Realistic Dream Cruises

[WI-Tom]

I thought it'd be interesting to start a thread where people could post ideas for a sailing (heck, or motoring if that's how you roll) trip that you haven't taken yet, but have considered doing at some point. A dream trip, but a realistic one--not something extreme that you'd never do yourself, but something you think you'd actually do, given the opportunity.

One for me:

Isle Royale.jpg

It's about a 17-mile hop across Lake Superior to Isle Royale. Icy cold water, possible serious weather, a long shelterless lee shore if you try to circumnavigate all of Isle Royale during your cruise. Still, I'd like to do this as a sail-and-oar trip. I might have done it this summer, but my drysuit gaskets are shot, and I wasn't all that enthusiastic about traveling quite so far with COVID in progress.

Probably about 200 miles, a 2-week trip or so. I'd want an open schedule so I didn't need to push my luck with weather. I'd also want a working drysuit for the crossings.

So, what trips would you like to do, or would consider as a realistic cruising goal, but you haven't done yet?

Tom

[mmd]

My friend has brought his sailing yacht down from Toronto and - due to Covid-19 - it is on the hard in Souris, PEI. The multi-year plan is to circumnavigate Newfoundland (his home). The plan is to go, in legs, from PEI through the Canso Strait, through the St. Peter's Canal into Bras d'Or Lake in Cape Breton, exit the north end of the lake at Cape Dauphin and recoup and restock in Sydney. Then an ocean slog across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Port au Basques and along the south coast of The Rock with stops at La Poile, Burgeo, Ramea, Francois, St. Pierre et Miquelon, Burin, and Marystown. Put the boat on the hard for the winter, and the following year go around Cape St. Mary's, Cape Freels and Cape Race and up to St. John's. Then north around the cape at Biscayan Cove, across Conception Bay to Harbour Grace, Baccalieu Island, across Trinity Bay to English Harbour and up around Cape Bonavista, island-hop along the coast to Fogo Island and La Scie where the second lay-up happens. Then way up north to round Quirpon Island at the tip of the Great Northern Penninsula and begin the journey back south in the Cabot Strait to Port aux Choix, Cow Head, Rocky Harbour, Lark Harbour, Port-aux-Port, and back to Port-aux Basques for the third winter on the island. From there, head west to Isles de la Madeleine and back up the St. Lawrence River to 'civilization'. The plan is to take four years to do the voyage, with the boat on the hard for three winters. I have a standing invitation to come aboard as crew for however long. I would like to do the leg across the Gulf and along the south coast, hopefully next year. Can we say "effin' awesome"?

Atlantic Canada.jpg

[WI-Tom]

That south coast looks utterly amazing. Probably best not to talk that up too much...

Tom

[gilberj]

That trip to and around Newfoundland takes me back. In a previous life I stopped in all but couple of the places you mentioned. It would be truly awesome to go back around the rock now some 40 odd years later.

[Woxbox]

mmd -- That trip looks fantastic. I just hope your friend's boat is in better shape than Farley Mowat's was.

[The Jeff]

I've got a few ideas for dream cruises that I think I've posted elsewhere. The most realistic one is probably sailing from Virginia down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to meet my family for a vacation. Overall it'd be a 200 mile trip to Ocracoke, but we sometimes stop at closer towns. I'd want to sail as much as I could, but there's about 50 miles of ICW that I'd probably use a small outboard for. Going south is against the prevailing wind, but there are plenty of boat ramps all along the route that my family could pick me up at if I couldn't make it.

I've done enough sailing in my First Mate to have confidence in the boat, but I need to practice more and work on figuring out boat camping. So definitely not this year, but maybe next summer. Plus, hopefully life will be closer to normal by then.

[wizbang 13]

I've never been to Canada (BC) by boat, I always turn left at Neah Bay.
If I can't get back to Woodwind in Antigua this winter, maybe I'll finally get my 24'er back in the water and turn right for a change.
I'm not keen on being cold though....

[Hugh MacD]

I'm still hoping to get up into Barkley Sound before I get too old. Doesn't get quite the traffic that Desolation does.

[Mark0]

.... at this point just getting the boat in the water, rigged and sailing..... but seriously, we would like to do both those trips ! We are sort of planning a tour of the great lakes one summer.

Cheers,
Mark

[rbgarr]

Canals of France or England with bikes for day trips. Rowing excursion on the Thames, staying at inns.

