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"The Moonlight Lady" is moored at the Colchester marina. The ship is being renovated for its first season of overnight Lake Champlain tours. Photo: Stefan Hard

By MOLLY TUCKER

A vacation cruise ship once again is plying the waters of Lake Champlain.

Vermont Discovery Cruises is offering one-, three- and six-night excursions on "The Moonlight Lady," a 1920s-style inland waterways yacht. The cruises are scheduled from May 21 to Oct. 18, and will travel as far north as Montreal and as far south as Crown Point, N.Y.

Mike Shea, owner and president of Green Mountain Boat Lines, purchased the yacht, originally named "The Bonny Blue," from Blue Peter Lines in Virginia in 2007.

"The Bonny Blue" was designed by naval architect Merritt Walter and built in 2001 by A&M Manufacturing of Old Town, Fla. Under Walter's ownership, "The Bonny Blue" brought passengers up and down the Dismal Swamp Canal from Chesapeake, Va., to Elizabeth City, N.C. The shallow-water Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest man-made canal still in use in the United States and the swamp was part of the Underground Railroad before the Civil War.

Shea brought "The Bonny Blue" to Vermont in August 2007 and renamed her "The Moonlight Lady." According to Shea, "The Moonlight Lady" is the first motorized cruise boat offering overnight accommodations on Lake Champlain since the 220-foot "SS Ticonderoga" ceased operation in 1953 and was moved to the Shelburne Museum.

"The Moonlight Lady" already featured polished walnut, tapestry, and brass fittings, but was extensively renovated and updated during the winter 2007 and spring 2008. A culinary theater was added to the top deck, to provide more "hands-on" experience for guests. Guests can sip a glass of wine while watching meals being prepared by the boat's chef, or don an apron and help with the cooking.

It may be the only culinary theater of its kind in the world.

"To date we have been unable to verify any other similarly-sized yacht with a top deck, open-air kitchen," said Marie Lathey, director of sales and marketing for Vermont Discovery Cruises. Installing the kitchen posed some logistical problems. "We didn't want the equipment to be so heavy that it could cause the boat to tip," said Lathey.

To compensate, a lighter-weight stainless steel stove, oven and refrigerator were installed.

Three-course dinners are served on all of the cruises, as well as lunches and Vermont breakfasts including fruits, breads, breakfast meats, French toast, pancakes and eggs to order. Lathey said Vermont products such as chocolates, wines, beers, food and toiletries will be used as much as possible on the cruises.

"We're trying to keep everything local," she said.

A new dining area was added to the top deck, and the original pilot house was replaced with one three times larger with heat and air conditioning, as well as benches and seats.

"Mike is very into the idea of having guests go into the pilot house and talk with the captain," said Lathey.

The horizon (middle deck) and admiral (lower deck) were updated with new interior designs and equipment. The entertainment center, located on the admiral deck, has lounge-style seating with comfortable armchairs where guests can watch classic movies and documentaries about Lake Champlain, look at old maps of the lake, or read books about Vermont's maritime history. The admiral deck also contains the crews' quarters and a prep kitchen, "The Bonny Blue's" original kitchen.

The 71.9-foot boat has almost 65 feet of deck space. It can accommodate 16 overnight passengers in eight double cabins, each with a private bathroom and large windows. The boat is heated and air-conditioned and much of it is enclosed, making it comfortable for travel in spring, summer and fall conditions. "The Moonlight Lady" has a four-foot draft, which allows it to travel up shallow waterways such as the Otter Creek in Vergennes.

The first cruise on "The Moonlight Lady," scheduled for May 21, was a three-night Lake Discovery Cruise. On this cruise, which will run 37 times this season, guests explore Lake Champlain and Otter Creek with the help of a historian and naturalist from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. The boat visits the falls at Vergennes, the Basin Harbor Club, Crown Point and Westport, N.Y., as well as Valcour Island, the site of the first U.S. naval battle in 1776.

