It all started with a sail that went sideways…

December 10, 2024| Community, Fundraising, People

By: Caitlin Doran and Gary Whitman

Each of us has our own unique Lake Hopatcong story – the how and why we connect to New Jersey’s largest lake, and the reason why we care deeply about supporting efforts to protect it. Here’s Board Member Gary Whitman’s story…

Chapter One

I started coming to Lake Hopatcong when I was about 12 years old. My father bought a 16-foot “run about” from Hockenjos Marina.  My father trailered the boat all over, but the most popular were day trips to Lake Hopatcong. We’d launch from Lee’s County Park, Hopatcong State Park, and what is now Stone Water at 3 Peaks Marina. I remember the old steel bridge that led to the outer slips that existed then, in the late 1960s (little did I know that I would become a part owner of the Stone Water property in 2016!).  

At the tender age of 12, I bought a small sailboat with my paper route money. Dad said we could put it on the roof of our station wagon to transport it over to the lake (Mom looked at us like we were both nuts, of course). 

I taught myself to sail while we were on vacation in April of 1968. Dad and I launched the boat on its maiden voyage from the beach at Bertrand Island. Out and back we went, and the experience was truly awesome. We agreed to take one last trip out and back to the beach, and then call it a day. It was on the last turn headed back that I managed to flip the boat over.  That April water sure was cold, cold enough to cramp my calves, making it hard to turn the boat right-side up, but we managed to do it. That was the first of many sails yet to come, however my first chapter at Lake Hopatcong would conclude in 1970.

Chapter Two

In 1970, my father spotted a boat for sale at what is now Prospect Point Marina on Route 181. It was a 24-foot Sea Camper, and we bought it from a pilot from Sparta. It was too big to trailer around for day trips, so my father stored it down in Forked River on Barnegat Bay, where he and my mother ultimately retired. A new chapter down the shore had begun. But when I found myself commuting past familiar Lake Hopatcong exits on Route 80 for work in the early 2000s, I started to remember fondly my times on the lake. At the suggestion of a close friend, I started looking at homes on the lake, since there had been a lot of improvements since when I used to visit as a kid.  I became a part-time resident in 2011, and a full-time resident in 2021. I’ve since joined the Lake Hopatcong Foundation Board of Trustees, I’m a proud LHF supporter, I’m a part owner of Stone Water at Three Peaks Marina, and every day is now a day at the lake!

What was your first memory at Lake Hopatcong? What’s your Lake Hopatcong story?

Now through December 31, we invite you to tell us your story and give a gift that helps efforts to protect and improve our lake. We have an ambitious year-end goal of raising $65K, and your donation in any amount goes a long way in continuing the work started in 2012 and acts as a bridge between the Lake Hopatcong of the past and the Lake Hopatcong of the future.

When making your donation, you can also choose to give in honor or memory of someone special - maybe someone who is part of your Lake Hopatcong story! If you choose to name a tribute when giving your gift, we’ll include that person’s name on our giving board, and we’ll send them a special Lake Hopatcong postcard - or in the case of a memorial, to their family - acknowledging a gift in their name.

YOU CAN DONATE HERE

Thank you for supporting efforts to protect the environment and enhance the experience on and around Lake Hopatcong, one that honors memories made here and allows for future generations to make more.

Let’s write Lake Hopatcong’s next chapter!