I live in the midwest and only sail my Hunter 240 on lakes around the area here but would love to take my boat on one of the Great Lakes or, even better, the Ocean. Has anyone taken a 5-7 day cruise on a 240? Any suggestions on best places, provisioning, tools like gps, charts, etc.? Any comments would be appreciated. Tim Mo~Be~Ma
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240 on the big lakes
Hi Tim, My wife and I have had our 98 240 on Lake Mighigan and Lake Erie over the past two summers respectively. We are also Lake sailors so getting away to bigger water is always very nice. I've read several articles in SAIL magazine about Door County Wisconsin (Green Bay area) and the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior that wouldn't be terrible to get to for you. Cruising World had a nice article about near shore sailing along the Florida Panhandle from Pensacola to Appalachiacola that would be great in a 240. Regarding charts: I've purchased ChartKits for Lake Erie and Lake Michigan (the entire lake in one large chart book) as we're pretty likely to go back there regularly. My email is in the owners directory if you want to discuss more offline. Ken
Hi Tim, My wife and I have had our 98 240 on Lake Mighigan and Lake Erie over the past two summers respectively. We are also Lake sailors so getting away to bigger water is always very nice. I've read several articles in SAIL magazine about Door County Wisconsin (Green Bay area) and the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior that wouldn't be terrible to get to for you. Cruising World had a nice article about near shore sailing along the Florida Panhandle from Pensacola to Appalachiacola that would be great in a 240. Regarding charts: I've purchased ChartKits for Lake Erie and Lake Michigan (the entire lake in one large chart book) as we're pretty likely to go back there regularly. My email is in the owners directory if you want to discuss more offline. Ken
North Channel - Sailing Nirvana
I have extensively cruised the more protected waters of the Great Lakes in a 17' wooden day sailer. While there are many, many areas to cruise a small boat, in my mind, at least, the best place to cruise a small boat, or a larger boat for that matter, is the North Channel of the Georgian Bay/Lake Huron. There is ample protected water so even when the wind kicks up, you can move from place to place without worring about the seas. There is an unlimited number of secluded anchorages that can be reached by a small center boarder or small keel boat that the big cruisers cannot even hope to enter. In my 17' boat, we had to tent camp - always a hassle. Unless we made a base camp and day sailed from there, I was always concerned about finding a camp site with suitable protection for the boat before it got too late. With a 24 footer, you can reach the same areas I reached and not worry about stopping in time to make camp. While the drive is not easy, the sailing more than makes up for the drive - especially if you can manage an extended cruise. It literally is sailing Nirvana. The web site below is an indication of what can be seen in the channel. http://www.continuouswave.com/north-channel/cruise.html
I have extensively cruised the more protected waters of the Great Lakes in a 17' wooden day sailer. While there are many, many areas to cruise a small boat, in my mind, at least, the best place to cruise a small boat, or a larger boat for that matter, is the North Channel of the Georgian Bay/Lake Huron. There is ample protected water so even when the wind kicks up, you can move from place to place without worring about the seas. There is an unlimited number of secluded anchorages that can be reached by a small center boarder or small keel boat that the big cruisers cannot even hope to enter. In my 17' boat, we had to tent camp - always a hassle. Unless we made a base camp and day sailed from there, I was always concerned about finding a camp site with suitable protection for the boat before it got too late. With a 24 footer, you can reach the same areas I reached and not worry about stopping in time to make camp. While the drive is not easy, the sailing more than makes up for the drive - especially if you can manage an extended cruise. It literally is sailing Nirvana. The web site below is an indication of what can be seen in the channel. http://www.continuouswave.com/north-channel/cruise.html
Good Protected Waters
I have sailed my H26 in two of the Great Lakes with good protected harbors/islands/bays, all of which would be suitable for a H24. I agree with other comments that the Apostle Islands area in WI, out of Bayfield, WI is great for smaller boats. It's Lake Superior, but there are ample places to "hide" if weather turns on you. For more wilderness type sailing, but still protected, the area along the north shore of Lake Superior, north of Grand Portage, MN, and up toward Thunder Bay, Canada, is also beautiful. Both Grand Portage and Thunder Bay have good marinas to launch and keep car there. If you are thinking of sailing Lake Superior, I suggest you get a copy of a cruising guide called " The Superior Way", by Bonnie Dahl. It provides incredible detail on all the places to anchor or stay around the entire circumference of the lake. I also agree that the North Channel of Lake Huron provides some of the very best cruising for a smaller boat - but would take a while to drive thre. I trailered our H26 on two summer trips there - one out of Detour Village,MI on the eastern edge of Upper Peninsula of MI, and the other from a little town along the northern shore of the Channel in Canada called Spanish - has great marina and easy to launch and keep car there. If you would like to discuss any of these places, contact me thru owner's directory which has my e-mail. Ron Fraboni
I have sailed my H26 in two of the Great Lakes with good protected harbors/islands/bays, all of which would be suitable for a H24. I agree with other comments that the Apostle Islands area in WI, out of Bayfield, WI is great for smaller boats. It's Lake Superior, but there are ample places to "hide" if weather turns on you. For more wilderness type sailing, but still protected, the area along the north shore of Lake Superior, north of Grand Portage, MN, and up toward Thunder Bay, Canada, is also beautiful. Both Grand Portage and Thunder Bay have good marinas to launch and keep car there. If you are thinking of sailing Lake Superior, I suggest you get a copy of a cruising guide called " The Superior Way", by Bonnie Dahl. It provides incredible detail on all the places to anchor or stay around the entire circumference of the lake. I also agree that the North Channel of Lake Huron provides some of the very best cruising for a smaller boat - but would take a while to drive thre. I trailered our H26 on two summer trips there - one out of Detour Village,MI on the eastern edge of Upper Peninsula of MI, and the other from a little town along the northern shore of the Channel in Canada called Spanish - has great marina and easy to launch and keep car there. If you would like to discuss any of these places, contact me thru owner's directory which has my e-mail. Ron Fraboni
I've been around
Only on my 260 (but what is a couple of feet) LOL. Took at trip to Buffalo sailed Lake Erie, All the local lake here in NC (Tillery, Ker, Smith Mountain, etc) coast of NC, sailed the Fl. Keys and this Thangiving a week sailing St Johns River in Fl., towed the boat to Mimia sailed to the island of Binimi (Bahamas), NC to Fl. on the ICW, next summer to Charleston SC have stayed abord 2 weeks at a time. All good times.