Vermont Discovery Cruises has arranged a variety of activities for guests at the places where "The Moonlight Lady" will dock. In Basin Harbor, guests can visit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, take a guided bird tour or a bicycle ride. In Westport, N.Y., they can see a show at the Depot Theater, play a round of golf at the Westport Country Club, or take a tour of the Darcy Meadow Farm, a heritage beef farm. The Lake Discovery Cruise costs $899 per person, double occupancy, plus taxes and port charges.

The one-night Vermonter Cruise, which costs $299 per person, leaves Burlington at 1 p.m. for either Vergennes or Westport, N.Y., and returns to Burlington at 10:30 a.m. the next morning. The trip includes high tea and dinner on day one and breakfast on day two.

The six-night Discover Montreal Cruise visits Montreal and northern areas of Lake Champlain with an on-board historian. The first day, the boat travels up the Richelieu River, passing by Fort Lennox and docking overnight in the riverside town of St Jean, Quebec. On the second night, the boat docks at Sorel, Quebec, the fourth-oldest city in Canada. The boat then travels up the St. Lawrence River and docks for two nights in Montreal's Old Port where guests can take a culinary walking tour of the Old Port, or depending on the cruise dates, take in the Montreal's Fireworks Competition, Jazz Festival, or the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. On the return trip, the Moonlight Lady docks at Chambly, Quebec, and Valcour Island. The cost is $1,799 per person, double occupancy, plus taxes and port charges.

There are also special cruises on wine and watercolor painting. Dellie Rex, senior Wine Instructor at New England Culinary Institute and author of the book 'About Wine" is hosting nine Wine on the Water Cruises. On this overnight cruise, Rex will host an afternoon wine tasting of four wines paired with foods prepared by "The Moonlight Lady's" chef, followed by a cocktail reception and three-course dinner. The cruise includes overnight accommodations for one night as well as breakfast the next morning. The cost is $399 per person, double occupancy, plus taxes and port charges.

Watercolor artist Sean Callahan will host a three-night Watercolor Painting Cruise, offering daily watercolor workshops as the boat travels to Vergennes; the Basin Harbor Club; Crown Point, New York; Westport, N.Y., and Valcour Island. On one evening, guests will visit Callahan's Dog Tired Studio and gallery in Vergennes. There will be two Watercolor Painting Cruises this season, June 18 to 21 and Aug. 31 to Sept. 3. The cost is $1,199 per person plus taxes and port charges.

Plans for the 2009 season include a Culinary Immersion Cruise that will visit working farms on the Vermont and New York sides of Lake Champlain. Guests will work on farms, milking cows or making cheese, and bring their food products back to "The Moonlight Lady" for use in cooking classes or dinner preparations.

In addition to the overnight cruises, "The Moonlight Lady" can be chartered for one-day events such as corporate retreats, weddings, civil unions, anniversaries, and rehearsal dinners for up to 48 people.

The boat has five officers and crew including the captain, chef, expedition leader, deck hand/housekeeper, and deck hand/kitchen assistant. In addition, an entertainer will be onboard for the Vermonter Cruise, a historian/naturalist for the Lake Discovery Cruise and Discover Montreal Cruise, as well as a wine expert and artist for the specialty cruises.

Vermont Discovery Cruises is a division of Green Mountain Boat Lines, which has operated three commercial cruise boats on Lake Champlain since 1984. The original 149-passenger paddle wheeler, the 'Spirit of Ethan Allen," was replaced in 1995 by the 500-passenger "Spirit of Ethan Allen II." In 2002, the 500-passenger "Spirit of Ethan Allen III" began operations in Burlington. In addition to conventions, weddings, reunions and other events, "The Spirit of Ethan Allen III" offers lunch, dinner and brunch cruises.

Reservations for "The Moonlight Lady" are going well.

"We are already sold out for several dates this summer," Lathey said. Vermonters are making about one-third of the reservations.

"A lot of locals are opting to come with us for one to three nights instead of paying for gas to travel elsewhere," she said.

The Vermont Discovery Cruise office is located at 348 Flynn Avenue, Burlington. The telephone number is 802.863.3350. The e-mail address is info@vermontdiscoverycruises.com. The Web site is http://www.vermontdiscoverycruises.com.