Every summer, the Great Lakes offer some of the best cruising grounds in America. What could be better? There’s no salt spray to rinse off and no tides or tidal currents to account for. Add to that a fascinating historical mix of Native Americans, French explorers, religious groups, 19th-century settlers and a larger-than-life cast of Read More
Summer Camps on the Water – US and Canada
Imagine places where your children can …swim with dolphins in a tropical lagoon, paddle their kayaks by the light of the moon, build wooden sailboats that are sturdy and sleek, explore hidden shipwrecks that have sunken down deep. This might sound like fanciful dreams in Peter Pan’s Neverland, but it’s a taste of what’s happening Read More
Top Scuba Diving Spots in the US, Canada and the Bahamas
One of the most adventurous activities you can do from your boat is to explore the wonderful world right beneath you via scuba diving. If you are not already certified in scuba, it’s easy to learn, and even children as young as 10 can get a junior certification, so the whole family can enjoy diving Read More
7 Waterfront Towns to Visit for Their Microbreweries
With many pleasure boaters planning trips around interests like top-flight golf courses, gourmet restaurants and dazzling fall foliage, is it so far fetched that, for some, craft brews and breweries can be a destination unto themselves? Not in our book. Here are 11 sudstastic towns to add to your personal “booze cruise” itinerary. Just remember Read More
13 Top Summer Boating Destinations
Irvington, Va. Sited on the banks of Carter Creek where it flows into the Rappahannock River, Irvington boasts deep, protected waters and a quaint Colonial ambiance. The village once thrived as a stop for steamboats carrying goods and travelers across southern Chesapeake Bay, which is why The Steamboat Era Museum here is so popular today. For more history, head to Christ Church (finished in Read More
Mackinac Island, Michigan
The Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan and the surrounding region have historically been known as Michilimackinac. Some linguists say Michilimackinac means “great turtle” in the Ottawa Nation language and refers to the shape of Mackinac island. But the Ottawa tribe, who settled on Mackinac island before their first contact with Europeans, say they found a small tribe already Read More
Navigating Inland Waterways – Annapolis, Maryland to Duluth, Minnesota
What next? After three summer seasons cruising the eastern seaboard, my husband, Peter, and I were ready to go somewhere new. Granted we hadn’t examined every port of call, but we had cruised as far north as the Canadian border along the coast of Maine and south to Florida and the Bahamas. Now, we looked Read More
Grand Haven, Michigan
A haven is a place of shelter and safety, a place where one is protected from danger, a place of comfort. When that place occurs at the beautiful delta of the Grand River on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, it can be nothing else but Grand Haven. The quaint village of 10,000 year-round residents Read More
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
There are few yacht owners who don’t respect the power of the sea, and there are even fewer who have not heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Of the thousands of shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, the “Fitz” is the most well-known and the most controversial. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the sinking, and Read More
Exploring New York By Water
THE BACK STORY Two of our founding fathers, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, proposed canals for internal improvement of our waterways, much as the Dutch and English had done in Europe. It was not until 1825, when Gov. Dewitt Clinton poured a keg of Lake Erie water into New York Harbor, which he transported via Read More