Quote:
Originally Posted by orthomartin
My wife and I are leaving Northern Lk Mi July for Hampton Va, then Caribbean. We keep going back and forth in terms of St Lawrence or unstep and head out the Erie (likely at Otswego). If anyone has done both we would love your input and of course any ideas from anyone that's been out either way
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The Erie Canal trip is quite pleasant and civilized and I don't think I would say anything bad about it. Watch crossing Lake Oneida, it can blow up and get nasty even with 2 foot waves - make sure your mast cannot move - especially fore and aft.
St Lawrence/Atlantic Canada is another kettle of fish entirely. Equally civilized until Quebec City (which is a lovely place to visit) and then small working ports. Illes de la Madelaine or lovely but Newfoundland is fabulous. Two examples:
1. We anchored at the head of one fiord with an 1100 foot cliff on one side and a 900 foot (heights from chart) on the other. There was also about a 900 foot waterfall with a pool at the bottom - one of the crew had a bath in it.
2. In one of the outports I asked a fellow how many cruising boats come through each year. His answer 'Oh, bye (boy)! We are getting a lot these days - five or six every year.
I think it would be one of the great cruising grounds in the world except that it is isolated and never gets very warm. Warmest we saw was about 18C, although nights were almost as warm. It is remote and help is not close so you need to be very careful and have confidence in yourself and your boat. Harbours are never far away - probably 5 to 7 miles apart on average. Most nights you tie up a town dock (popn of most is less than 200) because the water is very deep for anchoring.
If you could it would be nice to leave Lake Michigan earlier so you would have more time for the stretch from Quebec City through New England.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Bruce