Toronto to halifax

[Muttthesecond]

Hi all,
I’m a rookie on this forum and am looking for some guidance. I’m buying a 30ft powerboat in Toronto but planning to relocate it to Newfoundland.
At the very early planning so far but just wondering if anyone could tell me roughly how long the trip should take and any pitfalls to avoid
Thanks

[hpeer]

Thats a lot to ask.

Best piece of advice. Buy Cheryl Barr’s book “The Down East Circle Route”.

https://www.amazon.com/Down-East-Cir.../dp/0973165928

90% of what you want to know is in there.

We did the Erie Canal to Newfoundland a few years ago.

The biggest bit is getting across to NL. Then it is a matter of where on the Rock you are headed. Going North from Port Aux Basque there is a fairly long bit of coast with few harbors. Going East ditto.

It is all doable, with the right boat. Sailboats are generally much more capable, I have been caught out in 4 meter seas. You would want a pretty big motor boat for that.

Tell us more about your destination, make and model of boat, fuel consumption and tankage, your experience level, etc, etc.

[Muttthesecond]

Thanks hpeer
30.5 Boston whaler with two 250 mercs
Only going to North Sydney or maybe port aux basques
While I have little personal experience we do have a master mariner with us
More wondering how long it’ll take us to get down the river and where to stop along the way

[LittleWing77]

Here's two helpful threads from this Spring:

Sailing the St. Lawrence
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ce-248550.html

Navigating the St. Lawrence
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ay-245859.html

Forum Members who have done this trip: Mike O'Reilly (to Newfoundland), Stephenmac (to Nova Scotia), BluenoseTim (to Nova Scotia) and barkingmad just passed Halifax yesterday.

The one caveat is they all did the trip on sailboats, so timing would be different.

Fair winds!
LittleWing77

[AiniA]

Do you have radar? Might not need it, but .... You have much higher speed potential than a sailboat but also need to find gas sources along the way. Shouldn't be too hard a trip but planning is different than with sail. You need a good forecast and then can pile on the miles, to the next gas station.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Muttthesecond

Hi all,
I’m a rookie on this forum and am looking for some guidance. I’m buying a 30ft powerboat in Toronto but planning to relocate it to Newfoundland.
At the very early planning so far but just wondering if anyone could tell me roughly how long the trip should take and any pitfalls to avoid
Thanks

Hi Mutt, I did the trip from Lake Ontario to Newfoundland back in 2017 in our sailboat. I'd have to look up exactly how long we took, but we were in no rush. As is typical, we took as long as we could. It could be done a lot faster, especially in a powerboat.

Pitfalls: hmmm.... there are lots of challenges. In the upper part of the river you'll find downstream currents of ~2 knots. Makes for fast downstream travel, but makes some tight situations a little bit harder. Other than that there are the locks to manage and a few bridges (which may not be an issue depending on your vertical hight).

A bit upstream of Quebec City the tides and tidal currents begin to dominate. By QC to past the Saguenay they were the major factor for us. We basically learned to sail with the ebb tide and looked to be well anchored down by the time the flood was in full force.

Currents can run upwards of six knots it in places. And we saw tides close to 20 feet. As we were anchoring out the whole way through, this was a challenge. But as a powerboat I assume you'll be looking for marinas along the way. Some of them actually dry out in the high tidal zone, so be aware of that.

Past the Saguenay we stuck to the north shore of the St. Lawrence. We went up around Anticosti, and then sailed directly across the Gulf, going from Mingan to Bay of Islands (Corner Brook). It was a two and a half day crossing for us. Most of it was great, but the last six hours we got caught in the nastiest weather I've ever experienced on board. I figure it was Newfoundland's way to seeing if we were worthy.

Not sure if any of this is of use to you. I'm happy to try and answer any other questions you might have. It's a grand journey. I say take as much time as you can.

[hpeer]

The river is no problem, you will spend time in the locks, nothing done about that. That timing will put limits on how far you travel and where you end your day. Down around Sauguany the river opens and you become fuel and weather restricted. There should be adequate small harbors, but some may not have readily available fuel.

Once past PEI go through the Cansou Straights, then turn right for Halifax, or left to St Peters and run up the Bras d Or lakes. The West coast of NS can have some very high winds on occasion and the lakes are much more scenic. Time your exit out the Big Brador carefully, do NOT attempt in any wind against tide situation. No joke, don't under estimate the power of this short run. It is not dangerous if you give it due respect. Then hang a right down to Sydney. I spent a couple of years at North Sydney, very reasonable self help yacht club with a bar/restaurant on site. There is a marine store in town a mile or so away. They have a lift and winter storage.

