sailing in Hudson Bay...

Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
What's it like up there? I've been looking at maps and note that Hudson Bay, actually James Bay, isn't that far North of the Gulf of St. Lawrence or Newfoundland. Is there any sailing up there? I never see any articles in any magazine about it. It seems like a Black Hole of cruising. Any details?
 

SG

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Feb 11, 2017
1,670
J/Boat J/160 Annapolis
Not a lot of trees. Hungry white bears that swim. ;^))))
 

SG

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Feb 11, 2017
1,670
J/Boat J/160 Annapolis
This is from Google Earth (a good way to tour from your current position :^))) ).

upload_2018-8-31_21-42-15.png
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
So that doesn't look like a good anchorage. Yet Henry Hudson sailed all around the place in the 1600's, I think, and came home to tell the story. What an explorer he must have been. Some forum members more versed in Age of Exploration may be able to shed more light on this but I'm amazed by the accomplishments of these guys 350 or so years ago. It may have been greed or curiosity or whatever else but it speaks to the human need to find horizons.
 
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SG

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Feb 11, 2017
1,670
J/Boat J/160 Annapolis
They were a special breed. The British running all over the Pacific and charting it. Those were heady times for a few brave and lucky souls.
 
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Jan 5, 2017
2,263
Beneteau First 38 Lyall Harbour Saturna Island
hose were heady times for a few brave and lucky souls.
You could read about the Franklin Expeditions to get the other side of the story, but we meet a couple this summer who did the north-west passage from France. Meet them in Port Hardy, Vancouver Island
 

dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,371
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
Years ago I canoed into James Bay up the Matagami river into the Moose river and into James Bay. My take is it would be a trip for someone that wants a type of adventure but not something I'd ever again aspire to do. Not much up there except mosquitoes of a size you'd be mighty impressed by. I recall one night camped on the Moose river wearing a tee shirt, long sleeved shirt over that with a heavy flannel shirt on top of that. Didn't even phase those mosquitoes! The only part of my body not eaten was where the heavy wool lined leather vest I had on top of the above that seemed too much for them to bite me through. The Northern lights were incredible however...

dj
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I have wanted to sail in Hudson Bay since reading about it in high school, but it is a long long trip just to get there by car. I mentioned my interest in trailering Dragonfly up there, on here once, and someone said there are no open roads to get there anymore. I'd have to sail around Newfoundland. It would freeze over by the time I got there.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Jun 3, 2004
890
Hunter 34 Toronto, Ontario Canada
I spent 14 months in Hudson Bay in my first job. I was a Meteorological Tech at Coral Harbour which is on Southhampton Island at the top of Hudson bay( former US Air force base). You are right about the mosquitoes DJ- they are larger and so many! The water is pretty cold and not sure how well it is charted- could be tricky. Certainly would want to confine the season to July. We had big snow banks left at the beginning of June and snow came back on Aug 29.
 
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Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
I've been along the shoreline of James Bay, a couple times. I have friends in the north, including Churchill, MB. and have worked in a couple places up there.

No roads to trailer a boat to James Bay or Hudson Bay, unless you tow it there in winter on a winter road. There is a rail line to Churchill, MB. but it is damaged and reportedly being repaired "soonish" by Omintrax. You could probably ship the boat there via rail. Otherwise you need to sail the NW Passage or over the top Quebec, to get there.

LOTS of bugs in some locations. Very short season.
The lack of accurate charts in the north is a big concern for the Canadian SAR crews tasked with saving naive non-locals, and passengers on cruise ships, who are starting to consider this as a good place to go.
Even with the Arctic Rangers, they don't have enough resources to cover the whole area, let alone rescue a load of cruise ship passengers.

Many people have no idea what they are getting into, and the problem of dealing with things if it goes wrong.

It's a place you need to be completely self contained and prepared. If you are lucky, it all goes well. If it goes bad, it can really bad. Unless you are near one of the far flung villages, assume you won't get help for a long time, if you run into trouble.

I plan on sailing there one day. It's one of many reasons I want a steel boat.
I'm comfortable being in true wilderness, and love the solitude and challenge.
It wouldn't be in a fibreglass boat unless it was camping/sailing a Wayfarer or a Hobie along the coast (which i have also long considered)
 
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dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,371
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
If I was thinking small boat, might consider a sailing canoe with an outrigger . I'd want small and highly portable but with capacity to carry plently of supplies.

If I was thinking big boat, I might be thinking to be sure to have heat and supplies to last possibly two winters, just in case. Definitely a steel Hull boat, not fiberglass. Might also consider aluminum, but I'm partial to steel. Not sure bug repellant would even work on the bugs up there. Maybe some of the new ones would work, didn't work for us when we were there, but that was a long time ago. Definitely something to research.

When we were there Mercury in the water was a concern, don't know if it still is. Do water makers remove Mercury? Don't know if membrane types do, distilling is very energy intensive... You'd have to plan your water.

Self sufficient is an understatement. When we went we filed a float plan with the Canadians, but really were prepared to handle at least 6 months on our own if you know what hit the fan.

That's remote inhospitable country up there. When we were researching the trip we were told about a couple hunters that got stranded and before they could get rescued were literally eaten alive by the bugs. But they were there during black fly season .

dj
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Mercury. Really? Where from?
Franklin expedition. I'll have to look into that. I think there's been some talk about it in the press but I'm not sure. Is that the case in which the widow spent a fortune to look for the vessels?
 

dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
3,371
Belliure 41 Sailing back to the Chesapeake
Mercury contamination was coming from the paper Mills I believe.

dj
 
Jan 5, 2017
2,263
Beneteau First 38 Lyall Harbour Saturna Island
Is that the case in which the widow spent a fortune to look for the vessels?
Yes! Poor leadership cost hundreds of lives so we named our new coast-guard cutter after him. Go figure!
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Not a completely new story. A lot of the most ill conceived actions are wrapped in a cloak of heroism and white washed away. And, I'm not referring to any specific incident - just government MO.
 
Jun 14, 2010
307
Seafarer 29 Oologah, OK
Mercury. Really? Where from?
Franklin expedition. I'll have to look into that. I think there's been some talk about it in the press but I'm not sure. Is that the case in which the widow spent a fortune to look for the vessels?
Great mini-series on AMC on the Franklin Expedition recently - The Terror. There's a double meaning, one of the ships was named HMS Terror (the other was HMS Erebus). Fictionalized account based around what's known of the lost expedition, based on the novel of the same name by Dan Simmons.
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
Not a lot of trees. Hungry white bears that swim. ;^))))
One of the biggest differences between Alaska & Canada, is the government's view towards people carrying large caliber firearms while in bear country. In Canada, you need to go through some hoops to get permission for a rifle of limited type. My preferred types of handguns (more accurately, snub nosed hand cannons) are prohibited there. In Alaska, you don't even need a permit to carry them open or concealed.

There are probably non-firearm ways of dealing with aggressive bears that I am not familiar with. If you are going to be in that kind of area, & do not plan to be well armed, then please seek proper guidance. Please get it from someone a little more levelheaded than this self-proclaimed expert - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Treadwell
 
Mar 2, 2019
1
O'Day 222 Lake Duparquet, QC
In the company of my 2 sons, I made a 21-day sailing expedition to Hudson Bay and James Bay in the summer 2017 in an O'Day 222 sailboat. I transported my boat by the road to Chisasibi along the river La Grande. The launch of our sailboat along the river went well. A great expedition. We are planning our next Hudson's Bay expedition probably in 2020. We have produced a 30-minute video on YouTube. "Hudson Bay Sailing Expedition 2017".