Kingston Ontario to PEI - Info

[mattilac]

Considering a boat trip from Kingston Ontario to Prince Edward Island. I am looking for information with regards to reasonable amount of time to allocate for the trip, size of boat, and good marinas or places to anchor?? thanks in advance, still in the early stage of planning.

[phiggins]

My friend and I took his sailboat from Napanee Ont. to Halifax Nova Scotia two years ago. It took just under 3 weeks. I have a GE KML file of our track with waypoints where we anchored and other hilites but its too large to upload here. If you send me a private message with your email address I will send it to you.

[twistedtree]

We just traveled that route this summer. Cheryl Barr's "Downeast Loop" book is a good resource, but not gospel. Combine it with active captain and you have a pretty good guide. From Kingston you can go up the Rideau to Ottawa then down the Ottawa river to Montreal, or you can go straight out the St Lawrence. I'd highly recommend the Rideau provided you have a draft of under 5', preferably under 4'. I'd also recommend reading as many blogs as you can from people who have made the trip. Ours is TanglewoodII.Blogspot.com, and a google search will surface several others.

From Montreal to Tadoussac you need to be mindful of the tides and currents. At a minimum it will speed your trip significantly, and if you have a slow boat is can be the difference in making it or not. You should also be prepared for down days waiting for weather. We didn't have too many, but did have to sit out a few windy, rough days.

[mattilac]

Hello All,

Any updates or experience with this route would be appreciated.

Thank you

[FamilyVan]

I haven't done the route to PEI, but I have to both Anticosti and Cape Breton.
Kingston-Montreal 2 days (I would recommend st Lawrence over Rideau for traveling purposes). Maybe make your stop in gananoque or Prescott
Another 2 days to Quebec city. Spend a night in Trois Rivieres- great nightlife.
Leaving Quebec city- really watch your tides. Currents can reach 8 knots easy. And if you're traveling in a 6.5 knot sailboat- well I don't need to expand.
I would think you would want at least a week- probably more for the trip down the gulf. Stop in tadousac, cool and eclectic town.
Maybe a stop in Rimouski, Gaspe.
Then Gaspe to PEI I've never done by boat, so I don't really know.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[whalin]

We bought our boat in Shediac NB in 2013 and brought it up to Kingston. This was in late Sept/Oct and weather was rough. We lost 5-6 days to weather. Plenty of gales. It took us 18 days total. Just go straight down the seaway. Use the tide tables and go with the tides. We have a lobster boat and it cruises at 8kts, but going upstream with the tide, we were doing 12kts!

In good weather, you can do the run 10-12 days. There are ports every 20-40 miles along the south shore. We travelled 10 hour days and would go about 80 miles. Plan a destination port, and closer port along the way to bail at if the weather turns. The further east you go, the bigger the water gets. Also tides become a factor for both navigation and in the harbours. For example, we grounded in Rivière de Loup when entering the harbour, we waited 20 mins and the tide rose and lifted the boat up and we were able to dock up.

Down of Quebec City there are some tidal rifts (like Rapids) , you want to make sure you hit them at the right time, ie high or lowering tide in you case.

I also highly recommend Cheryl Barr's Down East Loop cruising guide. We used it extensively.


Whalin

[jay322]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

I haven't done the route to PEI, but I have to both Anticosti and Cape Breton.
Kingston-Montreal 2 days (I would recommend st Lawrence over Rideau for traveling purposes). Maybe make your stop in gananoque or Prescott
Another 2 days to Quebec city. Spend a night in Trois Rivieres- great nightlife.
Leaving Quebec city- really watch your tides. Currents can reach 8 knots easy. And if you're traveling in a 6.5 knot sailboat- well I don't need to expand.
I would think you would want at least a week- probably more for the trip down the gulf. Stop in tadousac, cool and eclectic town.
Maybe a stop in Rimouski, Gaspe.
Then Gaspe to PEI I've never done by boat, so I don't really know.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

thanks for this - you make it sound easy, which I'm hoping it was. i'd like to go Toronto to Halifax this summer. i'd like to have more details of your trip. would you have a log or diary or something like that that i could take a look at?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Jay.

[jay322]

thanks Gord,
Still planning Toronto to Halifax but haven't found much info yet.
cheers to you