Browsing: North Channel

Cruising Life
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Nebraska Couple Completes the Great Loop on 153 “Good Days for a Boat Ride”

Every morning for 340 days, Dale and Merna Hartwig from Grand Island, Nebraska, woke up on their 2002 Navigator 4000 and asked each other, “Is this a good day for a boat ride?” He wrote me that, “if the weather/seas/destination were ok, then we went. If they were outside our ‘good day’ parameters, we simply stayed another day where we were and enjoyed the area.” The Hartwigs found enough good days – 153, in fact – that they just completed the Great Loop, crossing their wake in Savannah, Georgia. All told, they cruised 6,200 miles and went through 123 locks,…

Cruising Life
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Northern Georgian Bay: A Path Less Traveled

Northern Georgian Bay on Lake Huron is a remote but rewarding cruising ground. It’s off the beaten path, which is part of its charm. But its natural beauty is another. Here’s a great story from Canadian Yachting about what you’ll find there: It’s like we’ve waved a magic wand and disappeared into a picture-perfect painting, our 28-foot Sea Ray a small maroon and cream dot plunged into the middle of an unraveling canvas of color. It’s a landscape where the only real interruptions to nature’s miracles are the navigation marks guiding a winding way through seemingly impenetrable rock scatterings. Welcome to…

Cruising Life
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Black Bear Boards Four Boats in North Channel of Lake Huron; Climbs Up Swim Ladders

A hungry 250-pound black bear broke into four boats in three days anchored off Heywood Island in the North Channel of Lake Huron, climbing up swim platforms, confronting owners in the middle of the night and generally sowing fear and anxiety. The local paper, The Manitoulin Expositor, says the first reported bear problem came from Brian Laux, from Walworth, New York, who was below in his cruiser Serenity, fixing dinner – a bass he had caught earlier. Laux heard a strange scratching noise and thought it might be a swimmer in distress. “But when I went outside there was a…

Cruising Life
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Great Advice for Cruising the Beautiful but Remote North Channel from a Couple in a Mainship 30

It’s beautiful, but it’s also remote, with some very narrow channels and a rock-lined bottom. Still,  the North Channel of Lake Huron certainly qualifies as one of the best cruising destinations for boats coming from either the United States or Canada. Stretching 160 nm across the northern shore of Lake Huron, in the Canadian province of Ontario, the North Channel is filled with beckoning anchorages, uninhabited islands, hidden beaches and just enough marinas to keep everyone on board happy. Most cruisers who’ve been there agree that navigation can be tricky. The North Channel is 20 miles across at its widest point,…