Lake Cruise in Burlington
Buttercup is a very special picnic cruiser designed for social-outings and comfortably accommodates up to 6 people.
Buttercup is 29 feet long. I found her listed for sale by the original manufacturer in the port of Sidney on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. I had one of my crew members fly out there and trailer her to Lake Champlain.
While she was completely functional when I bought her, she had no character yet. She was just a production boat.
Me and a mate went to work: We built an a helm station out of regional walnut. We spent days on our knees measuring and cutting a wooden grate for the floor. We designed a fold-out table with a custom wine glass rack.
For her outwardly appearance, we added a traditional wooden motorboat mast from the Netherlands. We fitted it with solid brass navigation lights from Italy. From that mast, Buttercup flies the International flag of planet Earth.
We added nautical dress flags, spelling out her name, BUTTERCUP, and so many more special improvements to create the perfect boat for an intimate outing.
I’m so proud every time I walk down to the Burlington Boathouse and see Buttercup who is now one of a kind. She is the most unique little cruise boat with her very own, distinct character: a mixture of Italian gondola and gilded age, Adirondack, double-ended launch and tea boat.
I’ve grown up around boats all my life.
When I was a youngster living in New York, my Dad took us kids blue fishing on his center console in Long Island Sound.
I learned to sail on a homemade Sunfish at a cabin Dad rented on a lake in Quebec.
When I moved to Germany as a teenager, my uncle had a gorgeous wooden sailboat (double-wishbone ketch) on Lake Constance, and I fell in love with the romance of spending weekends on a sailboat.
When I moved to Vermont at age 18, I graduated from owning small sailboats to larger ones which I took out in ever challenging conditions on Lake Champlain.
In my late 20s, I worked on windjammers in Maine, and in my thirties, I crewed on boats up-and-down the Atlantic from Maine to Puerto Rico, including sails to the Bahamas and Bermuda.
In my 50s, I cast off on my 33-foot Hans Christian sailboat from Lake Champlain, down through the locks to the Hudson River, and across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. During that three-year voyage, I got to visit so many historic sites and I lived in Turkey for four months.
Once I returned I knew I wanted to give tours to people and introduce them to Lake Champlain, which have become my home waters for close to 50 years now.
I did that first by owning Whistling Man Schooner Company, and now I offer tours with Buttercup.
After obtaining a slew of sailing certifications, I eventually attended New England Maritime which prepared me for the U.S. Coast Guard’s captain’s license test. I hold a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master Mariner’s license including an offshore provision.
During the summers, I take people like you out on Lake Champlain. In winters, I look forward to holing up in my cozy quarters and working on my novel and other writings.
I look forward to meeting you. Until then, sail on!
-Captain Mathias Dubilier
Welcome passengers!
"There's nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
I grew up along the wetlands of the Upper Mississippi River in Northeast Iowa.
My family has three towboat Captains, my father, a brother and nephew, so I guess I came to boating naturally.
My career began as a Deckhand on the Julia Belle Swain, a steam powered stern wheeler at Lacrosse, Wisconsin.
I went on to become a nature tour captain with Mississippi Explorer Cruises on the wetland sloughs and backwaters at our ports of Lansing, Iowa, Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin and Galena, Illinois.
My next adventure was taking passengers on dolphin tours on the Kiawah River in the salt marshes outside Charleston, South Carolina.
Then onto the Florida Everglades where the crocodiles were king.
I am excited to share my newest adventures with you exploring the beauty, history and fun on the Buttercup Cruises of Lake Champlain!
I have seen and sailed on many waters, but none affect me so deeply as Lake Champlain.
It is an ancient lake. Running along its lakebed and up onto its shores are the fossils from the oldest coral reef in the world.
Once open to the Atlantic as an inland sea, there were whales swimming in these waters. And all manner of sea life, which has given rise to the belief that the lake is home to a sea serpent called Champ (whose sightings pre-date other sea creatures like the Loch Ness monster.)
The story of the lake’s creation by the indigenous people is as dramatic as any Greek saga, including a struggle against nature, the changing of nature’s landscape, and an Odyssean home-coming to nature.
Later, when Europeans arrived, this lake is where the colonists had its first naval battle against the British.
And in a chapter of history largely forgotten or intentionally suppressed, Vermont was the first country with a constitution to form here, before the United States declared itself a country. And our first civil war was between Vermont and those 13 original states.
Today, the lake is home to over 70 islands and features the most stunning sunsets because of the proportion of mountain range to body water, making the sun seem magically close as it fills the sky with fiery colors.
I take pride in being a great story-teller, and have more stories to tell than the short two-hour cruise will allow. So I will give you options and you can pick which ones you want to hear.
Facilities
We do have a toilet (or "head" as we call them on boats) aboard Buttercup. It's located below deck so please be aware that it's down a couple steps.
Supplies
Buttercup has all the supplies you need for a pleasant and safe cruise. We have lifejackets for people of all ages, and have all the eatware you may need for any snacks or drinks you'd like to bring along. (Plates, silverware, cups, cutting board, corkscrew, etc.)
Services
The crew of the Buttercup is very familiar with all that Burlington has to offer, and we'd be happy to provide recommendations for your visit on local shops, restaurants, and attractions.