Northern Charters

[Tim R.]

I am sitting in Bar Harbor and it is 8 degrees blowing 20-30 and gusting to 50. It would be great to be sailing on a boat in the BVIs this time of year but what about chartering during the summer?

I have read many questions here regarding southern charters but I do not recall anyone ever talking about chartering in the Northeast or Northwest. Both areas have some of the finest cruising grounds in the US.

Anyone ever consider chartering a sailboat in Penobscot Bay, Maine or maybe trying out a trawler because you are thinking of going to the dark side?

 

[seanshine]

Tim, come to the PNW. We have the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world. Google San Juans and Chatterbox Falls. Also Inside Passage to Alaska. Been to Caribbean and South Pacific many times. Just don't think you can beat the PNW.

 

[Bob V]

Many do

I meet them in anchorages and marinas throughout the Salish Sea. By the way, if you're not familiar with the term "Salish Sea", google it.

That is alreadly the unofficial and may one day soon be the official name for the area we cruise here in the PNW and it includes the Puget Sound and all of the inland waters up to the top of the Strait of Georgia and includes Canadian and US waters. It is hard to imagine a better place to cruise.

 

[Tim R.]

I would love to Sean. Maybe in a couple of years. It is very hard to beat cruising the Maine coast during the summer.

 

[sinnettc]

I'd agree, the San Juans and the area around MDI are pretty similar. As I can't afford to fly across the country to sail, and Dad's boat is likely to be in the driveway for the foreseeable future even if I did, I'll have to settle for the San Juans on my Capri 22 next summer.

That said, if I could, I would fly back in a minute and spend as much time as I could sailing our old stomping grounds between MDI and Camden. Though maybe not in 8 degrees, thank you.

 

[Bud22569]

I agree with you. I see very little information about chartering in Maine. I know Hinkley charters boats. Once in Camden I saw a company renting day sailers for too much money.

My wife and I have often talked about chartering in the Penobscot Bay area. Our charter experience has been several trips to the BVI. I bought a copy of "The Crusing Guide to the Maine Coast". I have seen little other information about charter companies and cruising information for the Maine coast. Where can I find more information?

One concern that I have is the possibility of spending a charter trip socked in with fog.

 

[Tim R.]

I have spoken to these folks and they seem to have a nice operation:

http://www.bucksharbor.com

 

[Bob V]

Question for the NE sailors

Just wondering if the NE coastal waters are more challenging for the novice charter skipper than say the Carribbean or PNW. I have heard a lot about the need for carefull navigation due to rocks and fog. We all have our local challenges but Maine seems to have a reputation as requiring a bit more seamanship.

 

[Todd Smith]

I have chartered out of Rockland harbor with Johanson's. We had a good time and I would recommend them.
http://jboatworks.com/charters.shtm

I chartered Maine, because I find that area more interesting than the BVI's and I could drive there. The Caribbean's appeal seems mainly that it's warm.

 

[Tim R.]

Just wondering if the NE coastal waters are more challenging for the novice charter skipper than say the Carribbean or PNW. I have heard a lot about the need for carefull navigation due to rocks and fog. We all have our local challenges but Maine seems to have a reputation as requiring a bit more seamanship.

I have chartered in the BVIs and that was by far the simplest navigation I have ever had to do although you could get into trouble if not careful. Maine is definitely more of a challenge and the bottom is less forgiving. That being said, most boats come with full color chartplotters that show you exactly where you are. A handheld and a good set of charts and knowing how to use them is a good backup. I have also chartered in the Abacos and that took more careful plotting than the BVIs. There are lots of shallow reef out in their "open water".

I have seen Sunsail and Moorings charter a boat to someone who did not know what the keel was. I actually witnesses the briefing on the the boat next to mine last March. Maine charter companies will be far less forgiving and will either reject your resume or assign you a captain(at your expense).

Fog does happen but a lot of the time the visibility is good enough to get around with a chartplotter. July is a big time for fog. I cruise in September because the weather is usually much better. Less boaters and more wind too.

Swimming is also a concern but there are bays that can reach the mid 70s by mid afternoon. We have had great times with local friends swimming from boat to boat on a nice warm afternoon.

