Now that Christmas and New Years are past my thoughts have turned to planning Santosha’s cruise for this coming summer. I have some broad goals in mind and, if the boat performs well and the weather co-operates, then I am hoping that we can cruise extensively in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. I intend to take my time and linger in interesting places along the way as this may be the only summer that we cruise in this region. Our trip is set out in the following seven major segments:
| Segment | Origin & Destination Ports | Travel Time | Approx. Dates | Some Of The Stops Along The Way |
| 1 | Goderich to Port Stanley | 6 – 8 days | June 16 – June 24 | Sarnia, Windsor, Pelee Island, Erieau |
| 2 | Port Stanley to Toronto | 4 – 8 days | June 24 – July 2 | Port Dover, Port Colborne, Oakville |
| 3 | Toronto to Kingston | 5 – 7 days | July 2 – July 9 | Whitby, Cobourg, Presqu’ile, Trenton, Belleville, Picton |
| 4 | Kingston & The 1000 Islands | 5 – 7 days | July 9 – July 16 | Wolfe Island, Gananoque, Thousand Islands National Park, Ivy Lea, Mallorytown |
| 5 | The Rideau System | 18 – 21 days | July 16 – Aug 6 | Seeleys Bay, Westport, Smiths Falls, Merrickville, Kemptville, Manotick |
| 6 | Ottawa River to Montreal | 7 – 10 days | Aug 6 – Aug 16
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South Nation River, Papineauville, Montebello, Hawkesbury, Hudson, Longueil |
| 7 | Montreal to Morrisburg | 6 – 8 days | Aug 16 – Aug 24 | Chateauguay, Valleyfield, Lancaster, Cornwall, Long Sault, Upper Canada Village |
On our cruise last summer from Jacksonville, FL to Goderich our rate of travel averaged about 50 nautical miles (NM) a day. Some days we did much better than that and on other days we only made 30 – 40 NM. Major factors that influenced our travel distance each day were: currents, waves and winds; weather; distance to our next most desired destination; and the amount of daylight available. I expect that, weather permitting, our rate of progress from Goderich to Toronto will be very good as we will have currents running in our favour on the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers. Plus, I have travelled in these waters from Goderich to Port Colborne a few times before, so there will be much less mental effort for choosing overnight stops, etc.
I am using Navionics’ Web App to help me plan all of the segments of the cruise. This free app is really easy to use over the internet through your web browser software – just set up a free account with Navionics, fill in a few details about the boat such as: draft, cruising speed and rate of fuel consumption, then identify your starting and end points. Navionics’ software will rapidly plot a safe course for you complete with all necessary course change points and it will also indicate anticipated travel time and fuel consumption.
Navionics Web App – Using Safari Browser on a MAC
You can also save each plotted course with a unique name. Navionics will allow you to export the routes to certain brands and models of marine chart plotters. Additionally, for an annual subscription price of less than $100 you can load Navionics’ navigation program and charts onto an iPad or Android tablet and then import (download) the plotted courses for “real time” use.
Navionics Web App Plot On iPad (GPS Not Activated)
I used it on my iPad mini last year while I was travelling from Jacksonville, FL to Goderich, ON and it worked great. I also had the iPad paired up with a Bluetooth GPS device so my position and other statistics were constantly updated. As far as I am concerned the Navionics app for my iPad is worth every penny of the subscription fee!
(Please Note: I do not receive any compensation from Navionics for my comments on their software or charts – I am simply offering my experience in this post as a satisfied customer!)
You can read more about our cruise plans (as of this date) for 2018 by following this link: Planned Cruise Points of Interest.