Lake Simcoe is known for treacherous storms when the wind picks up due to it's shallow nature. Conditions can become difficult within a span of just a half hour. If the weather is calling for a small craft warning, consider not going out at all unless properly equiped. Always check Environment Canada Warning before heading out.

Zones to be aware of:

Cooks Bay (near Big Bay Point): Long Shoal with its rock and 3' depths and lies 22.3 miles SSE of Big Bay Point offshore. It is marked by SS9 and SS11.
When travelling West from Crates Marina area (South of Keswick), beware of tall reeds about mid-lake. These appear from a distance as the Western shore and can catch the sailor off guard - very shallow very quickly. Boats drawing more than 3.5 should be careful .

2 shoal areas with shallow water which are Cedar Shoal marked by SS14 then The Ninth Shoal marked by SS12 which has a rock close inshore from the buoy.

North West Shore:

Near Oro, watch for Hawkstone Shoal marked by red (SS8) not far off the point. Hawkstone has a concrete public wharf having an elevation of 4', and length of 165', depth average around 3'.

South Shore:

If you wish to explore this area or visit Pefferlaw be sure be careful to stay far enough offshore to avoid McCrae Shoals a mile offshore between the communities of Cedarhurst Beach and Maple Beach roughly 2.5 miles south of Beavetown. THe shoal is marked by SV 3 and SV5 with 4' to 5' of depth.

Caution must be exercised when heading for Virginia Beach from either Beaverton or Pefferlaw in the half mile wide passage between Bald Point located on Georgina Island and Dulcos Point to the mainland. Bald shoal, marked by SV7 and SV9 divides the channel and in rough water conditions the shoal markers can be hard to see.

Rounding the outside of Georgina Islan - Big Shoal with 2' of water is off of Sawlog Point on the east shore of the island and identified by SG3 and SG5.

Sibbald Point Park - water surrounding the park docks is only 3'.

Contact us with any things you may have bumped into that are uncharted.

Visit cruising.ca for more information on navigation.