Lake Superior - Cruising advice?

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by Jim Krause

Possible harbors/anchorages/destinations on our route:

????

Ganley Island
Sinclair Cove
Red Rock
St Ignace Island
Fluor Island
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
Isle Royale
Grand Marais,
Apostle Islands/Bayfield
Ontonagon
Keweenaw Waterway Free tie-up by the parking garage in Houghton (south side). Walk throught he garage & up the steps to the coffee house. Good food, toilets, Wi-Fi. Brew pub about a block away. Pasties s-West side of the bridge. Tour the copper mines. Note that the west & east ends of the waterway have concrete side walls with giant bollards & cleats. This is free tie-up. At the west end, south side, it is a park with pit toilet a short walk from the boat launch.
Copper Harbor At night, you may find copious crayfish in the creek from Lake Fannie Ho to the harbor. Use a flash light and look for the eyes. We had a nice boil.
Lac La Belle
Marquette Great time here in the big-town. Three Brew pubs and a lot of good restaurants. Hike Little Presque Isle park. I recommend tie-up at the wall at Cinder Pond Park. The North marina is tight & shallow as well as a long walk from anywhere. Smoke house by the Yacht club. Be sure to see the Yooper-Dome, the world's largest wooden domed building. Its usually open to walk in.
Grand Island Enter from the Mainland side. There is a long deep natural harbor. Lots of hiking the high Cliffside rim on the west side. Coffee shop across the street from the town dock. Wi-Fi & good food. Its also a library. Find a few fish smoke houses.
Grand Marais, UP MI Michigan Great safe harbor and anchorage. Lake Superior Brewing Company for beer & dinner. The breakfast place opp corner for breakfast & pastries. Walk the beaches & hunt agates. Woods hikes too. Only a few miles east of Pictured Rocks.
Whitefish Point Not much to see and not much shelter. I think there may be a marina. Find anchorages above the locks on the US side. Free or very cheap day dockage at Kemp Marina just below the soo locks and next to the Valley Camp ship Museum. Tour the Valley Camp. See the Bush Plane Museum (Canada). Go to the top of the observation tower.

DO arrange to travel the Pictured Rocks in daylight on a nice day. Motor in close and enjoy the view. You Can pick up a tour guide/book in Munising (Grand Isle).

On the trip from the Keweenaw east to Marquette pass close to the Superior Islands. You can get pretty close if the seas are peaceful.

Do not attempt to enter the small lake/harbor east of Grand Marais, Mi. It is shoaled in.

Travel the St Mary's in the marked ship channel. There are occasional unmarked shallows and boulders if you try to follow the natural shoreline channels. We found one off Detour Village. Caution anchoring in some of the designated anchorages and nice natural harbors. These are sometimes set with fish traps. Pick your spot carefully in daylight.

Do you need a Richardson's Lake Superior? Send a PM. I have one for sale.

[Mahayana]

Originally Posted by Web Sailor

My wife & I cruised most of the Canadian shore last summer in our 37-ft cutter. We cruised east out of the Apostles June 29 and returned Sept 5 by way of Wawa, Rossport and Isle Royale.

My wife & I cruised most of the Canadian shore last summer in our 44' cutter. And we didn't see another boat until Warp Bay on our return to SSM, including Web Sailor!

Three weeks of cruising and didn't see anyone else. Lake Superior is just that.

[Mahayana]

Mike mentioned most of the great spots. We cruised Lake Superior last summer and North and East shores are true wilderness. Don't forget Red Rock, way up north. Fun place and they have a big folk festival early August which brings camping musicians and stages set up with the real thing.. The grass roots folk music. Then head up the Nipigon River even further north, to cross the 49th parallel!!! A must do! And that's as far as you can go north on the globe, cruising/sailing in fresh water! Yea... The 49th!!

[JimJohnston]

Hello Superior cruisers

I just finished reading this thread with great interest because we are considering going west from the Little Current area instead of South, summer 2018. We will be travelling by train from the west coast in the Spring of 2019 and intend to stop in Thunder Bay to finish the trip back to Lake Ontario in our "Minou" during the following weeks.

