Winter is Coming … Time for Cruising Guides

Nov 6, 2016

With winter looming it’s time to curl up with a few good cruising guides and indulge in some creative visualization (day dreaming). The folks at Boating Cape Breton publish The Insider’s Guide to Cruising Cape Breton Island. Here you can find up to date info on services, marinas, harbours etc. as well as some background stories on the many places to visit both in the Bras d’Or Lakes and around the coastline.

For a compact list of all marinas, yacht clubs and services available in the Atlantic region check Atlantic Boating from the Atlantic Marine Trades Association (AMTA). The new 2017 edition will be ready in time for the Toronto Boat Show in early next year www.boatinginatlanticcanada.com.

If you want to really put some miles under your keel next year, you could try completing the Down East Circle Route. Capt. Cheryl Barr has written a detailed guide to this route from the Maritimes down the New England coast to New York, up the Hudson River and along the Eire Canal to Lake Ontario. From there it’s down the St Lawrence to the Gulf. People do it in one season, but two summers would make for a more relaxed voyage.

Members of the Cruising Club of America (CCA) have been visiting the Atlantic provinces for many years and their collective wisdom and experience has been published in a number ofexcellent guides. The guides and continually updated and now cover Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

All these guides and more are available at www.binnacle.com and other marine book stores.