Although not a substitute for a cruising guide, the following is a list of places we stayed overnight with some comments for others considering doing the same. GPS coordinates should be double checked against official charts.
| Place | Marina / Anchorage | Comments |
Fairhaven, NY | 43º 19.51′ N 76º 42.85′ W | One of our go-to anchorages in Little Sodus Bay, under Colloca Vineyards. Good holding. Don’t go too far up the river where the weeds get thicker. |
| Sackets Harbor, NY | Navypoint Marina | A friendly marina with full services tucked into Sackets Harbor. Craig, the marina manager, is world class. |
| Picton Island, NY | 44º 16.79′ N 76º 4.19′ W | This is another go-to anchorage is just across from Clayton, NY. It’s full of partiers during the day, but when the sun goes down, it’s just you and the loons. |
| Clayton, NY | Municipal Dock | On French Creek Bay, this dock, near the antique boat museum, has been completely renovated. Very convenient to downtown Clayton. Don’t miss the Ace hardware store, which is more like a department store! |
| Brockville, ON | Brockville Marina | This marina is in the heart of Brockville and has nice facilities and friendly staff. Visitors are right next to park walkway so not very private. |
| Prescott, ON | Sandra Lawn Marina | Another friendly marina, close to town, and dominated by an historical lighthouse. |
| Long Sault, ON | 44º 49.69′ N 75º 18.84′ W | This anchorage behind Mille Roches Island is in a well protected bay with excellent holding. |
| Cornwall, ON | 44º58.58′ N 74º 51.48′ W | This anchorage between Pillon Island and mainland has good holding, but it’s noisy during the day with passing power boats on one side and cars on the other. |
| Salaberry de Velleyfield, QC | Marina Valleyfield | This marina is weedy and the docks are antiquated. However, the pool, showers and fuel dock are modern and functional. Walking distance to the town. |
| Dorval, QC | Royal Saint Lawrence Yacht Club | With many reciprocal agreements, this club was welcoming. Tricky channel through shallow waters to get in and the docks are somewhat antiquated. The members are friendly and helpful. The clubhouse has a decent restaurant. |
| Montréal, QC | Port d’Escale | If your boat can muscle through 6 knots of current for a few miles, this marina puts you in the heart of Old Montréal. Very well structured and managed, with good security. |
| Sorel, QC | 46º 4.90 N 72º 59.31 W | This anchorage is between Île de Barques and the Saint Lawrence south shore. Small tidal change and 1-2 knots of persistent current need to be considered. Enter from the Northeast side and avoid a charted underwater cable. Water is shallow at entrance so watch the depth carefully! |
| Portneuf, QC | Marina Portneuf | Very welcoming marina right on the river. Well protected from current and wind by high breakwaters. Friendly owners. |
| Québec City, QC | Marina Port de Québec | A dedicated lock raises and lowers boats to the level of the marina. Probably the nicest, most modern marina yet with outstanding facilities and services. Puts you in the heart of Old |
| Cap à l’Aigle, QC | Port de Refuge Cap à l’Aigle | Appropriately named, this marina is the only one between Quebec City and Tadoussac with enough depth throughout the tide cycle to accommodate sailboats. It’s basic, and somewhat pricey due to its “monopolistic” position. The anchorages along this route are questionable with exposure to weather an the shipping channel. |
| Tadoussac, QC | Marina de Tadoussac | A deep-water marina in the bay just north of the entrance to the Saguenay River. Short walk to “downtown”. Access to the Marine Park. Watch the navigational warnings about when and how to enter the Saguenay. Competing tidal currents can create dangerous conditions. |
| Rimouski, QC | Marina de Rimouski | There is a nice anchorage on the Northeast side of Bic Island, but when the winds and waves out of the Northeast, Rimouski Marina, a large, mostly-sailboat marina with excellent infrastructure and services is a better option. It’s a little far from the center of town, a 45 minute walk, but there’s a marine store across the street, and a supermarket 20 minutes away. |
| Sainte Anne des Monts, QC | 49°8.015’N 66°29.039’W | This anchorage, east of the main jetty, offers good wind protection from the West. However, holding needs to be checked carefully as it’s sand over rock. We had to reset the anchor three tomes before it held fast. |
| Rivière au Renard, QC | 48°59.858’N 64°23.274’W | This anchorage is the last place to stop in the Saint Lawrence before rounding the Gaspé into the Saint Lawrence Gulf. It’s a busy fishing harbor, well protected on all sides. There’s a small yacht club inside the inner marina. The people are extremely kind and helpful. This is characteristic of the whole Gaspé region. |
| Gaspé, QC | Club Nautique Jacques Cartier | A very nice marina at the inner end of Gaspé Bay. Extremely friendly / helpful people (again). Walking distance from downtown Gaspé, Canadian Tire and IGA or Maxi supermarkets. |
| Grande Rivière, QC | Grande Rivière Fishing Port | This well protected fishing port welcomes cruisers. Jean-Pierre, the manager, bends over backwards to fit you in among or rafted to the the fishing boats. There’s no power or water, but there’s a seafood store, a “cantine” serving poutine, burgers, etc, and a marine supply store. Very friendly. |