[rgthom]

Because it is close I keep thinking of a Spring drift/row down the Sacramento River. It's about a 170 mile drive and 300 river miles from Redding back to where I live in the Delta. It is a wide slow river, after a wet winter there could be 2 - 3 kts current in the spring so 30 miles per day would be easy. Plenty of towns and parks along the way for overnight. Most of the bank is riparian even if farms are just past the bank. Snags in the river are a risk, I would have one of those driftboat anchors ready for quick deployment. There are fish, I could fly cast standing in the Walkabout. If I could talk someone into driving me up to Redding I could walk home after returning to Suisun in a couple of weeks.

[WI-Tom]

That's a long river--would make a cool trip, I bet. Thanks,

Tom

[Dave Hadfield]

Tom, Nipigon.

And the next year Reindeer Lake.

Dave

[Etdbob]

I would love to do the Sacramento some day!
I probably will not get around to it though, because I live up in Washington state, and the drive is a bit far for my likes.

My dream cruise is to sail and /or row the 150 miles from the Canadian boarder to the Grand Coulee dam.
That body of water is known as Lake Roosevelt and seems idea for a cruise.



One shore is mostly empty federal land, the other shore mostly empty tribal land. There are many camp grounds along the way, some boat-in only.
When the water isn't to high (it is right now! ) there are lots of sandy beaches to explore and camp on. The fishing is good, and the place is surprisingly empty of boaters. What's not to like?

Besides, it's close to where I live.

To this end I am constructing a modified Michalak JB Jr. my Roosevelt-cruiser-to-be.

[WI-Tom]

Tom, Nipigon.

And the next year Reindeer Lake.

Dave

I forget--have you been to Nipigon yet?

If you're going as far as Reindeer, why not Great Slave Lake instead? That was my plan for summer 2020, a plan gang well a-gley indeed. The East Arm looks spectacular! Next year, I hope.

Tom

[stromborg]

Just one? There are two I plan on:
To port, Santa Barbara Channel Islands off the coast of California. Grew up in sight of them but other than a week long camping trip on San Miguel as a kid they were just background.
To starboard, San Juans and Inside Passage to Alaska.

5 years five months and 5 days...not that I'm counting or anything.

[John hartmann]

A circumnavigation of PEI:
7789A377-DF64-485E-93AC-7258A95E6330.jpg

In this:
E525A3A5-54AE-45CA-B4CC-1BFB77E1C044.jpg
Like Steve, I have more than one in mind—for sweetwater, Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay holds great interest, and in salt, I have only scratched the surface of Maine’s amazing coastline.

[WBViking]

Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island would be fun to explore in a small sailboat, given the right conditions - once kayaked from upper MI over to Drummond and Cockburn Islands - cool area!

Another dream trip that would likely take a whole season, would be to paddle the Tuscarawas river (which flows through the lake I live on) down to the Muskingum (which I have done before, but stopped there in Coshocton), continue on down the Muskingum to the Ohio river, turn right and continue down to the mighty Mississippi, and keep on going to NOrleans! Maybe in my retirement in a few years!

More locally, I would love to spend a few weeks this autumn sailing around the Lake Erie islands in the western basin - have sailed across Erie to Canada in my Venture 17 years ago.....sigh!

[WI-Tom]

Georgian Bay and Manitoulin Island would be fun to explore in a small sailboat, given the right conditions

Oh, yeah--they sure are! For those who don't know...



Return to Georgian Bay

- once kayaked from upper MI over to Drummond and Cockburn Islands - cool area!

Sure is. And Georgian Bay is even better.

Tom

[Dave Hadfield]

I forget--have you been to Nipigon yet?

If you're going as far as Reindeer, why not Great Slave Lake instead? That was my plan for summer 2020, a plan gang well a-gley indeed. The East Arm looks spectacular! Next year, I hope.

Tom

MANY people gave cruised Great Slave's east arm. You can even rent a sailboat there. But if you want off the beaten track, go where Google doesn't.

Great Bear?

[WI-Tom]

MANY people gave cruised Great Slave's east arm. You can even rent a sailboat there. But if you want off the beaten track, go where Google doesn't.

Great Bear?

Thing is, I like islands. The East Arm has 'em. So does Georgian Bay. Great Bear, not so much.

Reindeer Lake I'm less familiar with, but it sure does look flat from the few photos I've seen. Cliffs are nice--and the East Arm has 'em.

I guess I like what I like. I suspect if I get up to the East Arm, I'll go days and days without seeing any other boats.

I have a few other possibilities in mind as well, but I think the East Arm is next.

Tom

[WI-Tom]

OK, just had a quick peek. Reindeer Lake looks spectacular, too! (Not to mention the drive is 15 hours shorter for me...)

Tom

[John B]

We were hoping to go to Vanuatu and New Caledonia next year, but that's looking unlikely now..
My dream cruise was to get to the Southern Lau group in Fiji via Minerva reef....Fulaga island specifically. We did that in 17 and liked it so much we repeated it in 19. My cruising mojo is a bit muted at the moment.

