Island hopping in Ontario
Belinda Chesman discovers that Lake Ontario lives up to its Iroquois name meaning ‘lake of shining waters’
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes and is fed by the Niagara River on the south-west shore of the lake. To the north-east it empties into the St Lawrence River; at this point and straddling the Canadian/US border are the ‘Thousand Islands’.
Despite the name there are actually more than 1,800 islands which form an archipelago in the wide expanse of the St Lawrence. They are a popular destination for Canadian boaters and reported to be very beautiful, so we were keen to visit.
Heading east from Cobourg marina on the north shore of Lake Ontario we took the route south of Prince Edward County to anchor at Van Dousens Point in Prince Edward Bay. The passage was quite a long one at 67 miles and the light winds were not quite strong enough to give us good speed, despite hauling up the colourful multipurpose genoa for light wind sailing, so we compromised and motorsailed for much of the trip in order to arrive at dusk.
There was only one other yacht in the anchorage and it was easy to find a nice spot to drop the hook. It was wonderful to be out on anchor again and we spent a few peaceful days just relaxing and taking in the scenery. The evening light on distant Timber Island illuminated the surrounding shallow water making it look like a Bahamian Island.
Lake Ontario takes its name from the Iroquois and means, rather appropriately we decided, ‘beautiful or shining water’. Not quite so beautiful the next day as a thunderstorm passed overhead! However, our anchor was well set and the bay quite sheltered from the strong gusts.
Back in time
Sailing slowly on west we turned into Kerr Bay anchorage on Amherst Island. Going ashore was like going back in time; it has
a tiny general store, a basic restaurant reminiscent of a 1950s cafe and a blacksmith that wouldn’t look out of place in a western movie.
From Kerr Bay we sailed on to Kingston. The City of Kingston on the north-eastern shore of the Lake is a great destination. There are three marinas and we headed for Kingston Marina on the inner harbour. To access the inner harbour the LaSalle Causeway bridge opens on the hour on demand, and you need to alert the bridge operator that a vessel is waiting by giving four blasts – three short and one long – of the foghorn.
We checked into the marina and enjoyed having ‘shore leave’ after several days at anchor. It is situated only a five-minute walk from a decent sized supermarket and ten minutes from downtown shops and cafes – very handy to top up the store cupboards. There is also a municipal sports centre with a swimming pool close to the marina and we made good use of it. I had already taken a swim in the Lake, but it was definitely chilly!
We were pleased to see Restless, a New Zealand-flagged yacht, come in and anchor off the marina. We had first seen them as we left Oswego to cross the Lake and again in Cobourg. Roland and Consie invited us over for sundowners one evening and we discovered that we had several sailing friends in common and had used similar sailing routes, ports and anchorages on our travels, although our paths had never crossed. It was good to meet and chat to other cruisers; we had only encountered local sailboats since leaving New York.
With cool cafes and several nice bars and restaurants there are no shortage of places in Kingston to sit with a coffee and watch the world go by.
However, we did find it difficult to sort out a small electrical problem that was baffling Kit. The tachometer was not registering revs and the instrument lights were not working. Three electricians had come to look at the control panel wiring and shaken their heads.
Finally someone put us in touch with a man who not only diagnosed the problem but fixed it too. Hurrah!
Nerve wracking navigation
Dragging ourselves away from the pleasures of Kingston we sailed slowly along the Bateau Channel north of Howe Island and into the smaller islands. This was very laid-back sailing in light airs, and wonderfully relaxing.
We passed behind a chain ferry that crosses the short distance from the mainland to Howe island, and were interested to read in the pilot book that during the depths of winter when the water freezes over, there are bubblers
(de-icing machines) constantly working across the ferry route to keep it ice-free.
A few hundred yards past the ferry the channel opened out and suddenly clusters of islands were right in front of us.
It was nerve wracking at first because there are several narrow passages and rocky outcrops to negotiate, but we soon got the hang of it and visited numerous pretty anchorages. The Thousand Island Association, a voluntary group of boaters, have helpfully put markers on shallow, isolated rocks, making navigation easier.
There is a lot of bottom weed in places that can make anchoring a little challenging, but once through the weeds the holding is good.
The anchorages are often in the middle of a group of islets with shelter from almost all directions. Not that we really needed shelter as the weather had finally settled down to light winds and sunshine most days. The water is clean and clear and with temperatures around 20°C it is not exactly Caribbean, but warm enough for a refreshing swim.
Almost all of the islands, even tiny rocky knolls, are privately owned and have a house built on them with a landing dock and boathouse. Due to the abnormally high water levels when we were there, many of the docks and landing areas were underwater and we heard that some people couldn’t get to their summer homes because they couldn’t land.
Several of the larger islands belong to Parks Canada, and a few of them were temporarily closed for the same reason. However, we could land by dinghy on the docks of the Parks Canada islands that remained open so were able to go for walks; there are even composting toilets and garbage disposal provided so we had no problem donating a few dollars toward their maintenance.
Island highlights
The islands are every bit as beautiful as their reputation claims. The glowing colours of the rocks and trees are particularly lovely in the light of the rising and setting sun. The cries of osprey and bald eagles echo around the rocks and we felt fortunate to be able to watch their acrobatics as they swooped down to fish.
