Great Lakes tour

[Caboteur]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
As winter is closing in and Caboteur is on the hard, my wife & I (mostly I) have started musing about a Great Lakes tour...
We would start from our home port (45°09N 074°20W), around July 15th, sail up the St-Lawrence to Trenton ON, dump the mast, motor to Port Severn ON, raise the stick. Cruise Georgian Bay, the North Passage, lock into Superior, tour Superior & return to Sault-Ste-Marie for the end of September, wrap Caboteur up for winter.
Return in May, cruise to Chicago, then back up Michigan & down Huron to St-Clare, Erie, Ontario & home... for mid to end of July.
Is this time frame reasonable; is sailing Superior in September prudent? Is five months enough to do the Great Lakes? To people who have been or are still there: is it worth the energy & time? This is approximately a 3,000NM trip and I have tried to cut in half running two seasons.
Pierre le Caboteur

 

[356_Steve]

It sounds like a great plan. Having only sailed on Huron and some cruising in Georgain Bay, I cannot comment on the other places. Sounds like the second year you will be down at the base of Lake Huron in mid- to late June. If so, stop in at Port Huron Yacht Club just after you enter the St Clair River and look me up. I would love to hear about your trip.

 

[Scott B]

Certainly worth the trip. The East side of Georgian Bay is like the Thousand Islands, only 100 times better. More remote, way more islands and you can either sail out in the Bay or stay in the protected Small Craft Route. North Chanel is as equally as good.

The Great loopers do this route every year from the Southern US. I would do a search on Loopers and also highly reccomend the Ports books for the areas.

The Trent Waterway was getting fairly low in some areas, limiting depth is 6 ft., but witht he water levels so low this past year you may have difficulty in some areas even with shoal draft keel. Check the Trent Severn website for info before heading up.

 

[Birdman737]

Sounds awesome! Do it!

I haven't really sailed Lake Superior yet, but I'm in the planning stage of a cruise up there next year. Suggestions I've heard are to be done with Superior by early September. You're getting sorta a late start on July 15 to go as far west as western Lake Superior in the same year... it's possible, but why hurry? I think if you were to winter in Duluth that would be ambitious enough, never mind returning all the way back to Sault Ste Marie.

The North Channel is great... I could spend weeks just there! Perhaps you should winter at the east end of Lake Huron somewhere and cruise Lake Superior the following year.

Or, don't plan things as much and see how far you feel like going day by day...

 

[Jackdaw]

If you do it, be SURE to stop by in Bayfield for drinks. September is the best sailing on Superior. Warm water, great wind, and no thunderstorms. Storms if the come come with days of warning. Just pick your windows well and you'll have no problems.

Lots of picks if you're interested, just ask!

 

[sandpiper10471]

The adventure planned is terrific. L. Superior in Sept. is pushing it a bit. Doing the Trent, Georgian Bay and the North Channel is more than enough for one complete season. Take your time or you will see almost everthing but experience nothing. I suggest more than a month for the North Channel alone. Take your time to enjoy Superior early the following year. It is a huge lake with lots to experience. Remember to keep days in the bank for sitting out foul weather.

 

[Caboteur]

Hello to all of you,

If the trip materializes your invitations will definitively be honored. Thanks for the advice; after discussion (with the Admiral) with some advice in hand there have been some tentative changes! We would bypass the Trent-Severn (we draw 4½ feet and have already done that and Georgian Bay) and do both sides of Erie and Huron (one out and the other coming back). Since this is an extra 400nm and we wish to spend part of our short summers at our cottage on the St-Lawrence with children and grand-children we would extend the trip to three years.

Also we won't plan on where we will leave the boat for now... we have left boats for a season in all sorts of places and have always been satisfied. I prefer to winter the boat in Canada it's usually easier to get back home and there might be tax and cruising permit issues. We are aliens after all! However we'll see as fall approaches and where we are at that time.

As for what might be considered late season, the lower St-Lawrence is also cool in September and we are used to that; we realize that most marinas will be closed after Labor Day and we have heating on board. :dance:

Is joining the Great Lakes Cruising Club of any interest? I am a member and instructor for the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron.

Pierre

 

[Barnacle Bill]

While on the south shore of Superior, make sure you stop into Bayfield, WI and visit the Apostle Islands.

 

[Capt Strapfoots]

When you do superior you cannot miss Isle Royal and the Kewenaw and you can visit me to I'm right on superior by Baraga/Houghton

While on the south shore of Superior, make sure you stop into Bayfield, WI and visit the Apostle Islands.

 

[DannyS]

The Canadian North shore of Superior is gorgeous! Thompson Island is a must stop. The photo is the view from the sauna. It's a wilderness island but you won't be roughing it!

 

[MSN-Travelers]

Might need more time ...

This would be the dream trip for us. If I did the math right, you're planning on 3,000 miles in 23 weeks split over 2 sailing seasons. That would be about 19 miles a day, each and every day. I think you might spread that out over three seasons to allow enough time to stop and smell the roses along the way.

You might want to check when the yards around Sault-Ste-Marie might be able to launch at the start of season two. We are hard pressed to get a boat launched in early May in the Milwaukee area.

Temps get to be an issue in May too. Lake Michigan water temps are in the mid-40's well into June. I took delivery on our boat the third week in May at Sturgeon Bay and sailed her to Milwaukee. It was parka weather all the way. I can't imagine what the temps would be at Sault-Ste-Marie in early May.

You might want to double check your mileage estimate too. I did a quick check of Lakes Superior & Michigan (going to the places worth going to) and came up with roughly 1,500 miles in those two lakes alone.

Go for it but spread the trip out over three seasons.

 

[beech699]

If you are planning on Superior in September, forget it. Days are too short and weather is very unpredictable. Best time for this lake is from last week of July to Sept. Have spent 40 years sailing on lake, mostly on north shore. Good book to get for lake is Bonnie Dahl's Cruising Guide to Lake Superior. Suggest that you may want to get on Superior and travel the south shore as far as Bayfield or Ashland area and get the boat hauled and stored there instead of SSM Better facilities. Start off for north shore in spring.

Jim M

 

[gettinthere]

Georgian Bay & the North Channel year one.
Lake Superior year two.
Lake Mich year three.

 

[Caboteur]

After much discussion and compromise,

I will leave home, St-Lawrence River near Montreal, on or about May 24. Sail or otherwise cruise to Chicago, accompanied by a friend. Our wives will join us there on approximately June 24. We will visit for about ten days and I will be sailing back home with my wife; we should reach home for August 15 to babysit grand-daughter #3 for a week.

To do this we will cruise one side of the four great lakes on each leg. Anyways that's the plan so far.

Pierre

 

[flynfol]

Drummond Island is a nice stop.....or a good place to winter.