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Canadian Cruising – There’s No Place Like Home!

Outer Shores Expedition

By the Canadian Yachting Editors

The Pacific North West has an incredible population of marine life like this pod of Dolphins racing ahead of the boat. – Photo: Outer-Shores-Expeditions

Canadians are blessed in many ways and especially when it comes to boating. We enjoy some the world’s most beautiful cruising waters and many places are as sheltered as they are scenic.

British Columbia and the Pacific North West plainly have the most breath-taking scenery with the combination of the majestic ocean views and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. It’s like no place on earth when you have a Killer Whale breach beside your little fishing boat.

Georgian Bay Secluded CovesGeorgian Bay has many secluded coves for privacy. – Photo: Brad Frangakis

B.C.s inland lakes are also spectacular and offer generally easy boating. There are great boating and fishing lakes and rivers in Alberta, Saskatchewan. We rarely mention Manitoba yet Lake Winnipeg is simply vast and that province also borders on Lake of the Woods in North Western Ontario.

Of course, Canada’s Great Lakes; Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area, and second-largest by total volume, containing 21% of the world’s surface fresh water by volume. The province of Ontario borders on all but Lake Michigan but they are all interconnected and all offer grand boating vistas as well as countless marinas, yacht clubs and resorts to visit this summer.

BC Gulf IslandsThe BC Gulf Islands offer a lifetime of spectacular cruising. – Photo: Craig Ritchie

This issue of Canadian Yachting Magazine features the Rideau Canal and the St. Lawrence to Lake Champlain but don’t forget the Trent Severn Waterway. The “Trent” offers sheltered cruising and great recreational boating as well as being the top of the “Great Loop” – North America’s grand round’ trip from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and back, but with Covid-19, those places in the Great Loop are off-limits so stay in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence through the lakes of lovely Quebec and out to the rugged beauty of Atlantic Canada.

Portage Cove in KillarneyIf you prefer some company, Covered Portage Cove in Killarney is popular. – Photo: Jadzia von Heymann

Whatever type of boating you enjoy, it’s available in Canada and you won’t have to travel far to enjoy it! We realize that the Covid-19 pandemic has been a huge stress to the entire planet, but as we write this, Canada’s boating areas are opening up. The marinas are working hard to get the boats launched and there are no restrictions to Canadians going boating in their respective home areas.

Nova Scotia

 

 

 

 

 

From historic schooners to modern power cruisers, Nova Scotia has it all.
– Photo: Develop Nova Scotia, developns.ca and novascotia.com/boating

There is no place like home, so this summer, (at a safe distance) – stay home and enjoy time boating with family and friends!

 

 

 

 

Seclusion or urban bustle; it’s your choice.
– Photo: Develop Nova Scotia, developns.ca and novascotia.com/boating

Seclusion

 

 

 

 

Halifax

Video Gallery

Neptunus 650F Review

Neptunus 650F 400

By Andy Adams

Over the years Canadian Yachting has had the pleasure of doing several boat review articles on new Neptunus models and we are familiar with the qualities that Neptunus is famous for. They have all been exceptional yachts, but this is the one I would most want to own myself. It’s a personal choice and a matter of taste as to whether you would prefer to have a sedan express model or a flybridge but in my opinion, the flybridge layout offers some wonderful attributes.

We met with Neptunus Managing Director Jan Willem De Jong this past fall to take the new Neptunus 650F out in Lake Ontario. 

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Destinations

The Other Virgin Islands

Sunset off St John

By Mark Stevens

I was first seduced by the United States Virgin Islands during a ferry ride from St. Thomas to Tortola to begin one of our earliest British Virgin Islands charters nearly twenty years ago.

A perfect sunset off St. John with St. Thomas views for backdrop.

Clearing Pillsbury Sound, surrounded by voluptuous emerald mountains as the ferry sliced through royal blue waters, I was struck by the unspoiled ambiance of St. John, the island gliding past our starboard beam and the irresistible charm of a village called Cruz Bay visible from our quarter stern.

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Lifestyle