Port Franks

Stodge

I'm working on plans for a Lake Huron trip for next year.  Right now I'm looking at Sarnia, Kincardine, Bayfield and Grand Bend.  I see that there are some marinas at Port Franks, but there is nothing on Active Captain about them. 

From what I can see in the Ports Guide for Lake Huron, there are a few things there.  Just looking at whether it's worth the stop.  Another option is to add Goderich to the mix.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Handymans342

Have you ever looked at marinas.com? Im sure you have

Willhound

Can't speak for Port Franks although I've heard about it. And although I've not visited Goderich by boat I am familiar with it. A nice little downtown close to the waterfront with shops/bars/restaurants. Worth some more research I think at least.

Stodge

@Handymans342 Yes but my preference has been Active Captain for a while now due to the reviews etc.

@Willhound we spent the night at the Goderich marina.  It does have a nice downtown area. 

I'll have to have a get-together with the folks planing to come with us and get their $0.02.  But if I was going to pick today it would be Goderich.  I was looking at Port Franks mostly because I hadn't been there yet.

Willhound

There is a Canadian tv show called Powerboat Television. Website here
http://www.powerboattv.com
I think it was on one of their episodes that there was something on Port Franks. 
I think the episodes are also available on line.

Stodge

I'll take a look.  Thanks Will.

raybo3

Down load the DockWa app. It list all the marina's and you can book dockage through it......

RWBLACK6

STODGE;  Have been to every port town on the Lake Huron Canadian side many times. But always skipped Port Franks. A friend that visited said the inlet was narrow and dockage not that good. but that was years ago. We always enjoyed Goderich. Very unique downtown with 8 streets  in an octagon. Most homes in the city have beutifull landscaped yards. they have walking tour guides we have followed.

Wildstyle

@Stodge - We dock at Port Franks every year for the season actually. And now that I'm a Rinker owner just recently, we're looking forward to enjoying the new boat there for next year. 

It's a little tighter coming in than most ports, but just stay within the buoys and you're fine. If you go outside of them you'll hit sand and bottom out. 

As for staying the night or a marina, Seven Winds Marina is where you want to be. There aren't many options but that's where we are at and it's the best I think. They're also the only ones who have fuel if you need. Port Franks is cottage country, so there's no shopping or anything to do. But you can come and check out Chicken Island which is a sand beach right when you come in. Everyone hangs out there if the water conditions aren't ideal. Or you could do a river run which takes about 1 hour before you can't go any further. 

Any questions just get in touch!

Dan

Dream_Inn

@wildstyle - this is what this forum is all about!  great help for the members here!

Stodge

Thanks @Wildstyle and @RWBLACK6 for the input.  I'm going to have a get-together to discuss our trip with the others who are going.  We're planning to stop in Sarnia first for Lobster-Fest, then up the Bruce to Kincardine, then down the coast.  Thinking of spending 2 nights in most of the ports except Bayfield just because they don't really have much to see/do.  

We stayed in Goderich on our trip this past August.  It is a nice little town.  

Plenty of time to plan since we won't be going until next July.

Wildstyle

@Stodge I'd be interested to know how/where to start when you're planning this trip. We have yet to do a trip on the water and it sounds like you're knowledgeable in looking things up (such as lobster fest!). It would be cool to have some sort of resource that would allow one to know the attractions. Any advice there?

We really want to head up to the North Channel next year; but not necessarily the same trip. 

Stodge

I used Active Captain to research marinas and http://www.boatinggeorgianbay.com/channel.html to get some insight into ancorages.  I also used the Navionics Web based chart.  You can use it to auto route from point A to point B and get distances.  I used Garmin Home Port to pre-draw routes too.

While on our trip I was shown (and then bought) The Ports Guide to Lake Huron: http://www.portsbooks.com/georgian-bay-the-north-channel-lake-huron/  This is a wealth of helpful information.  Although it's aimed at sailboats, nearly all the information in it was usable by power boaters.

I consulted the Ports Guide for our upcoming trip to Kincardine and will use it again when looking at trips to Georgian Bay.