The "plan" includes staying over in Thunderbay during the 2018/19 winter, but a perusal on Google for marinas that might suitably provide winter storage didn't produce a lot of satisfying results. The Waterway Guide doesn't have a lot to offer either. Prince Arthur's Landing and the ThunderBay YC appear to be available but there wasn't a lot in either of their websites.

I would like to receive recommendations for a marina that can offer haul-out/launch and on-the-hard storage including jack-stands or cradle for our Nonsuch 30. She weighs about 7&1/2 tons. I prefer to stay on the Canadian side of the border if possible since it's been my recent experience that the US side is more expensive in almost every way.

Reading the various thread postings got the blood flowing so I truly hope we can pull this off.

[Mike OReilly]

Hi Jim, hopefully Gord May will chime in here b/c he’s still in Thunder Bay (last I knew), but I have moved on. That said, the only places that can haul you out in Thunder Bay is the TB Yacht Club or McKellar Marine. Both could haul you out. They have limited space, although the YC is far bigger.

You should contact them directly regarding the availability of stands or a cradle. I don’t know if McKellar rents stands/cradle. The YC is very much a DIY club, and you’re expected to manage your own cradle/stands. But I’m sure there are people who will assist you to track something down if possible. I see Paul Morralee is now Commodore and Tim Radul is managing storage. I was a member there for a long time, and both will hopefully remember my name (not that that matters).

When I left about four years ago I actually abandoned my large jackstands. A few got sold, but last I knew there were still four in the yard. Hopefully they are being used as club stands, so might be available. But like I say, it has been a few years since I left so my info is not current. Contact them directly. They’re all friendly folk up there.

[Jammer]

Well, it's on the U.S. side, but I'd hold up the Lakehead Boat Basin in Duluth as being worth a call. The fellow who runs it is very capable and reasonable, and I would imagine he would be able to provide what you need and give you a fair price. There are other marinas in the Duluth/Superior area. They are not expensive ports.

[GordMay]

What Mike said:

McKellar Marine Centre
807-622-3864
651 104th St - Thunder Bay Ontario P7E 6B6
Email: mcmarine@tbaytel.net
Web: ➥ Fees | McKellar Marine Centre

➥ https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mc...32351?hl=en-US

[JimJohnston]

Thanks Mike Jammer and Gord.

First hand information is always best. I appreciate that you took the time to post.

cheers
Jim

[thannever]

I live on the Keweenaw peninsula on the south shore of Lake Superior and have been cruising both shores for the last 15 years. I agree with almost all of the advice again, the only disagreement I have, and will first say that all advice of this sort is very personal and different people like different things, is that the Apostles are too flat and boring and given your limited time I would spend more time between Rossport and Thunder Bay and less in the US part of the lake. Again, that is my personal opinion because I love wilderness and precipitous scenery. I am currently in the Marshall Islands which are only flat and boring above the water line. Don

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by LakeSuperior View Post
Mike - I predict that while you are cruising south and wherever whim takes you; on one day and in one instant you will realize that of all the shorelines, ports, and harbors you've past, no cruising has been better than your north shore of Lake Superior.

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Funny you should say this Bill. By the time we hit southern L. Huron the constant mantra on our boat was: "Remind me again... why did we leave Superior?" There really is nothing like the north shore of Superior. It's rugged, unspoiled beauty is hard to compete with. This is partly why I'm drawn to going out the St. Lawrence (which as we know, is the harder way to go). I'm hoping it will compare to Superior.

Just reviewing this old thread due to the recent activity. I gotta report that after spending a few seasons in Lake Ontario, we finally got down the St. Lawrence to NFLD this season. Just as you said LS, by the time we put some distance from Quebec City we started to feel back at home again. The river gets wider and wilder. The scenery more spectacular and rugged. And this just grew as we followed the north shore.

Now that we’re in NFLD, with all of its stunning, rugged beauty, our new manta is: “THIS is why we left Superior.” The other constant is: "This looks just like Lake Superior.”

I love where we’ve been and where we are now, but the north and east shores of Lake Superior are truly an undiscovered cruisers’ paradise — if you like remote, wild areas with few people and few services.

[Messing About]

Following this old thread so I don’t lose it. What great resources. Hope to see Superior one day in my cruising life.