Lake Ontario Destinations?

[Charitybull]

So, as a new member and a recent addition to the MacGregor Owners family (just purchased a Mac 26D), I wanted to start to plan a trip for next Summer with my boss (anyone married knows I am referring to my lovely wife). I usually sail in the Great Sacandaga Lake, which for those not familiar is an awesome lake just north of Albany. My preliminary plan would be to launch near Oswego..ish and sail North. I have heard that Toronto is an awesome destination but not sure how much effort would be required to cross Lake Ontario to get there and how much time it might take.

Any advice would be very welcome!!! Thanks

 

[sesmith]

We've cruised the northeast part of the lake and there are plenty of destinations there. Sacket's Harbor, Cape Vincent, Wolfe Island, Kingston, Waupoos, Main Duck Island, just to name a few. Pick up a Port's guide to the lake and a electronic and or paper charts and start planning. Also check into Active Captain.

Your plan could work, but if time is limited, the lake is so large you may want to pick a smaller area to cruise, and if interested in the northeast, launch further north.

FWIW, another fantastic lake to cruise is Champlain. Good prep there for sailing Ontario, and actually a lot more in the way of anchorages and cruising destinations. We keep going back there as it's a favorite for us.

 

[Rick I]

So, as a new member and a recent addition to the MacGregor Owners family (just purchased a Mac 26D), I wanted to start to plan a trip for next Summer with my boss (anyone married knows I am referring to my lovely wife). I usually sail in the Great Sacandaga Lake, which for those not familiar is an awesome lake just north of Albany. My preliminary plan would be to launch near Oswego..ish and sail North. I have heard that Toronto is an awesome destination but not sure how much effort would be required to cross Lake Ontario to get there and how much time it might take.

Any advice would be very welcome!!! Thanks

You can do Oswego to Toronto in one shot (about 120 miles), an overnighter or you can take it in short day sails. Fairhaven, Sodus Bay, Rochester, Oak Orchard, Wilson, Toronto. All those ports (except Toronto) are on the South Shore and offer good protection. All nice day sails of about 30 miles or less. The final hop from Wilson to Toronto across the Lake is about 27 miles.

 

[py26129]

Toronto is a very nice destination and, if you have your heart set on it, you should go for it. You won;t be disappointed.

However, as Sesmith mentioned, the eastern part of the lake offers much more variety than the western part of the lake. I would consider launching somewhere anywhere around Sackets Harbor, Clayton or Cape Vincent. Not only will you have the opportunity to explore the open lake, a crossing to Waupoos is a nice sail and the Waupoos area is very charming, you also are very close to the 1000 Islands area which is beautiful and can keep you busy exploring for many many years

Cheers

Matt

 

[sesmith]

Yes, and Sackets has a very good town launch. Not sure about the long term parking situation there, though (you may want to call the town and inquire).

The launch at Chaumont Bay is so, so. We actually were able to launch our Seaward 25 there (much to the amazement of some bystanders), but I'm not sure I could have gotten it back out. We figured we'd figure it out after our cruise. As it turned out, we stopped at Sackets for the night a couple of weeks later, were expecting 2 straight days of solid rain, so I rode my folding bike from Sackets to Chaumont, and retrieved my truck and trailer to pull the boat out at Sackets. You could probably get your boat in and out ok at Chaumont. Plenty of parking there.