Georgian Bay boating & cruising directory Marinas, ports of call, anchorages on Georgian Bay Yacht brokers and new boat dealers Cruising the North Channel & 30,000 Islands Boating tips, weather & news Georgian Bay restaurant reviews Boating safety related information Sailing & power boating resources

Whether you own a run-about, sailboat or mega yacht ... few can argue that Georgian Bay is recognized as a premiere destination for boaters to cruise in paradise. While the Bahamas and eastern Caribbean are a great winter respite from the harsh winters of the north ... and the quaintness of the Chesapeake is certainly very appealing ... and let’s not forget the vast, largely uninhabited, Pacific coastline north of Vancouver ... but when it comes to the rugged beauty of windswept pines, on colorful rock, scoured clean by glaciers, offering snug anchorages and sunsets to die for - nothing compares to Georgian Bay. Georgian Bay draws cruising yachts from near and afar to experience nature’s best in amongst the 30,000 Islands and the North Channel. The loneliness and sheer beauty of gunk-holing in remote anchorages is contrasted by picturesque towns and urban ports of call that make Georgian Bay cruising so interesting.

We hope this Georgian Bay directory will be of assistance to sailors and power boaters alike when planning vacations, researching ports of call or simply looking for a quiet weekend anchorage to relax. The directory includes boat services, area events, points of interest, maps and even weather related links. Over time, the site will grow larger and we will include some of the characters and vagabonds that historically and currently ply the Bay. We have included the ports, towns and cities where you can provision for extended cruising or tie up to a dock to dine out. Emergency services are included and information on the many Georgian Bay Provincial Parks that you will want to visit along the way.

Just a reminder to update your charts. Georgian Bay and the North Channel are at the best of times tricky to navigate. Hundreds of shipwrecks and thriving prop shop businesses are testament to the boat mishaps that take place due to underwater hazards on the Bay. With lower water levels, comes changes to navigable routes. Visit www.notmar.gc.ca to pick up Coast Guard - Notices to Mariners. You can also register to have the notices for the charts in your possession to be sent to you automatically as navigation hazards and changes take place.

If you have special photographs of your boat, the landscape or your adventures that you want to share, by all means, send them along to info@boatinggeorgianbay.com and we will try and include them. If you have a cruising experience that is of interest to boaters ... we'd love to hear about it. And let's not forget that Georgian Bay is about rugged natural beauty ... so many of our feature Flash photographs will be inspiring so that during the cold winter months, you can dream about yachting on the Bay. For "easy to find" up to date power boat and sailing resource information, we hope that you will come back often to check out the latest news on Boating Georgian Bay.

To start things off, here's some helpful links to other area resources.

Georgian Bay Vacations
Travel To Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay
Georgian Bay Islands National Park
Boating Links

US Yachts Customs Information
When Arriving North Channel/Georgian Bay
Boats arriving from the USA (or any other country for that matter) must report to Canada Customs. You will need your passports or Nexus Cards. There are a number of marine telephone reporting sites on Georgian Bay and the North Channel. They are: click for locations or call 1-866-996-3987 for more information.

Visitor Information - Requirements for foreign recreational boaters in Canadian waters
Marine Services - Recreational boater information

Monitoring Georgian Bay Weather Is Paramount
If we can emphasis one thing very strongly it is this - Georgian Bay is one of the top cruising destinations in the world BUT severe weather, wind and waves can develop very quickly and the Georgian Bay's hundreds of shipwrecks from the 1800's right up until present day are testament to the danger severe weather brings to unsuspecting boaters. Our advise ... don't get caught out in a storm. This means planning ahead and checking all the forecasts and trends and not just the VHF weather forecast or the Environment Canada radio forecast you get from local radio stations.

If you follow multiple weather sources closely you will find large discrepancies in weather forecasts. It is not a perfect science so let caution prevail. We especially notice frequent differences between the Environment Canada forecasts and the US based NOAA National Weather Service for Lake Huron & Georgian Bay marine forecasts. When a front or the jet stream dividing line is close to the Georgian Bay region this is especially true. One very useful tool is the NOAA wind direction and wind speed maps of the Bay. You can look at existing conditions (Nowcast) and see all the little wind pockets as well as look ahead Forecast of the same. You can also view the marine radar & satellite imagery from the same page (scroll to the bottom). The NOAA forecasts seem to be consistently accurate but we have several sources of weather information on our Boating Georgian Bay Weather page so we recommend that you review several sources of Georgian Bay weather information on this site and you will have a thorough picture to predict what you might expect for the area you are travelling in .... and it is often very different than the radio broadcast. If the forecasts all line up then it is probably a safe bet in terms of what to expect - but when you see large discrepancies, it bears further investigation.

Once you get in the habit of checking this page as part of your cruise planning you will get very good at interpreting and forming your own opinion on what can be coming your way weather wise. It was interesting when the tornado came through Midland June 2010 around dinner hour that the weather channels were only tracking the original storm cell after it hit Midland and it was moving east towards Orillia but paid little attention to a much bigger cell that crossed Lake Michigan and Lake Huron and eventually Georgian Bay during the middle of the night. This cell was tracking east at 50 kmh but had a vertical north/south pattern and an intense center that was twice the size of what came through Midland. Watching the Weather Network this cell was never mentioned ... but if you were out in the middle of Georgian Bay you would sure want to know about it. Luckily this cell passed away from all major population centers.