[Larks]

My dream cruise is exploring the west coast of Scotland and visiting a few distilleries along the way, it’s a few years away yet but it will happen - preferably on our own yacht.....

[Bigredboat]

Nightmare or Dream Cruise? You decide...My father, a recovering alcoholic and missing dad, decided we should start doing things together when I was 17, and just out of reform school. It was 1965. We bought an old crappy, wooden Comet, Hull #714. He had me build a trailer with an old truck axle, 2 by 4's and carpeting. I caulked her with 4-5 cans of Marine-Tex and we drove from Phila to Camden, Maine. We TOWED the boat and trailer with his new, 1965 Corvair Convertible, 3 speed with air conditioning. He made a wrong turn and we ended up in Times Square, NYC! When we got to Maine and launched the boat next to Wayfarer's to sail out to Curtis Island. The boat sailed like a SUBMARINE filling with cold salt water and sinking down faster than moving ahead. Hauled her out, camped at Camden Hills State Park, more Marine Tex and a re-launching -- no good. We should have left her there but instead, my father, stoked up on coffee from French & Brawn, insisted we tow her back to Philly! He blew the transmission and we abandoned the boat at a yard near Essington, PA.

Our Comet never looked this good,
Our Corvair looked better than this because my father had her painted "British Racing Green"and had all the name plates removed so he could pretend it ws a special car...Did I say he was a recovering alcoholic?
Old Comet.jpg1965 Corvair Convertible.jpg

[WI-Tom]

Interesting posts going on here! Thanks. The west coast of Scotland, and the Outer Hebrides, is high on my list. But dang it, I'd want to do it in a sail and oar boat, and it'd be the opposite of easy to get one over there.

Which leaves buying one there, I suppose. I doubt I'd have time to build one there.

Tom

[J.Madison]

Sea of Cortez

[Don Z.]

1965 Corvair Convertible.jpg

Four carbs, or turbo?

[auscruisertom]

W

Just one? There are two I plan on:
To port, Santa Barbara Channel Islands off the coast of California. Grew up in sight of them but other than a week long camping trip on San Miguel as a kid they were just background.
To starboard, San Juans and Inside Passage to Alaska.

5 years five months and 5 days...not that I'm counting or anything.

San Miguel would have to be right up there as the most memorable overnight anchorage .
Full moon in September anchored among hundreds of sea lions with fluorescent trails illuminating the ocean around us.

[Larks]

Interesting posts going on here! Thanks. The west coast of Scotland, and the Outer Hebrides, is high on my list. But dang it, I'd want to do it in a sail and oar boat, and it'd be the opposite of easy to get one over there.

Which leaves buying one there, I suppose. I doubt I'd have time to build one there.

Tom

Buy one there Tom - or arrange a swap with someone who wants to head to the US for a holiday

[Hugh MacD]

I saw an ad for a "Scotch Cruise" taking a 63' schooner past all the distilleries in the Hebrides. Expensive, but oh my!

[WI-Tom]

Buy one there Tom - or arrange a swap with someone who wants to head to the US for a holiday

Is anyone in the UK listening here? The boat in the photo below is available for a sail and oar swap for any of you wanting to do some Great Lakes cruising (fresh water, no tides, warm enough to swim)--trailer, car, and charts to Georgian Bay included!

email photo 2.jpg

(Please don't smash it up or sink it...)

Tom

[The Q]

Just to upset some peoples dreams, I've already sailed in the Hebridies , and round the top of Scotland. It helped I've lived out there twice. Wonderful sailing, but huddled up in a bay hiding from a force 10 in a 17ft boat was a rough couple of days and nights...
My dream, a round Britain, taking my time, stopping over night somewhere each time.

[gilberj]

I would like to visit Haida Gwaii ( Queen Charlotte Islands) again. Circumnavigating the islands ( probably at least a month there and a few weeks to and from) since we are talking dreams here. Last time I was there by water was in 1982/3.

[Larks]

Just to upset some peoples dreams, I've already sailed in the Hebridies , and round the top of Scotland. It helped I've lived out there twice. Wonderful sailing, but huddled up in a bay hiding from a force 10 in a 17ft boat was a rough couple of days and nights...
My dream, a round Britain, taking my time, stopping over night somewhere each time.

Don’t worry, you’re not upsetting this ones dreams in the least bit - who said anything about a 17’ boat?? I’m thinking more of the sort “huddled” experience being one in secure holding in a sheltered bay in a comfortable cabin with a good warm stove, a couple of oil lamps, pleasant banter, a decent radar alarm, a good stock of single malts from the days tastings, a dry warm bunk and no rush to be anywhere else at any time soon.....