| Portage Island, NB | 47°10.131’N 65°1.629’W | This anchorage in the Miramichi Bay is a good way to split the ~140 nautical mile distance from Gaspé to Prince Edward Island. It provides good holding in sand, and protection from westerly winds. There are numerous anchorages in this bay. Watch out for lobster boats and pots, and don’t forget to set your clocks to Atlantic Daylight Time (UTC – 4H). |
| Summerside, PE | Summerside Yacht Club | Maybe the friendliest yet, great infrastructure and staff. Bar and restaurant right at water’s edge. Close to downtown and to nearby beaches. |
| Caribou Island, NS | 45º 44.496′ N 62º 41.906′ W | Good shelter for winds from all directions. Great beaches nearby on which to explore marine wildlife. |
| Havre Boucher | 45º 41.169′ N 61º 31.324′ W | Very convenient anchorage just before entrance of Canso Canal. Well protected and all but North sides. Small fishing port with garbage, but no water or fuel. |
| Louse Harbour, NS | 45º 14.506′ N 61º 03.337′ W | One of the prettiest anchorages we found. 20-30 ft depth, good holding, surrounded by rocky coast and full of seals |
| Beaver Harbour, NS | 44º 53.204′ N 62º 25.015′ W | Well protected anchorages, a day’s distance from Halifax. Some kelp so finding good holding took a few tries, but slept like babies once we did. Full of seals. |
| Halifax, NS | Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron | An old style yacht club. Very friendly and helpful staff, especially Jeff, the Dockmaster. On a creek off of the main Halifax harbor, it’s a 10-15 Uber ride from downtown. |
| Lunenburg, NS | Zwicker Wharf | A floating dock built right alongside one of the downtown wharves. Now has power and water. Chris and Ian, port managers, are extremely nice and helpful. Laundry and shower included. Right in the heart of historic Lunenburg. It has limited capacity, so book ahead. There is no fuel. |
| Carter’s Beach, NS | 43°54.543’N 64°48.921’W | This anchorage is offshore from a white sandy beach with clear water. |
| Shelburne, NS | Shelburne Harbour Yacht Club | This small marina offers limited docking and has secure mooring balls and a dinghy dock. The staff are friendly, there’s a bar, kitchen, laundry and showers, all recently renovated. Diesel and water available. |
| Cape Negro Island, NS | 43°31.230’N 65°21.696’W | An island with wild sheep roaming it. A good stopover on the way to Yarmouth. |
| Yarmouth, NS | Killam Brothers Marina | A surprisingly small marina for such an important crossroads for cruisers. The fuel dock is too small and inaccessible for sailboats. You need to fuel from jerrycans and replenish them by hand cart. 3 or 4 secure mooring balls are available. |
| Mink Island, ME | 44°36.938’N 67°17.145’W | To avoid an overnight crossing of the Bay of Fundy Crossing, Yarmouth to here is 70 miles, doable in a day, as apposed to Bar Harbor, which is 110 miles. This is a protected anchorage, BUT… took three tries to hold, and it’s full of lobster pots. |
| Bar Harbor, ME | 44°23.716’N 68°12.919’W | Anchorage in Frenchman Bay, just north of the Bar Island sandbar. Good holding. Easy access to downtown Bar Harbor (at high tide… need to go around Bar Island at low tide). |
| Southwest Harbor, ME | Dysart’s Great Harbor Marina | A no-nonsense marina that has everything you need. Mika, the dockmaster, is very kind and works hard to provide to boaters’ needs. There’s a West Marine in the complex, laundry, showers and it’s a short walk to town. |
| North Haven, ME | 44°08.110’N 68°51.460’W | North Haven is clogged with boats, but there are several coves nearby with good anchorage. This is Waterman’s Cover, just around the corner, with good holding and easy dinghy access to town. |
| Camden, ME | Camden Yacht Club | Camden Yacht Club has mooring balls in the outer harbor, and floating docks in the inner harbor. The floating docks are in the middle of the action, and easy row ashore, and in the heart of downtown Camden. |
| Rockland, ME | Rockland City Mooring | There are many mooring fields in Rockland, run by marinas, yacht clubs or the city. We picked up a city mooring ball (once we found it). They are all convenient to dinghy docks ashore. |
| Tenants Harbor, ME | 43°57.815’N 69°12.286’W | Tenants Harbor is a quiet fishing harbor that welcomes cruisers. Susan Miller runs several mooring balls (fluorescent yellow lobster buoys, marked “Cod End”, the previous owners). She rows out to your boat to collect the $25 fee. Alternatively there is anchoring just around the corner in Long Cove. |
| Port Clyde, ME | 43°31.531’N 69°15.731’W | Not as pleasant as Tenants Harbor, but nonetheless, a quaint harbor. The General Store rents mooring balls and they can be booked on Dockwa. |
| Boothbay Harbor, ME | Boothbay Harbor Marina | This award-winning marina is one of our favorites of the whole trip. So the Day 75 post for the reasons why. |
| Harpswell, ME | 43°45.556’N 70°0.255’W | This anchorage, halfway between Boothbay Harbor and Portland, offers good protection and holding in a quiet bay off of Harpswell Sound. And it’s not full of lobster traps or mooring balls. |
| Portland, ME | Fore Points Marina | Very well run marina with state of the art infrastructure a short walk from the Portland historical waterfront. It is, however, expensive. And you’re in the company of mega-yachts and even cruise ships docked just outside the marina. Private cabins for showers. The docks are littered with mussels, dropped by seagulls to crack them open. |