Our home port is Toronto, Canada, on Lake Ontario. Here we are aboard our self-built Classic 37, Two-Step, sailing past the CN Tower, one of the tallest freestanding structures in the world - and a significant landmark when you're cruising the Great Lakes!


We have cruised south to the Bahamas from Toronto twice. Our first trip south began in September 1989 and was the beginning of a 3-year, 20,000-mile Atlantic Circle which we completed in August 1992. Our next trip south from Toronto was in September 1994 and the boat hasn't been back in Canada since. Both times, we traveled south via the inland waterway route - from Lake Ontario through the Erie Canal to New York, then the Intra Coastal Waterway to Florida. 

Photo 3 - Two-Step anchored in Cobourg

From Toronto, we like to begin by travelling eastbound along the north shore of Lake Ontario to the town of Cobourg where we anchor for the night. There is also an excellent marina in Cobourg if you prefer to be at a dock. The waterfront is lovely with parks, a beach, and stores within walking distance.

Cobourg is a good place to catch your breath after the hectic preparations of departure and it's an easy sail across the lake to Oswego where you enter the New York Canal System. In 1989, we did an overnight sail direct from Toronto across Lake Ontario to Oswego but were so tired (and still frazzled) when we arrived, that the jobs of clearing customs and lowering the mast for the canal trip were more stressful than they needed to be. Now we take things easy on the first few days of a long voyage so we're in good spirits for the adventures that lie ahead. It's part of our "Keep it Fun" policy.