Pjila’si, Bienvenue, Fáilte, Welcome!

Welcome to Cruising‑Cape‑Breton.info: the essential, information resource. Whether you're a cruiser venturing to our island or a Cape Breton cruiser seeking new horizons, we have the up‑to‑date information you need. And it's all FREE! For many cruisers, Cape Breton Island is the Ultimate Cruising Destination.

Cruise Cape Breton: The Yachters’ Guide to the Bras d’Or LakesCalled "The Yachtsman's Guide" in early editions; changed to "The Yachters' Guide" for political correctness!ⓘ provided such information in book‑format. Published in 1974 and revised last in 1992, it's long out of print and surviving editions contain much misinformation. Later editions omitted several useful charts; chart and illustration quality was poor.

A lot has changed since Cruise Cape Breton was published; not only around the island but also in the way we communicate and navigate. Today, satellites and modern electronics let us navigate with precision. Change is continuous; it makes guidebooks out‑of‑date before they are published. Cruising-Cape-Breton.info is our answer. The ‘What's New Here’ column shows how we strive to keep up with changes and improve the information's accuracy, utility, and presentation. Read What Cruisers Say about this site.

newA Mira River chart for the area between Marion Bridge and Albert Bridge is now available. Check it out HERE.

PDF iconAlthough Internet access is often available while under way, in harbours and anchorages mobile phone signals may be weak or nonexistent. So, documents linked to, or provided on this website, including eBooks of charts, are downloadable in PDF‑format. Print them or store them on a laptop or tablet for use on board. Look for the PDF symbol, or visit Downloads for what you need.

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HELP! This website is a volunteer project that evolves to meet cruisers' needs. Keeping information up‑to‑date and relevant is important and time-consuming. Please contribute by providing suggestions, ideas, criticism, corrections, or additions. Or help by writing material for inclusion on this website. All input is welcome! You're all encouraged to take part. Your feedback is important. Contact Us!

This is a never‑ending project—check back for updates!

“Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” —Water Rat to Mole in The Wind in the Willows
“Then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet that you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” —Randy Komisar
“The lovely thing about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use.” —Dom Degnon
“Cruisers don't have plans, just intentions.”
 —David Skillings
“Some are weatherwise, some are otherwise.”
 —Benjamin Franklin
“Cruising has two pleasures. One is to go out in wider waters from a sheltered place. The other is to go into a sheltered place from wider waters.” —Howard Bloomfield
“I loved cruising the coast of Maine. For one thing, it helped me conquer my fear of fog. Not that I have learned to feel secure in the fog, but at least I have learned how to grope without panic.”
 —Herb Payson
“The ideal cruise requires a good yacht, pleasant company, and a strange coast with plenty of islands and rocks.”
 —Humphrey Barton
“The first rule for coastal cruising: start early; finish early.”
 —Anon
“Cruisers' plans are cast in Jell‑O.”
 —Anon
“We have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea—whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back from whence we came.”
 —JF Kennedy
“The planning stage of a cruise is often just as enjoyable as the voyage itself, letting one’s imagination loose on all kinds of possibilities. Yet translating dreams into reality means a lot of practical questions have to be answered.” —Jimmy Cornell
“I have travelled around the globe. I have seen the Canadian and American Rockies, the Andes, the Alps and the Highlands of Scotland, but for simple beauty, Cape Breton outrivals them all.”
 —Alexander Graham Bell
“A basin ringed by indigo hills laced with marble. Islands within a sea inside an island.” —Silver Donald Cameron
“The prudent mariner never relies on a single source of information.” —Captain James Cook, 1728-1779
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” —Mark Twain
“Don't paint your life in pastel shades; paint it in bright colours. You've only got this one life so make the most of it.”
 —Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
“Whenever your preparations for the sea are poor; the sea worms its way in and finds the problems” —Francis Stokes
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LATEST NEWS
As of 1 January 2021 printed versions of Chart 1: Symbols, Abbreviations and Terms and Canadian Tide and Current Tables will be permanently discontinued.
WHAT’S NEW HERE
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