Lake Ontario Marinas from Sodus to Chaumont?

higgs · Sep 8, 2014

I would suggest buying a Lake Ontario Ports book which will have much of the info on all the ports you are considering. If you are cruising those waters, you will want the book anyways. I have cruised pretty much all of Lake O, including the Bay of Quinte and the Thousand Islands and the ports in that region are my favorites. If i were berthing a boat, I would look into Navy Point in Sackets Harbor or Fairhaven. Nice thing about Fairhaven is if the lake is rough you have a nice lake to sail on. Same for Sodus, which is also very nice.

sesmith · Sep 8, 2014

I don't remember there being much in the way of marinas in Chaumont. Navy Point marina in Sacket's Harbor is a really nice facility. Slips won't be cheap, but it is one of the nicest marinas I've ever rented a slip in overnight.

Lake Ontario sailing is a a huge step up compared with the sailing we have in the fingerlakes. Lots of fun. The northeast area of the lake has some great cruising destinations. I would personally keep my boat somewhere in that area, if I wanted to stay on Ontario for the season. You couldn't go wrong with the Sacket's Harbor area (other than possibly cost).

dlochner · Sep 9, 2014

agprice22 said:
Thanks! I will get right on that! Actually... The Admiral LOVES to shop for books, so I will just put her on that!

Andrew

The Ports book is a good a idea. Watch the publication date, some of the information may have changed.

One factor to consider is commuting time. Some areas are easy to get to from I 81, some not so much.

Going from west to east.

Sodus Bay. Sodus bay is a large and has several marinas. Katlynn Harbor, Sodus Marina, and Sodus Bay Yacht Club all have slips and serve sailboats. Some others, Arney's and Krenzers are powerboat marinas due to depth. Sodus has good sailing in the bay but the bay is relatively small a little more than a mile wide and several miles long. The area has many camps and draws from Rochester. Sodus Point has a small resort flavor to it, several bars and restaurants. Access from 81 is not so good. Both Sodus Marina (Great Lakes Marine Works) and Katlynn are full service marinas.

Little Sodus Bay- Fair Haven. A narrow bay about 2 miles long and much less than a mile wide. Faire Pointe Marina and Fair Haven Yacht Club have slips. Sailing in the bay on a 27 ft boat will get boring quickly. In recent years draft has been an issue getting into the bay. More than 6 foot can be dicey. Fair Haven is small and pretty laid back. Lots of camps surround the bay and there are a couple of restaurants in town.

Oswego. The city of Oswego runs the Wright's Landing and International Marinas. Sailing in the harbor is limited because of its size. Oswego Yacht Club is active and a pleasant place to spend time. OYC is on the grounds of the International Marina (full disclosure, I'm one of the directors). On the east side of the Oswego River is the Oswego Marina run by the Port of Oswego Authority. They have fuel, a hoist and pump out. Unlike the other areas, Oswego is a small city with all the amenities of a small city, groceries, hardware stores, restaurants, shops, movie theater, big box stores. Oswego will be the easiest and quickest to access from Endicott.

Black River Bay, includes Henderson Harbor, Chaumont, and Sackett's Harbor. This area offers the greatest diversity in sailing. There are bays and yacht clubs to visit, protected water and open water. Access the 1000 Islands is shorter than from the South Shore bays.

Sackett's Harbor has become the trendiest part of the area with the highest prices. Navy Point Marine is a full service marina with prices to match. There is a least one other marina, forget the name that is a bit more remote from the town.

Henderson Harbor is very quiet. The main attraction is the Henderson Harbor Yacht Club. Most of the boats are on moorings administered by the Town of Henderson. Probably your least expensive option.

Chaumont Bay is another small town with a yacht club, Crescent Yacht Club. There is a marina next door to the club where most of the members keep their boats. Chaumont is the largest of the bays in the area.

Any of the areas offer good sailing, with the most options in the Black River Bay area. Sodus and Sackett's will be the most expensive. Oswego the most convenient both in access and availability of stores and restaurants.

It is about a 2 day trip from Watkins Glenn to Oswego by the canal. It is a pleasant trip. Your mast can be stepped in Oswego. Any of the harbors will have hoists or a travel lift if you truck your boat to the lake.

If you go to the Black River Bay area you will pass 2 West Marine stores, one in Cicero (just north of Syracuse) and one in Watertown.

py26129 · Sep 9, 2014

In Sodus Bay, I would seriously look at Katlynn Marine. We spent a few days there this summer and it is easily the friendliest and cleanest marina I have been at in a long time.

The other marina in Sackets Harbor is Madison Baracks Marina. It's a 10 minute walk from town and is a great spot. There is a little grocery store and liquor store just up the street. They have no facility for lifting boats though.

Cheers

Matt

sesmith · Sep 9, 2014

dlochner said:
Chaumont Bay is another small town with a yacht club, Crescent Yacht Club. There is a marina next door to the club where most of the members keep their boats. Chaumont is the largest of the bays in the area.
.

Just a side note about Crescent Yacht club. We anchored not too far from the club one afternoon, last year. We no sooner got our anchor in, when a woman from the club pulled up in a powerboat. She asked (no, almost insisted) if we would like to tie up to their dock over night. She said there was no charge unless we stayed 2 nights (and the charge would have been minimal). They had great facilities, and everyone we met there was really nice. I didn't even think of them when the OP asked about marinas, but that might be a great place to check, as well.

higgs · Sep 9, 2014

sesmith - interesting post re Crescent as they told me when I cell phoned that they do not take transients.

sesmith · Sep 9, 2014

Right place, right time, I guess. They were apparently watching us look for a decent anchoring spot and chased us down. They basically gave us the "reciprocal agreement" even though we don't belong to a yacht club.

http://www.crescentyachtclub.org/reciprocating_clubs.html

Very nice group of people. They also have a very active group of families and Jr. sailing group. We got a chance to see a bunch of kids do some sailing in the morning as we left.

Dan Hill · Sep 9, 2014

We relocated this past spring from Cayuga lake to Ontario through the NYS canal system. After 6 years on the finger lakes the sailing was getting boring.

We are on little sodus bay @ Fair Point Marina. Great people, owners and customers! Marina manager Schyler gets it done! Check their web site for all rates and numbers. All slips sold out this past summer for good reason. Easy drive from Cortland County, Endicott is just down the road a piece lol.

Someone posted earlier that depths are an issue. We draw 6 feet and have no issues. The inlet was dredged this summer to 12 feet. Sailing the bay is very similar to the finger lakes except a welcome cross wind is more common, unlike Cayuga. Sailing Ontario is incredible compared to Cayuga. More constant wind speeds and wind directions, more time to tweak sail trim. The finger lakes are known for continuous wind shifts and gusts that drive a sail trimmer nuts.

Developed a good weather sense and Ontario's fine.

Stu Jackson · Sep 9, 2014

There's always www.activecaptain.com

Happy hunting, good luck.

higgs · Sep 9, 2014

My mistake. This club was very welcoming and we enjoyed our stay there. I needed a memory shake.