On Bostwick Island, one of the many islands we visited, there is a narrow inlet named Half Moon Bay, accessible only by dinghy. It’s a beautiful spot with granite outcrops, pines and shrubs. On Sunday mornings a service is held there at an outdoor chapel on a rocky ledge just above water level. This event is apparently so well attended by boaters that wire is strung around the rocky face of the bay for participants in dinghies to tie to during their devotions.
Another highlight of our trip was a visit to Gananoque Playhouse, where we tied up on the Playhouse dock, stayed overnight and walked up the pontoon into the theatre. How cool is that? We saw Maggie and Pierre, a play about Pierre Trudeau (father of current Canadian PM Justin Trudeau) and his younger wayward flower child wife Maggie. It was a bonus for us that the overnight dockage fee of CAD$30 per night was waived as parts of the Playhouse docks were still flooded.
By now it was August and the height of the holiday season around the lake and islands. The anchorages became more crowded and it was good to see many families among the crews of yachts and motor boats. The children had a fine time splashing about on inflatables, canoes and paddle boards. The warmest water temperature we recorded was 26°C – not bad for a Canadian waterway.
Predictably the nice weather also brought out the fast and noisy jet skis and speed boats that roared through the anchorages creating wake that set us all rolling, despite low speed limits in the islands. Happily they all disappeared off home in the evening when peace and tranquillity was once again restored... and we often managed to find some more remote spots less-visited by the speed jockeys, so overall they were no more than a nuisance.
Eventually it was time for us to leave the islands and turn west toward Port Whitby and our winter haul out. A strong
‘Lake Ontario takes its name from the Iroquois and means, rather appropriately we decided, “beautiful or shining water”’
south-westerly was forecast so we spent two nights along with several other yachts sitting it out at anchor in Brakey Bay, a deep indent on the north of Wolfe Island.
From there we had a great sail back to Kingston where we anchored for a few days just off the marina and dinghied ashore to renew our stock of fresh food.
As water levels in the lake were still quite high we decided to risk going through the Murray Canal, which cuts straight through the narrow strip of land connecting Prince Edward County with the north shore of Lake Ontario. This is a shorter route west and allowed the opportunity to see a little more of the beautiful scenery.
We had a great day sailing along Adolphus Reach, admiring banks swathed in green pines, to anchor for the night in quiet Hallowell Mills Cove just north of the Picton inlet.
We had heard that the town of Picton is worth a visit so the next morning we took the dinghy and motored the two miles into town for a coffee. Our reward was to find a lovely cafe attached to an interesting book shop where we both purchased a real book! Electronic books are very useful when we’re cruising but there’s nothing like holding and reading a real one.
The wind picked up from the south-east as we left the anchorage and a few hours sailing north took us up Long Reach to Desoronto where we anchored overnight in a beautiful spot off Forrester’s Island.
The following day we weighed anchor and headed towards Trenton. It was hot and sunny and there was little wind so motorsailing was the only option. We carefully followed the channel markers through Telegraph Narrows as the depths shoaled quickly on either side.
Near Trenton we heard a Pan-Pan message over the VHF asking for help for a yacht aground. Soon we saw the stranded yacht in shallows outside the channel but as there was nothing we could do to help we continued. It’s safer to stick to the buoyed channel in these areas as the bottom shoals quickly if you stray. Later we heard that a motorboater had managed to assist.
Wonderful cruising ground
We continued with increasingly strong winds through the Bay of Quinte to the entrance to the Murray Canal. Depths were very shallow in the canal approach; Quilcene draws 1.65m (5ft 6in) and we saw 1.75m (5ft 9in) on the depth sounder – a bit close for comfort!
From the Bay of Quinte, the Murray Canal runs five miles into Presqu’ile Bay. There are two swing bridges to pass through and the passage fee is normally CAD$5 but there was no charge as part of Canada’s 150th celebrations. I was quite disappointed because I was looking forward to paying; the bridge keeper at the west end apparently holds out a bucket on the end of a long pole as you motor past!
Depths in the canal were 4.6m (15ft) but once into Presqu’ile Bay the depth sounder showed precious little water beneath our keel. We thought this route would be too shallow for us with ‘normal’ water levels, although we’ve since been told that the depths are OK and the sounder gives a false signal due to thick weed.
Close to the Bay’s entrance we dropped anchor for the night in Cowpasture Bay and set off for Cobourg early next morning. There was almost no wind so it was motorsailing again most of the way to the anchorage in the lovely protected harbour. The marina charges CAD$15 a night to anchor and use their facilities, including showers and laundry.
We stayed a few days and enjoyed watching the comings and goings of yachts and motorboats, and the sailing club boats milling about as they prepared to head out for their evening races.
This was our last stop before sailing on to Port Whitby Marina and Quilcene’s winter quarters.
The Thousand Islands hadn’t disappointed; it’s a great place to sail and has idyllic scenery. Good charts are a necessity and you must be prepared for a bit of motoring, but what a wonderful cruising ground.