SOUTH HERO, Vt. (WCAX) – While we had quite a sunny summer, Vermont faced some obstacles, whether it was the drought or less Canadian visitors.
Jeff Woods works as a marina worker at the Apple Island Marina on South Hero and said he’s shocked by the lake levels.
“Many people have asked me ‘is this the lowest you’ve ever seen the lake?’ and I’ve said for me in my lifetime it’s the lowest I’ve ever seen it,” he said.
The severe drought dropped Lake Champlain to record-low levels, bringing some challenges for their marina and boaters who are renting from them. Many boaters have hit rocks and messed up the propellers on the boat motors, according to Woods.
“Probably have replaced six props this year because we’ve warned people to stay away from low water and they have not listened, you know, so they’ve busted our props and we’ve had to replace,” he said.
Due to the drought, they had to move their docks and boat slips deeper into the water, and even remove some boats early in the season.
Despite the inconveniences, Woods says business was still great for the summer months.
Seth Desrochers owns ‘The Rest Stop, a food truck and bar, right next to Keeler Bay Marina.
They’ve been open for three years and he says this was their best season yet.
Since the drought brought nothing but sunshine, customers kept coming.
“I’ll look forward to a rainy day because it’s so busy in the summer here that’ll be a day off for us, but in August it rained for like 15 minutes up here and it was just beautiful,” he said.
Due to the rainy spring and less Canadian tourism, he worried about business earlier in the summer.
Luckily for him, they still welcomed many Canadian visitors.
“I don’t have a number to say like if this many didn’t come or not but I definitely have seen them here, happy to see them. They’re definitely our Canadian friends and help us through the summer here so I feel like that’s been good,” he said.
Both the Apple Island Marina and The Rest Stop wrap up their operations next weekend.
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