Sandbanks, Lake Ontario

[py26129]

I am looking for some information regarding anchoring at Sandbanks in Lake Ontario. The lake side is very exposed and I am looking for any information that may be available about West Lake. I.e. what depth is available in the lake. Is it possible to get to the Dunes after going into West Lake at Wellington? Can one anchor close to the dunes? We have a sailboat that draws 4.5 feet.

Many thanks in advance

Matt

[sailortjk1]

The Inlet at Westlake looks very shallow from this Areal View.

Westlake Inlet - Ontario, Canada

I have no local or first hand knowledge, but Marinas.com is a very nice tool.

In some of the views of West Lake Marina you can see some sailboats, so it should be possible.
Still looks real shallow from the areal photo's.

West Lake Marina in Ontario, Canada

[killarney_sailor]

Many years ago I got into Wellington with my Hughes 22 with the board up - draft was something like 28 inches and we scraped our way in. There was a very nice government dock inside that we spent the night at and many locals came to see the big boat that was visitting. You could also anchor inside the lagoon - you would have to be careful with depths though.

About five years ago I was visitting Wellington by land and talked to the man who ran the local bait shop. He said that there plans to dredge the channel and build some sort of breakwater to reduce the movement of sand northward across the entrance. I have no idea if this work was done or whether it was successful. I think that you would have to talk to someone who keeps a boat in the area. Dealing with sand is a huge problem. A number of years ago we spend the night of the big power blackout at a little harbour at the extreme northwest corner of Lake Erie (forget the name of it). They had dredged their entrance a month before we were there and lost a foot of depth in a month.

It is a shame that Wellington is not available for people travelling between western Lake Ontario and the Thousand Islands. It would provide a nice stopover for those using the Bay of Quinte or going outside.

[py26129]

Thank you both your replies.
Marinas.com is indeed very nice & I have bookmarked it. My understanding is that the entrance to Wellington is dredged annually to a depth of 5+ feet. The recommendation is to call ahead and get an up to date depth status from the bait shop in Wellington.

I guess, once (if) you make it into Wellington, then a reconnaissance trip in the dinghy is called for.

Matt

[Valiente]

A glimmer of hope is that 2007-8s vast meltwater input raised the lake level hugely, and that this summer didn't cost us a lot of that depth, plus the rain since is of record amounts.

Basically, we could go into full drought from May to September and probably still have positive amounts of water. Compare this to October, 2005 when I grounded IN the navigable channel in Presqu'ile Bay leaving the west end of the Murray Canal. That was drawing 5' 10"...I had to use both sail and power to get out of that weed pit.

[Ritchard]

This is quite a stale thread, but I am hoping to get into West Lake to anchor a couple of days next month Anybody have an update?

[py26129]

Ritchard

After starting this thread, we never ended up going to West lake by boat. We did visit the dunes two years ago by car and found west lake to be full of weeds, i.e growers coming up from the bottom.

If you do want to go, you should call the fishing shop in Wellington and get an update on the depth in the entrance to Wellington (the Ports guide has the name & number). I do beliece it was dredped this year but given thos year's water level I would ceck.

Hope this helps a bit.

Cheers

Matt

[Ritchard]

Hi Matt,

I called the shop in Wellington, he told me that there's no way I can get a sailboat in there, especially since the water level has plummeted in the last few weeks. Apparently I had been mislead thinking that I could do. I am now trying to figure out an alternate cruise for my holidays at months' end.

[py26129]

Ritchard

What si the water level now, compared to last year? Here in Montreal it is very very low. I'd say 3-2 feet below normal.

You could always go to Waupoos for your cruise. if you heve not been,it's a very nice and quiet place, very friendly and there are ancorages suitable for all wind directions. it's about 4 hours further tha Welington, I would guess. When the kids were smaller, we used to take acab from the Marina to Sandbanks for the day.

Cheers

Matt