Canada - Links
Tourism Links:
Cruising and Yachting Associations:
- Bluewater Cruising Association
http://www.bluewatercruising.org
Offshore cruising club based in Vancouver that holds club nights in Vancouver, Calgary, Victoria, and Nanaimo, focusing on training and educating cruisers for bluewater voyages. - British Colombia Sailing Assocation
https://bcsailing.bc.ca/ - British Colombia Nautical Residents Association
https://bcnr.org/
Founded in 2010 by a group of liveaboard boaters to encourage responsible living aboard and to find solutions to issues faced by people who live on the water.
Sailing Links:
- Canadian Sailing Directions – free download
- Boaters Blue Pages – Marinas and Boating Services in British Columbia
This website has an extensive listing of marinas and boating services throughout the Pacific Northwest. - https://thenorthwestpassage.info/
Everything you need to know about navigating the NW Passage, including transit statistics, routes, ice charts and links to weather and ice resources. - Boat-Ed – https://www.boat-ed.com/
Boat safety education materials. - Useful VHF channel info. for Canada.
Cruising Articles:
Atlantic to Great Lakes – Choosing your Great Loop route – The Waterway Guide looks at the planning for this route.
Noonsite Introduction to the Intracoastal Waterway and the Great Loop
The Intracoastal Waterway surrounds the entire eastern and southern seaboard of the United States. Combined with major inland rivers and canals, it is possible to take a circular route from Florida to the Great Lakes and back to Florida, circumnavigating the eastern half of the United States entirely by water: this is known as the Great Loop. This report is an introduction for foreign cruisers who may not be familiar with procedures.
Canada: Cruising the Coast of British Columbia
Canadian Sailor JJ Holcman shares years of experience cruising this coastline with useful pilotage notes, local boating tips, a round-up of the best places to visit, and a wealth of weather and navigation links.
British Colombia: Wildlife Encounters
Barb Peck & Bjarne Hansen cruised the summer of 2023 from their home port in Esquimalt Harbour to the area around the Broughton Archipelago on board their Niagara ’35 “Hoku Pa’a”. Here they share the variety of wildlife they encountered along the way.
Sailing to Alaska
Seattle to Alaska and back, and everything in between. Three months, 4000 miles. Derek Hillen and his young family undertook this trip during the Summer of 2013 and his article is wonderful reading for anyone considering this trip.
Six and a half weeks sailing around Newfoundland – Summer 2015 (Bluewater Cruising)
The Wild Coast of Quebec – February 2016 (Cruising World)
A cruising family discovers the remote islands of Northeastern Quebec and navigates the rocky coastline.
Sailing to Mexico from the Pacific Northwest (Bluewater Cruising)
Cruisers Blogs:
- http://oceanecho1.blogspot.com/
Lots of great info. if planning on cruising the west coast of British Colombia, by s/v Ocean Echo 1. - https://www.coastapus.com/
A blog dedicated to sailing on the west coast of British Columbia. The authors have been cruising the area for 10 years and with countless places to explore by sailboat, their blog shares destinations, anchorages, events, and general ideas for spending time on your sailboat in BC. - Cruising Notes on the Coast of Labrador
Collected by Pete and Annie Hill (1997) and Annie Hill and Trevor Robertson (2002). - Northwest Passage 2015
Family cruising boat, SY Salty, left Massachusetts USA in May of 2015 and arrived in Nome, Alaska four months later.
Other Links:
Marine Wildlife Viewing Regulations: Canada
This guide provides information about how far you need to be from marine mammals when viewing them in Canada. It also outlines illegal actions including, swimming or interacting with a marine mammal; moving a marine mammal (or enticing/causing it to move); separating a marine mammal from its group, or going between it and a calf.
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Country Navigation
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Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
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Buy Now On YachtFlags.comFormalities
Courtesy Flag Discounts
YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
YachtFlags.com offers a discount to Noonsite members.
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Note – CANADA has some very specific and different VHF channels and you will need to be sure your VHF radio can access them.
Example: Channel 21B, and 83B provide Continuous Marine Broadcast (CMB) service (in English)
Most VHFs can switch between USA/International and Canada (check your manual). For more specific details check out this helpful site: https://www.boat-ed.com/canada/studyGuide/VHF-Marine-Radio-Channels/101199_116029/
Link to Waterways guide / Lakes loop is not working
This should do it.. https://www.waterwayguide.com/knowledge-center/news-post/3895/Choosing-your-Great-Loop-route-Atlantic-to-Great-Lakes,
As of early June, Canada Border Services has placed a temporary hold on Shelburne, Nova Scotia as a port of entry
The latest information we have (as of 9 June, 2020) is that Newfoundland has closed its borders indefinitely including for citizens of Canada. See https://www.noonsite.com/place/canada/formalities#biosecurity-section for updates.
Quebec City marina
The best advice is to contact the Canadian Reporting station and ensure that your passports are properly stamped on departure and to have all your official boat papers (including insurance) in order. The USA Customs & Border Protection (CBP) service does not normally issue a zarpe for boats leaving their shores and, conversely, does not appear to expect one on those arriving either.
I have a British-flagged vessel and will be leaving Canada for the US in May. I can find no reference anywhere on Transport Canada, or elsewhere, of ‘outbound clearance’ requirements. I am familiar with the entry requirements for the US… Is there a zarpe or equivalent, in order to leave Canada?
Regarding pepper spray: bear spray is fine. There is a size limitation and it to be designed for use with bears (it’s all in the labelling).