Great Lakes-Summer SAILING not MOTORING

[Mike OReilly]

Good to see you're making progress Shane. Your description of the south shore has me thinking that we should explore that coast this season -- but then the allure of Superior's north & east shore keeps calling me back.

Who knows where we'll go this season. Heck, I haven't even got our boat in the water yet. Weather, work, and boat projects have conspired to keep us on the hard. Soon though...

[LakeSuperior]

Surface water temp offshore on Lake Superior is 37 deg F today according to the news up here. Not much solar this year so far.

[Mike OReilly]

Winter still hasn't let us completely go. Spring is just a flirt so far. She comes, bats her eyelashes at us, and then scampers off again. No wonder the water is cool .

Last year we were measuring 12 C (54 F) way off shore in August. This is way warmer than it should have been. Hopefully this year we'll return to more normal temperatures. A warmer Lake is nice for swimming and sailing, but I'm sure it is reeking havoc on Superior's environment.

[ssn]

Ok! I have a boat reserved from Canadian Yacht Charters out of Gore Bay, starting September 1 for 8 nights. Can't wait. Flying into Toronto and driving there. Would welcome any must see bays or even must see places to stop on the road trip there and back.

[Tonyjay]

Originally Posted by ssn

Ok! I have a boat reserved from Canadian Yacht Charters out of Gore Bay, starting September 1 for 8 nights. Can't wait. Flying into Toronto and driving there. Would welcome any must see bays or even must see places to stop on the road trip there and back.

There are doz of anchorages a short hop from Gore Bay. For starters Hotham, Eagle Island, Benjamin's

[bluemoose]

Originally Posted by ssn

Ok! I have a boat reserved from Canadian Yacht Charters out of Gore Bay, starting September 1 for 8 nights. Can't wait. Flying into Toronto and driving there. Would welcome any must see bays or even must see places to stop on the road trip there and back.

I think I would have got a direct to Detroit and crossed at Port Huron and drove up from there... However, the trip up to Sudbury and over and down on 6 is nice. I can't think of anything extra-ordinary on that leg, but a lot depends on when you are driving up. You might actually want to consider heading up through Tobermory and take the ferry over. Let me know which route you are going and I will ask my family. We've done that trip so many times, I think I stop paying attention until we get near the fishing camp ;-)

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by ssn

Ok! I have a boat reserved from Canadian Yacht Charters out of Gore Bay, starting September 1 for 8 nights. Can't wait. Flying into Toronto and driving there. Would welcome any must see bays or even must see places to stop on the road trip there and back.

Kinda depends on your style of cruising. If you're looking for a relaxing trip with short hops and multi-day stays, then going up to the Benjamins, and exploring north around Fox, Freshette and Eagle would be fun. If you're into travel, then you could head east past Little Current and go for Killarney area. Or you could go west and make it over to the anchorages around St. Joseph's Island. Heading north from Gore Bay, you can get into the the Whale's Back Channel. Tons of anchorages. Short hops to loop around to the Benjamins, and then back. Tolsmaville on Cockburn Is. is an interesting stop as well.

Lots of options.

The drive north out of Toronto is boring until you hit Georgian Bay. If the Chi-Cheemaun ferry out of Tobermory is running (I think it is, just check), then I'd definitely drive up the peninsula and take the ferry. Lots of neat towns along the way (Goderich, Kincardine, Tobermory).

[bluemoose]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

The drive north out of Toronto is boring until you hit Georgian Bay. If the Chi-Cheemaun ferry out of Tobermory is running (I think it is, just check), then I'd definitely drive up the peninsula and take the ferry. Lots of neat towns along the way (Goderich, Kincardine, Tobermory).

Goderich was hit by a tornado, but the downtown is worth the stop. We ALWAYS hit the bakery (Peterson's(?) near (20m from Police Dept.)

Just before Kincardine is Pine River Cheese co-op. Get yourself a few 5# blocks and some cheese kurds (and ice cream). The medium Cheddar makes the best grilled cheese, especially when combined with fresh bread from Goderich.

Dyers Bay - just 20 minutes south of Tobermory is the Dyers Bay turnoff. If you have 3 extra hours, drive out to Wingfield Basin and see the old lighthouse. Better yet, sail down and anchor.

Cypress Lake Prov. Park - If you have an extra hour or two, park and hike to the cove on the beach.

Tobermory. There are two great Fish-n-chip places in town. One is a little shack in the center of the downtown (you can't miss it), the other is on the hill just beyond. My family is split, but I like the one on the hill better.

I spent 7 or 8 summers growing up in Dyers Bay. I have been to all these places more times than I can count. I would take tourists from off-continent to them (and have). The only other place I might hit is a little park in Durham (if you drive through there) where you can sit at McGowan Falls and eat lunch (maybe hit the chip stand - meaning fish-n-chips - in town first)

Good calls Mike

[Finistere]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

The drive north out of Toronto is boring until you hit Georgian Bay. If the Chi-Cheemaun ferry out of Tobermory is running (I think it is, just check), then I'd definitely drive up the peninsula and take the ferry. Lots of neat towns along the way (Goderich, Kincardine, Tobermory).

Drive 12 miles south of Goderich on Hwy 21 to Bayfield nice village, great restaurants, beautiful sunsets, several well run marinas and several good beaches. Lived there through my teenage years and just spent a day there last week. If it wasn't for the winters I would live there in a heart beat. Beats the hell out of the Chesapeake in July and August.

[On liberty]

I highly recommend the Ports Cruising Guide for the North Channel. http://www.portsbooks.com

You can spend the summer reading it and planning your itinerary. There is plenty of information and aerial photos of anchorages and approaches, routes, anchoring tips, cruising tips etc. I bought one before my first trip to the North Channel in 2001 and have been using it every year since. There are so many places to go from Gore Bay that it would be difficult to narrow it down to just a few. Get the book, start dreaming and we can help you with the specifics of any questions or areas that piqué your interest.

Randy

[ssn]

Yep. Already ordered it and I've been waiting not so patiently! Good to know that it's the preferred guide though.

[ssn]

And thanks all for the suggestions. Will give me stuff to look up so I can get my plan together.

[Svan]

You'll have a great time. The drive up north is pretty sparse if you don't take the ferry; the few sights include Port Severn (locks on the Trent-Severn waterway), Parry Sound for a maritime town, Sudbury for a mining town. Last chance for good provisions is in Espanola. The drive from Espanola to Little Current is one of the best in the world if the sun is out. If.

The trip up to the ferry has many more attractions and interesting mid-Ontario towns to visit, but the longer you tarry, you may get pressure to race to the ferry, and the cops do a good business nailing speeders. To minimize pressure and maximize interest, I recommend skipping the ferry going up, and taking the ferry coming down. Weekend ferry reservations are essential.

If you like cities, Toronto is interesting, PM me for advice, I live here.

[Julie Mor]

Anyone wanting to get up to date weather info on the Great Lakes can go here: NOAA/GLERL Realtime Meteorological Observation Network It has information on the following locations, including web cams.

Milwaukee | Chicago | Michigan City | South Haven | Muskegon | Alpena | Thunder Bay Island | Toledo Light #2

There is also past data available in case you're trying to find trends.

[bluemoose]

Originally Posted by Julie Mor

Anyone wanting to get up to date weather info on the Great Lakes can go here: NOAA/GLERL Realtime Meteorological Observation Network It has information on the following locations, including web cams.

Milwaukee | Chicago | Michigan City | South Haven | Muskegon | Alpena | Thunder Bay Island | Toledo Light #2

There is also past data available in case you're trying to find trends.

PassageWeather.com also has good weather for the lakes too.