Sailing 3 times daily from Burlington’s waterfront, the classic sailing vessel “Friend Ship” takes visitors back to a  time to when commercial sailing craft plied Lake Champlain’s waters moving goods and passengers on a nautical highway stretching from Quebec City to New York City and westward to the Great Lakes.  Along the way we sail by historic sites and over wrecks of canal schooners, a horse powered ferry, and other remnants of the Lake’s past.  We take in views of geologically significant sites like the Burlington Thrust Fault, Juniper Island and Rock Dunder or “Odziozo”, long an important and sacred site to the area’s Native Americans.  We observe the boat’s depth gauge as it traces the contours of the Lake’s bottom and conversation frequently shifts to the natural history of the Lake while lighthouses and breakwaters remind us of the government’s role in supporting over two centuries of trade in the Champlain Valley.

Whistling Man Schooner Company