Only on my 260 (but what is a couple of feet) LOL. Took at trip to Buffalo sailed Lake Erie, All the local lake here in NC (Tillery, Ker, Smith Mountain, etc) coast of NC, sailed the Fl. Keys and this Thangiving a week sailing St Johns River in Fl., towed the boat to Mimia sailed to the island of Binimi (Bahamas), NC to Fl. on the ICW, next summer to Charleston SC have stayed abord 2 weeks at a time. All good times.
Great Lakes
Tim, We have sailed our h23 in the Apostle Islands a couple times. There are lots of Islands to day sail to and staying on your boat at a marina for a week is easy. Bayfield has a couple marinas that are protected and reasonable. Keep in mind Lake Superior is a COLD lake. July and August are nicest. We have also sailed our h27 in Door County for a couple weeks. Lots of marinas, very quaint, very touristy. We went over July 4th weekend and had trouble with marina reservations even though we booked 4 months in advance. If you stay away from that holiday, you won't have a problem. There were no places we sailed that wouldn't have been ok for your h240. We put in in Sturgeon Bay. They have a deep ramp, free parking of your trailer for 2 weeks and several nice marinas. From there, you can sail all the wa;y to Washington island in small hops stopping in small towns each night. Fun trips. Ward
Tim, We have sailed our h23 in the Apostle Islands a couple times. There are lots of Islands to day sail to and staying on your boat at a marina for a week is easy. Bayfield has a couple marinas that are protected and reasonable. Keep in mind Lake Superior is a COLD lake. July and August are nicest. We have also sailed our h27 in Door County for a couple weeks. Lots of marinas, very quaint, very touristy. We went over July 4th weekend and had trouble with marina reservations even though we booked 4 months in advance. If you stay away from that holiday, you won't have a problem. There were no places we sailed that wouldn't have been ok for your h240. We put in in Sturgeon Bay. They have a deep ramp, free parking of your trailer for 2 weeks and several nice marinas. From there, you can sail all the wa;y to Washington island in small hops stopping in small towns each night. Fun trips. Ward
240 cruise
Sorry this is eastish coast info. Other than our ovenights at lake george ny, we do a couple of one week trips a year on our H240. Did a week in the 1000 islands before the season really started, had it all to our selves ! North passage good for sailing then past kingston and out into the lake when conditions allow and use the current to sail down the usa side (tied up at island docks). Then went to block island out of James town, boat ramp only good at 1/2 tide and higher. Great thing about james town is if conditions do not allow to go to block you can explore naragansett bay (some people just sail this area for a couple of weeks) and go around and end up at new port all protected and then you can head off to block. We had to do that this year as hurracane issabelle? was lingering. Then we headed to block. You can confortably big day sail around block, if you do not want to stay there or if the weather is going to be bad the next few days and anchor back at point elizebeth (main land). We plan for one day at a marina and alternate with two days at some little bay. We have current charts, handheld and fix VHF, tide charts, gps, depth meter, all safety stuff, redundant gps, hand held bearing compass, read everything you can about the area and enjoy. Auto pilot is great for this type of trip and you can be on one tack for 4 hours. Fresh water lasts us upto a week, and have a 3.5 gal tank I use for storage of grey/sink water which last about 3 days and just empty at a marina. Enjoyed reading the other responses. Have fun.
Sorry this is eastish coast info. Other than our ovenights at lake george ny, we do a couple of one week trips a year on our H240. Did a week in the 1000 islands before the season really started, had it all to our selves ! North passage good for sailing then past kingston and out into the lake when conditions allow and use the current to sail down the usa side (tied up at island docks). Then went to block island out of James town, boat ramp only good at 1/2 tide and higher. Great thing about james town is if conditions do not allow to go to block you can explore naragansett bay (some people just sail this area for a couple of weeks) and go around and end up at new port all protected and then you can head off to block. We had to do that this year as hurracane issabelle? was lingering. Then we headed to block. You can confortably big day sail around block, if you do not want to stay there or if the weather is going to be bad the next few days and anchor back at point elizebeth (main land). We plan for one day at a marina and alternate with two days at some little bay. We have current charts, handheld and fix VHF, tide charts, gps, depth meter, all safety stuff, redundant gps, hand held bearing compass, read everything you can about the area and enjoy. Auto pilot is great for this type of trip and you can be on one tack for 4 hours. Fresh water lasts us upto a week, and have a 3.5 gal tank I use for storage of grey/sink water which last about 3 days and just empty at a marina. Enjoyed reading the other responses. Have fun.
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