Fort Ticonderoga has launched its newly acquired tour boat and is offering weekend excursions on Lake Champlain through the Columbus Day weekend.
The privately owned historic site and tourist attraction on the lake's western shore started offering 90-minute tours aboard the Carillon earlier this month. The cruises originally were going to be offered daily starting Memorial Day weekend, but those plans were put on hold when the 60-foot vessel's Coast Guard recertification was delayed.
The fort bought the 49-passenger boat earlier this year from a Vermont company that operated tours out of Shoreham, across the lake from Ticonderoga.
Officials at the fort say they'll hire a full-time maritime supervisor and plan to install a new tour boat dock by the 2016 season, when cruises will be offered daily.
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