Since 1996, Whistling Man Schooner Company has hosted thousands of tourists and locals on sailboat rides around Lake Champlain. The current owner, Capt. Cory Dalsimer, is a University of Vermont graduate who started as a deckhand and earned a commercial captain’s license. Many other crew members have become captains; promoting careers in the maritime industry is part of the company’s mission.

In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger took a sunset cruise on the Friend Ship, a classic sailing sloop. It got good wind and sailed around Juniper Island. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires muted the sunset, but it was still a memorable evening. Produced by Eva Sollberger for Seven Days; filmed June 2025.