• Courtesy Of Tom Peterson
• M/V Loon

Tom Peterson probably holds the record for captaining the shortest boat trips ever offered on Lake Champlain. For three seasons, he piloted Local Motion's Island Line Bike Ferry, which, from spring through fall, shuttles cyclists and pedestrians across the cut in the Colchester Causeway — a whopping 650-foot journey from start to finish.

"I never got lost," he quipped about the 50 to 60 trips he made each day. "And you get a lot of practice docking."

Peterson enjoyed the work, but the bike ferry didn't exactly challenge his nautical skills. Nor did he get to know his passengers, who were aboard the vessel for only a few minutes before disembarking. But spending all that time in the middle of Lake Champlain gave Peterson an appreciation for this unique body of water, which annually draws thousands of visitors from around the world.

"The more I learned about the lake, the more I fell in love with it," he said. "And I'm learning more every day."

This summer, Peterson gets to venture farther into the lake, spend more time with his guests, and share some of the science, history, stories and legends he's learned. On May 20, he'll begin his second season operating Cruise Lake Champlain, a charter company that offers private, two-hour yacht cruises for as many as six passengers at a time.

The trips, which Peterson captains along with a first mate, are calm and serene excursions, ideal for family events such as engagements, weddings, reunions and memorial services, as well as company outings, customer appreciation days and bird-watching. Because of the craft's stability, high railings and bulwarks, it's particularly well suited for families with young children, as well as those who aren't comfortable on tippy or fast-moving boats.

"Not everybody likes to sail," said Peterson, who piloted sloops for Whistling Man Schooner in Burlington for four years. "Some people are scared of it or uncomfortable with it, and that's understandable. So I wanted to offer an alternative."

Peterson's sole vessel is the M/V Loon, a 36-foot cabin cruiser he purchased a few years ago. Built in 1986 and modeled off of North Sea fishing trawlers, the Loon isn't a speedboat meant for crashing through the waves. It's a quiet, steady and leisurely vessel that Peterson normally operates at 7 to 8 miles per hour. Its cabin and decks offer plenty of room for passengers to move around, congregate, eat a meal, or just relax and take in the scenery. Many guests enjoy riding on the boat's flybridge, or upper deck, which sits 10 feet above the water.

From mid-May through mid-September, the Loon departs from Ferry Dock Marina on Burlington's waterfront and stays within a 21-square-mile area ranging from just north of Rock Point south to Shelburne Bay. If weather conditions and wave action allow, Peterson sometimes circumnavigates Juniper Island. Along its shorelines and cliffs, guests have spotted peregrine falcons, eagles, mergansers, great blue herons and other wildlife.

Trips cost $500 for day cruises and $600 for sunset outings. Guests are welcome to bring their own food and beverages, including alcohol; Peterson provides kitchenware, such as glasses, plates and utensils.

Peterson, 67, wasn't born into the seaman's life. He grew up in landlocked Dayton, Ohio, which he jokingly called "the sailor capital of the world." His parents had modest means, but they always took their kids on low-budget road trips in the family's Studebaker wagon. By age 11, Peterson had visited all the states east of the Mississippi River.

He got his first taste of sailing on New Hampshire's Lake Sunapee, where his family spent summers with relatives. There he learned to canoe, kayak and pilot small sailboats, such as Sunfish and Sailfish.

In his early twenties, Peterson moved to Alaska, where he pined to get aboard one of the many seafaring vessels moored in the harbor.

"I finally got a chance to work on a fishing boat," he recalled. "I lasted 10 days. It was brutal, and we weren't finding fish. I made 80 bucks."

• James Buck
• Tom Peterson

In 1979, Peterson moved to Vermont for a job as outdoor educator at Pine Ridge School, the now-shuttered boarding school in Williston. Though he had no formal education in teaching — Peterson didn't attend college until his forties — he built the school's first ropes course and taught rock climbing there.

After joining the board of a local nonprofit called YouthBuild — it later became part of ReSOURCE — Peterson discovered that one of his fellow board members was also a sailor. The two started racing sailboats together, though not very well. "We were usually the first boat to come in last," he joked.

In 2006, Peterson did his first bareboat charter — or chartering a boat without a captain or crew — off the coast of Maine, then later completed a 12-day sail around Nova Scotia. He enrolled in several American Sailing Association courses and earned his captain's license in 2017, which allowed him to captain vessels for pay.

But Peterson never expected to pilot boats on Lake Champlain as a full-time job. For years he ran his own capital project consulting firm in Burlington called Peterson Consulting (now PCI), which oversaw construction projects for local municipalities, college and universities; they included Green Mountain Transit's bus station in downtown Burlington. Peterson sold that business in April 2022 soon after launching Cruise Lake Champlain, which he calls his "retirement project."

"He's a very capable captain with safety as his top priority," said Hannah "Diddy" Langsdale, owner of Whistling Man Schooner. "He's got an interesting life story, loves Vermont and its local history, and he's a skilled storyteller. The guests loved Captain Tom, and it was a pleasure to work alongside him."

Though Peterson has only taken paid passengers for one season, he's already earned some customer loyalty. Nora Arnold, of La Grange Park, Ill., booked a sunset cruise on the Loon last summer — she and her husband were visiting their daughter, who's a student at the University of Vermont. The family plans to do a second cruise this summer with more relatives aboard.

"His boat is extremely well preserved. It's an older craft, but it is meticulously brought back to life," Arnold said. Peterson also offered "great service, and he's so knowledgeable of the lake."

Deborah Flanders, who lives in Burlington's Old North End, has been on Peterson's cruises three times already, including twice with her grandchildren.

"It's a nice way to bring kids on board," she said. "It's not sailing, so you're a little more comfortable sitting up on the deck.

"And Tom is the perfect host," Flanders added. "He loves to tell stories and legends ... It's just a much more intimate way to see the lake."

Though Peterson operates Cruise Lake Champlain as a for-profit business, he's adopted a public-service mission to his work. Last year he donated trips on the Loon to local conservation and educational groups. Flanders, who sings in Bella Voce Women's Chorus of Vermont, noted that Peterson donated one such cruise package that the choral group later raffled off for a fundraiser.

"I'm trying to put the boat into service for nonprofits as much as I can afford," Peterson said. "If you get people out into any environment, whether it's mountain trails or on the lake, they're going to start paying attention, thinking about it more and caring for it."