Canal Schooner Lois McClure

Trip from Burlington, VT, to New York City planned for 2004

Standard canal boats were designed to be pulled on canals by mules walking along the banks. But once they reached the relatively open waters of Lake Champlain or the Hudson, their cargo had to be transferred to a lake schooner or sloop.

Lake Champlain merchants and boat builders, in an effort to cut costs and increase profits, took the matter into their own hands. Starting with a standard canal boat that was sized to fit the locks of the canal, they added a centerboard and a sailing rig and created a design that was unique to Lake Champlain.

These vessels could load cargo from the northern lake and sail all the way to the entrance of the canal at Whitehall, New York. There they would raise the centerboard, drop the masts that were stepped in tabernacles on deck, and hire mules for a tow through the Champlain Canal. Once they reached the Hudson River, the process was reversed, and they could sail down the river to New York.

Canal Schooner Project Timeline

Canal schooner Lois McClure will be constructed at the Burlington Shipyard, located at the ferry dock at the foot of King Street on the Burlington, VT, waterfront. At the shipyard you can watch, or lend a hand, as experienced craftsmen and volunteers fashion timber, iron, cotton and canvas into a working schooner. There will be interesting exhibits and hands-on activities for everyone. Courses and workshops in boat building and traditional maritime skills will be offered.

In 2004, the schooner Lois McClure will reenact the trip from Burlington, VT, to New York City by way of the Champlain Canal and the Hudson River stopping at important ports along the way. Festivals and exhibits will be planned at the places the schooner Lois McClure stops on her way down to New York City. It is expected that the Lois McClure will stop at the Rondout during her voyage

Although the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum plans to sail the Lois McClure down the Hudson, there is little in the historical record showing canal schooners sailing on the River. But there is an extensive collection of pictures and articles describing the great steamboat tows with large numbers of canal boats and schooners lashed together in floating towns.

The Lois McClure will be modeled after the “1862” class General Butler and the O.J. Walker, two historic shipwrecks located within 1/2 of a mile of the construction site. The O. J. Walker and the General Butler, which now lie on the bottom of Burlington Bay, were both built in 1862 and are the largest of the breed. The schooner Lois McClure is based on the design of both of these vessels. She will be 88 feet overall, with a beam of 14.5 feet. Her schooner rig will consist of gaff mainsail and foresail, and a small jib.

The Champlain Canal opened in 1823 connecting Lake Champlain to the Hudson River and providing an efficient route for carrying cargos of marble, lumber, iron, and farm products to the markets of New York City.

Burlington Shipyard

Floating Towns, from "Old Steamboat Days," describing large numbers of canal boats lashed together for trips on the Hudson