whistling Man Schooner Company

Lake Champlain Sailing Cruises Aboard the Classic Sloop "Friend Ship"
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Captains and Crew of the Whistling Man Schooner Company
Captain Glen Findholt

 Captain Glen Findholt has sailed Lake Champlain for over 30 years and holds a USCG 100 Ton Master License.   He has delivered power and sailing vessels along the US East Coast and between the US Coast and islands of the Caribbean.  In addition, he has explored the Richelieu, St. Lawrence, Saguenay Rivers in Quebec as well as the Champlain, Mohawk, Chambly, Oswego and Rideau Canals.  He has always enjoyed "messing about in boats" and introducing people to sailing and to Lake Champlain.

In the winter he  can be found on the slopes of Smugglers' Notch Resort teaching alpine and telemark skiing and gazing out on the Lake in anticipation of sailing season.

First Mate Marie Findholt

  Marie is Capt. Glen's First Mate in life as well as aboard the Friend Ship.  Together they've sailed the crystal waters of the Caribbean as well as here in Lake Champlain.  She brings a "women's touch" to the Friend Ship, having operated her own interior design business "Country Home Interiors" for over 20 years.                                                 

 
Capt. John Dupee

 

 John holds a USCG 50 Ton Master License and has a long history of sailing and ownership of classic boats.  He was in fact, once the owner of WMSC's original vessel, Northern Spy, a wooden mini Bluenose schooner, built in Nova Scotia.  When not running the Friend Ship, he can be found sailing his Sakonnet 23, "Whimsey"  on Lake Champlain or off sailing somewhere in the Eastern Caribbean.   John and wife Ceci live in South Burlington, VT.
 Mate Meg Lesnikoski

 

 Meg joins us for her third summer aboard the Friend Ship, having just finished her junior year at the University of Vermont where she is studying athletic training.  An avid skier and soccer player, Meg lives in Fletcher, VT with her family who happen to be Vermont's only cranberry farmers.

 
 Mate John Connell

  John joined the Friend Ship crew last year but he is no stranger to classic sailing vessels.  A lifelong educator, John was part of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum's crew responsible for the construction of the Lois McClure, a full scale reproduction of an 88 foot long 1862 class canal schooner.  When not sailing on the Friend Ship, John can be found carefully restoring classic canoes or sailing his Bridges Point 24 sloop Polly Ann.    John lives with his wife Polly at Greenmont Farms in Underhill Center.  Check out www.greenmontfarms.com.

 

 
 Mate Sherm White

  Sherm has spent much of his life around boats and also crews with  Glen on a racing sloop here on Lake Champlain.  In the winter he is a ski school manager at Smugglers' Notch Resort and serves on the Educational Staff of the Eastern Division of the Professional Ski Instructors of America.  He lives in Jeffersonville, Vermont with his wife Pat.

 

Mate Dick Smyth

 

Having been a naturalist for many years, Dick Smyth is an asset to the crew for being able to point out all of the different types of wildlife viewed on the scenic sails aboard the Friend Ship; and Dick's experience as a glider pilot has given him cloud reading skills no ordinary sailor could possess. Dick has sailed with the Whistling Man Schooner Company since the early days aboard the Northern Spy.  He resides high on a hill in Wolcott, Vermont.
 
   
Ships Mate: Pixel

Pixel is our 11 year old Maltese "boat dog" who enjoys a good day on the water as much as any human we've ever met.  She's logged literally thousands of boat miles including a trip from Vermont to Florida along the Intracoastal Waterway and a whale watching trip to the Saguenay region of Quebec.

  

The Whistling Man

The original Whistling Man is a wind-up toy that actually whistles a tune.   Superstitious sailors of old used to say that whistling brought up the wind. The Whistling Man resides with WMSC founder Mike LaVecchia and his been in his family for many years.

 

 

 

 

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