Kevin Monahan is a retired Canadian Coast Guard officer with more than 20 years of experience navigating the British Columbia coast as a small vessel captain.
The new 2020 PORTS Georgian Bay, North Channel & Lake Huron Guide is available for purchase at retail outlets near you...
After decades of perusing charts and guidebooks as part of planning a cruise, it was a totally different experience editing PORTS Cruising Guide Georgian Bay, The North Channel and Lake Huron. My copy of PORTS Lake Ontario and Thousand Islands is dog-eared and well worn.
The 2020 Georgian Bay, North Channel & Lake Huron PORTS Guide marks the beginning of the guide in app format. FREE download with every print purchase! All new editions will incorporate this handy free app offer.
Good news Boaters, two new PORTS Editions will be released this Winter 2020 in time for the 2020-2021 Boat Show season – PORTS Rideau Canal and Lower Ottawa River and the Trent Severn Waterway & Lake Simcoe 2021 editions.
Sue Williams wasn’t a sailor and didn’t have an adventure bone in her body. Her idea of a thrill was doing applique! So it isn’t surprising that the cover of the book Ready to Come About is actually one of her appliques.
Since 1984 PORTS Cruising Guides have been the cruising boater's essential companion. But now PORTS has added a digital platform so that boaters can download the volume onto one tablet. Purchasers of the guide can now also subscribe to amendments to get updates as information changes. This makes PORTS even more valuable.
Good news cruisers, it’s coming in early Summer 2020 – PORTS Rideau Canal and Lower Ottawa River 2020 Edition. We have just published PORTS Guide - Georgian Bay, North Channel & Lake Huron and now everyone’s working to complete the Rideau Guide.
Every cruiser in the region has used it for years, but now there’s a brand new edition of the universally acclaimed PORTS Guide - Georgian Bay, North Channel & Lake Huron.
Read more: Your new PORTS Georgian Bay Cruise Guide ready...
Too hot to bake? No oven onboard anyway? Try these no-bake shipboard treats. (Yes, we know they’re not low fat or low calorie – but perhaps you deserve a reward after that hard passage. Or before. Or instead of…)
Lifestyle
Burlington Sailing & Boating Club – a successful four-way partnership
By Katherine Stone
It’s always amazing to me how life has degrees of separation that are incredibly small, even when you spend your adult life in another country than the one you grew up in. I grew up sailing on Lake Erie and when my father’s health was on the decline it was decided that I would be appointed to sell his boat. As fate would have it, an older gentleman came to see the boat and decided on the spot to purchase it. Off it sailed, out of Lake Erie, through the canal and into Lake Ontario to reside happily at the Burlington Sailing & Boating Club. Little did I know that many years later, I would be doing their profile for Canadian Yachting.
Read more about Burlington Sailing & Boating Club...............
Katherine Stone
Like many other harbours on Lake Ontario, Cobourg has seen its fair share of changes. Screams used to be heard from kids piled into a toboggan on wheels that went hurtling down a wooden slide into the harbour. Above it all was the bustling din from the waterfront of ship’s whistles, train engines, foghorns and thundering coal cars. It is now a rather serene place for the locals and visitors to enjoy various watercraft. Fortunately, the beautiful beach that lines the waterfront is still a star attraction for the town.
Located 95 kilometres east of Toronto and 62 kilometres east of Oshawa on the north edge of Lake Ontario, United Empire Loyalists first starting arriving in the area as early as the 1780s. The first settlement in 1798 was called Buckville, later renamed Amherst, then called Hamilton (after the township) and also nicknamed Hardscrabble. It wasn’t until 1819 that they finally settled on the name of Cobourg, which was incorporated as a town in 1837. In the late 1820s large schooners with passengers and cargo had to anchor well off shore, as there was only a landing wharf. A group of Toronto businessmen formed the Cobourg Harbour Company which built the wooden Eastern Pier from tolls charged for the use of the harbour.
DIY & How to
The Rules Guy: An overview of the right-of-way rules III
In the past two issues we have been doing an overview of the right-of-way rules. In the first, we did a review of Section A of Part 2, in the second we did a review of the definitions. This issue, we will look at Section B of Part 2, General Limitations, which is essentially limitations applying to boats that have right of way according to Section A.
GENERAL LIMITATIONS
14 AVOIDING CONTACT
A boat shall avoid contact with another boat if reasonably possible. However, a right-of-way boat or one entitled to room or mark-room
Read more about the right-of-way rules.......................
Boat Reviews
CY Virtual Video Boat Tours
We all love boats and nothing can break us up! So, what better way to spend our time than looking at interesting boats and going aboard in a virtual ride or tour. We have asked our friends at various dealers and manufacturers to help us assemble a one-stop online resource to experience some of the most interesting boats on the market today. Where the CY Team has done a review, we connect you to that expert viewpoint. Our Virtual Show will continue to grow so visit frequently and check it out. If you can’t go boating, you can almost experience the thrill via your screen. Not quite the same, but we hope you enjoy our fine tour collection.
Read more about the CY Virtual Boat Tours....................
Beneteau Oceanis 30.1
As boat builders clamber to create ever-bigger platforms for ever-more generous budgets, the entry-level cruiser has become an elusive animal. Sure, if you want to daysail, there are plenty of small open boats from which to choose, but if you want a freshly built pocket cruiser, you’re in for a long search. Enter French builder Groupe Beneteau, which identified this gap in the market and set about creating the Oceanis 30.1, an adorable little cruiser that resembles her larger siblings in all but length and price. With all she offers, it wouldn’t be a stretch to call her a mini yacht.
Read More about the Beneteau Oceanis 30.1..................
Destinations
Canadian Cruising - There's No Place Like Home!
By the Canadian Yachting Editors
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.
Read more about Canadian Cruising...........
New Wash Mitt Cleans Fast, Without Swirls and Scratches
Anyone who has repeatedly used a rag to clean gelcoat, paint and delicate surfaces has seen the results accumulate over time: scratches and swirls. Shurhold's new Chenille Microfiber Premium Scratch-Free Wash Mitt provides the confidence to wash the most sensitive boat part without worry and holds a massive amount of soapy water for fast work.
The Microfiber Wash Mitt is made from a premium, scratch-free 80/20 blended microfiber that traps dirt and debris deep within the material. This is essential when cleaning touchscreen displays and other soft, easily marred surfaces.
Read more about the Wash Mitt...............
Blue Guard Introduces Next-Gen Bilge Pump Switch with Integrated Oil and Fuel Detection Sensor
Blue Guard has announced the general availability of the BG-One, a solid-state bilge pump switch, oil and fuel detector. Having no moving parts or mechanical float switches, BG-One will automatically turn off the bilge pump when oil or fuel is detected, preventing potentially costly oil or fuel discharge.
BG-One was designed with boat owners, environment and operational durability in mind, and protects the owners and operators from fines and clean up costs due to unwanted oil discharge from bilges.
Read more about Blue Guard's Bilge Pump Switch........................
