Michael Hendrickson grew up boating and diving on Lake Champlain. Known as Spike, he started Burlington Harbor Launch and Tow in 2019. With five boats at his disposal, Hendrickson provides a variety of marine services, such as emergency boat towing, dock installation and scuba diving. From April 1 to the end of the boating season, Hendrickson is on the water seven days a week and on call 24-7.

In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger met up with Hendrickson and a team from Green Mountain Marine Services at the Community Sailing Center to replace tire joint connectors on their floating wave attenuator, aka floating breakwater. Hendrickson let Sollberger drive Darla en route to the Safe Harbor Shelburne Shipyard to swap her out for Big Mae, then they dashed back to Burlington just as a downpour began.

Music: Music: Nathan Moore, “We Got This”

This episode of “Stuck in Vermont” was supported by the Vermont Community Foundation.

This article appears in August 19 • 2026.

Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series "Stuck in Vermont" since 2007. In 2024, she won first place from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for her video, “Barbie Collector.” She received...