Canada

Prince Edward Island may be Canada’s smallest province, but if you like golden beaches, fresh lobster and mussels, Down East music and all the breeze you need along green-topped red shores, this is the place for you. Most harbours in the Northumberland Strait and East Coasts are suitable for keelboats, although there are some interesting destinations on the North Shore. The West Coast offers little more than a nasty lee shore, although it is a pretty sail in good weather.

There are great boating experiences to be had all around the province of New Brunswick. The eastern shore ports on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence offer very unique and picturesque harbours to enjoy during the summer months. There are numerous opportunities to gunkhole through the areas of the Northumberland Strait separating New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in the Bay of Fundy; there are also many beautiful harbours to tuck into and explore, but that's another article. The highlight of New Brunswick boating has to be cruising the Saint John River.

“One of the world’s richest cruising grounds in the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia’s Desolation Sound is far from being desolate in the summer months. The sound’s southern shoreline is dominated by the legendary Desolation Sound Marine Park, which has some of the most accessible tracts of wilderness almost anywhere in the world.

Howe Sound cuts deep into the Coast Mountain Range that lies northwest of Burrard Inlet and the City of Vancouver. Rising abruptly from the water's edge, these majestic mountains provide the recreational boater with stunningly beautiful vistas, especially in spring and early summer when the sparkling snow-topped peaks contrast with the lush green of the lower, timbered slopes. The Islands of Bowen, Gambier and Keats with their indented shorelines provide a host of anchoring opportunities while the protected channels between the islands and the gentle summer breezes make these waters a sailor's playground. The town of Gibsons and Gibsons Landing's colourful waterfront provides boaters with plenty to see and do and remains a favourite weekend destination.

It was time to leave the trials and ties of city life and take advantage of what was left of the gloriously warm and sunny summer that we had been experiencing – even urban provisioning was not on our agenda as we slipped the mooring lines and headed straight to Pender Harbour, the hub of the Sunshine Coast for boaters cruising to destinations north. Our plan was to explore at leisure a selection of favourite harbours, hideaways and peaceful one-boat nooks by re-visiting the simple pleasures of Nelson and Hardy Islands and Lower Jervis Inlet on the eastern seaboard of Malaspina Strait. A mini-cruising ground in its own right, this section of coastline is blessed with hidden anchorages tucked into protected bays, often with panoramic vistas up Jervis Inlet and Hotham Sound and dramatic sunset views west to Texada Island.

Having trouble docking the boat in your slip or anchoring at your local anchorage? Curious about boating safety and the rules of the "road"? Let our SKYLINE instructors walk you through it! If you aren't already comfortable taking out your boat by yourself with friends or with children, this is the course for you!

"The recently upgraded Maritime Society Community Marina in Ladysmith Harbour is proud of its 900-feet, designated visitor dock. The Society welcomes cruising boaters to stay awhile and enjoy the hospitality, maritime history and preserved old world charm of Ladysmith colourful First Street – just a trolley-ride or short walk via the Waterfront Art Gallery".