Traffic & Transit
Vermont ferry accident remembered 50 years later
M/V Valcour out of Burlington, Vermont ran aground in Port Kent, New York
Vermont ferry accident remembered 50 years later
A Vermont historian is marking the 50th anniversary of a calamitous ferry accident.
Robert Blanchard on his Facebook page Burlington Area History remembers the mishap.
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“Fifty years ago over a hundred people took a trip across Lake Champlain that they would never forget,” Blanchard writes. “In August 1975 the ferry Valcour, heading for Port Kent, N.Y., from Burlington, ran onto the rocks about two miles from her destination.”
The boat was stuck on the rocks, and the accident opened up an eight foot gash in her hull.
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There were 115 passengers and 40 vehicles on Valcour at the time. The people were quickly evacuated , and the vehicles were later lifted by a crane to two other ferries and brought to shore.
The passengers spent two nights at UVM dormitories before they could be reunited with their cars.
“Then a tug was brought up, which pulled the boat to a beach at Port Kent as fast as possible (five knots), because while she was being pulled, water was filling the hold and the gash was getting bigger,” Blanchard says.
“There was a real danger of her sinking. But she got to Port Kent, where she was beached. There the hole was temporarily patched and Valcour was taken to Shelburne Shipyard for repairs.”
Howard Flower, quartermaster Lake Champlain Transportation Co. relief crewman from 1968-1971, fondly remembers the M/V Valcour.
“As the proud flagship of the fleet, she was more than just a vessel,” Flower says. “She was inspiration. Her name, to me, meant Vaillant Cœur - a valiant heart. She embodied the old French motto: 'À cœur vaillant, rien d'impossible.' For the valiant heart, nothing is impossible.”
Built in 1947 from WWII surplus, the Valcour was the last ferry constructed on Lake Champlain, according to Flower.
“Named for the historic battle at Valcour Island, she carried the spirit of that era, and her hull recalled a flat-top aircraft carrier,” he says. “Powered by four engines, she was the fastest ferry on the lake, answering every call. Her low profile granted her stability in heavy wind, making her the last to tie up in a storm.”
