Ontonagon, Lake Superior

A useful passage harbour if heading along the south eastern shore of Lake Superior , conveniently placed about half way between the Apostle Islands and the Keweenaw Waterway. Although the charts show the depths between the 2 breakwater walls as 12 ft, we found at least 5m depth (2016) in the outer channel and 3-5m once inside the river. The entrance to the marina is silted up and impassable to yachts drawing 2.0m or more. For those who think they may be able to squeeze in the marina, the deepest water lies on the south side of the entrance channel as close to the green entrance mark as you can get. The bottom is very soft mud so no harm will come from an exploratory foray into the entrance channel to see whether it is deep enough.

For those that cannot get into the marina basin, it is possible too moor alongside the inner sides of either the northern or southern breakwater walls in 4-5m of water. It is not the most pleasant of locations but perfectly adequate if seeking shelter from bad weather in the lake. Alternatively in south westerly winds it is possible to anchor outside the harbour just to the east of the northern break water wall in the apex between the wall and the shore in 3-5m of water. Some swell gets in from the lake but otherwise it is reasonably sheltered.

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