[Barkingmad]

I'm in Lunenburg as we speak waiting out Henri at the moment.
I'll be in Shelburne Friday - 5 weeks exactly from the east end of Lk. Ontario.

[Fore and Aft]

Mutthesecond I think it depends on how big your wallet is as to how long the trip takes. I imagine you will do around 30 knots full throttle? At that speed only the locks will hold you up and if you motor at night you will be home pretty quick. Have you thought about trucking her home? When we did the trip in 1996 the Beluga whales was the highlight for us. There was as also a lighthouse tour in the gulf we enjoyed.
Cheers

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Muttthesecond

Thanks hpeer
30.5 Boston whaler with two 250 mercs
Only going to North Sydney or maybe port aux basques
While I have little personal experience we do have a master mariner with us
More wondering how long it’ll take us to get down the river and where to stop along the way

Probably easy enough to truck that boat, so unless you just want to enjoy a boat ride... you might want to compare delivery costs.

-Chris

[KrazySailing]

Depending upon which part of Newfoundland you are headed, you may consider going along the Quebec North Shore. Better scenery. Plus you can make a side trip up the Saguenay River

[BluenoseTim]

As noted by LittleWing77 we completed our wonderful trip from Port Credit to Nova Scotia about a month ago. It was a wonderful adventure. BUT sailing the St Lawrence is a different creature. I’m not sure how sail translates to 2 x 250 HP. We took our time completing the trip in just over a month. The voyage was broken down into two: the Seaway and the Gulf.

As already noted whether you are a sail or power boat you are somewhat at the mercy of the locks. On one day we passed through 4 locks and under three lifting bridges. You are required to reserve the Canadian locks at least a day in advance. We were informed that without a reservation there would be no passage (we had issues booking online and showed up at the first lock without a booking). That said, the lock master was able to work his magic and secure us a spot with a little out-of-the-box thinking.

Be aware that while commercial traffic drives the lock schedule, vehicle traffic drives the bridge schedule. If you miss a “Scheduled” opening you may find yourself facing a lengthy wait until the next opening. Missing a bridge opening could have downriver implications on lock availability (recall that the Canadian lock authority suggests that they were only doing one pleasure craft passage in each direction each day - although I suspect that is more threat than reality). The moral of the story is to arrive early - certainly 30 minutes prior to the suggested timings.

We stayed in marinas the entire trip. With the exception of cap a l'aigle, we stuck to the south shore once in the Gulf. There were never issues with fuel. We were averaging about 100 NM each day.

I suggest budgeting a lengthy stay in Quebec City. You must lock in and out of the marina. It is perhaps the most beautiful and well equipped marina along the St Lawrence route and well positioned to tour the city.

Whales whales and more whales once in the Gulf. Worth the price of admission. Bring warm clothes. It got chilly in the Gulf.

We lost a couple of days to fog. But that’s all part of the adventure.

In closing, with that much HP I suspect you can do the trip in 10 days or less. But things will be a blur. If you can take advice from a sailor, do yourself a favour and slow down and enjoy the journey.

[EarlWer]

Originally Posted by Muttthesecond

More wondering how long it’ll take us to get down the river and where to stop along the way

We took a sailboat from Belleville, ON to Montreal, QC in 4 days, 3 nights.
Motoring most of the time due to wind direction & narrow channels.
Average speed was 6 knots.

Nights were in Kingston, anchored outside the 1st Canadian lock at Iroquois and Creg Quay, east of Cornwall.

As stated elsewhere, CDN locks need online reservations. US locks take CDN $$ at par.

Valleyfield lift bridge is very busy, so it keeps to it's every 2 hour schedule.

[longjonsilver]

When do they shut the locks to pleasure craft in the fall?

[LittleWing77]

Last year Oswego/Erie Canal System closed around October 14th, if I recall correctly. (Shortly following Canadian Thanksgiving)

Just looked it up. This year, it's October 13th

New York Canal System
https://www.canals.ny.gov/navinfo/index.html

For the most part, I understand that the St. Lawrence Seaway stays open March to December, barring ice blockages, since it is a commercial shipping channel - have I got that right?

Transit through the Great Lakes Seaway
https://greatlakes-seaway.com/en/com...te%20December.

Cheers,
LittleWing77