On the subject of Lake Champlain-worthy vessels: Three weeks ago, Burlington resident Janice Clements photographed the washed-up remains of what appears to be a houseboat on the beach at Northshore Drive.

She writes:

If you go to the beach access (on Northshore Drive) you will see this raft just north of the stairs to the beach - still beached but with most of the belongings now removed. There's been no response from Coast Guard or Burlington Police. It would appear that this was someone's home and likely broke loose in the storm and drifted south."

Baird's Eye writes:

In mid-summer, life on a houseboat in Vermont must be dandy. I can vouch for the charms of the houseboats on Lake Dal, in Kashmir (where I spent several summers as a kid).

Form must follow function with watercraft.and Lake Champlain's climate dictates imaginative design solutions worthy of its waves, winds and ice.

If the skippers and crew of fair-weather houseboats (or rafts) claim to be in fine tune with Nature, Glorious Nature - can't we reasonably expect them to pick up the pieces when November rolls around, and haul the remains to a compost pile?

http://blogs.burlingtonfreepress.com/joel/2010/11/11/disposable-houseboats-on-lake-champlain-raft/