 

[Benny]

Googled boat chartering companies in the area and came up with Scuba, fishing, schooner trips and powerboat rentals. "Build it and they will come"

 

[Maine Sail]

I have heard good things

I've heard good things about Bucks Harbor Marine & Charters (LINK)

My sister in-laws parents did a charter out of Bucks Harbor Charters and had a great time. They enjoyed the people, were treated very well and the rates, along with the attitudes, were significantly better than the Hinckley charter they had done the year before, which they said they would not do again.

We met up with them in North East Harbor and the boat was clean and well equipped. If I was going to charter up that way I'd probably go with Bucks Harbor Charters. It's also a beautiful place to begin and end a charter and is also the location One Morning In Maine, the children's book was written about..

One Morning In Maine

 

[Tim R.]

Good info MS. Condin's garage is a short walk up the hill from Bucks Harbor. This area of Maine(Blue Hill Peninsula) is considered the boat building capital of Maine. Lots of maritime history here along with other literary greats like Charlotte's Web written by E.B. White. The same White family that owns Wooden Boat Magazine and school.

Buck's Harbor is located at the NW end of Eggemogin Reach and is a popular anchorage for schooners and cruisers. It is a natural hurricane hole and has good deep water.

This is another great book about the area. About a lobsterring family that build a wooden sloop during WWII.

Sea Room

 

[cephius (Dave)]

North Central

Tim R
Another very popular summer charter area is the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior.

Superior Charters is one bare boat outfit in the area.

Nothing like watching the Northern lights as the sun sets.

I've chartered all around the world and it seems odd that Mid-West USA is some of the most expensive.

 

[David in Sandusky]

Great Lakes Charters

We have chartered with these operations and recommend them:

Superior Charters south of Bayfield, WI for the Apostles. Great anchoring on pink sand beaches in the mostly natural and beautiful islands of the Apostles National Shoreline. And the swimming was warm and pleasant in the shallow beaches.

Canadian Yacht Charters in Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island is a first class operation in the North Channel, one of the most beautiful, and natural cruising grounds in the world with hundreds of anchorages, and stunning pink granite. Oh, yeah, and great blue berries!

Anacortes Yacht Charters, a Moorings affiliate for the San Juans. Great, well managed anchorages or moorings, some fun quaint towns, and orca, seals, bald eagles, otters, crabs, sea birds, dolphins...

Kingston, Ontario is a sailing center with a fun downtown. I forget the name of the company we chartered with (the C&C 30 was just OK) but this is a gateway to the Thousand Islands, another large and interesting cruising ground that is much more developed, but still offers peaceful anchorages, along with Theater, and other attractions in the many towns ashore.

Our Lake Erie Islands stretch north from Sandusky to Leamington in Canada. Good marinas on mostly touristic Islands, with some fine anchorages off sandy beaches. A little crowded on the week-ends, but great during the week. (And we still enjoy quiet anchorages after the power boaters head home on week-end afternoons.) I don't know of a charter operator I can recommend, though. And Cedar Point on Sandusky Bay is a first rank amusement park if you have older kids. I just Googled these folks:

http://www.fairwindsailing.com/sailing_charters_lake_erie.html

I have no other knowledge of them, but they are in the right place!

Here is our blog of our cruise around Lake Erie, and in the Thousand Islands a couple of years ago:

http://jojofoster.livejournal.com/?skip=20

 

[Bud22569]

Tim R
I've chartered all around the world and it seems odd that Mid-West USA is some of the most expensive.

I agree. When you add the total cost of a charter cruising trip for us it is much cheaper to go to the Caribbean. I guess the short season and high demand explains the high charter fees for the northern states. I'm not sure why the southern US areas are as high as they are except maybe supply and demand.

 

[shorty]

Fog & Rocks

Rocks are on the charts. Fog can be very frustrating but, as Tim alluded to, September sailing along the Maine coast is spectacular; clear air, strong breezes, yes chilly at night. Charter after Labor Day for a better rate.
Lobster trap dodging requires constant attention but that's what helps to keep the boat population down, some folks just don't want to deal with it. I will often head out onto Blue Hill Bay mid summer and not see another sail.
BTW - I found it amusing in Nova Scotia this summer to hear a comment about our "long" sailing season "down" here.

The PNW sounds fantastic. Almost as good as Maine.