 2004 11:52 PM               

1 - After Labor Day, it's free at the State Park Beach ramp.

2 - The gates don't close again until Memorial Day!

posted September 13, 2004 12:27 PM               

Thanks for the info. It sounds like you have found a good spot to sail and we will try and get up there maybe next weekend. I 'll keep and eye out for a piper.

posted September 13, 2004 01:27 PM               

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Originally posted by Shortstay:
... weather (Ivan!) permitting...

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