The village of Baddeck is one of the Lakes’ most popular yachting centres, with resident boats filling the town’s protected basin, and visiting craft tying up at the government wharf of the Cape Breton Boat Yard docks. Boater’s services and facilities are available at the Baddeck Yacht Club.
The trip from Baddeck to St. Peter’s, at the southwest end of the Lakes, is a popular 1-day sail. The St. Peter’s Canal, at the end of the narrow St. Peter’s Inlet, provides pleasure boats and commercial crafts with safe passage to the Atlantic Ocean. The canal’s lock, designed for vessels up to 13.5 metres wide and 69 metres long (with mast heights up to 30 metres), has a water-level range of 1.5 metres. The St. Peter’s Lion’s Club Marina offers 20 slips for transient boaters, and extensive services, including a pump-out station. (Other Bras d’Or Lakes communities with marina facilities include Dundee, Orangedale, Grand Narrows, Iona and Baddeck.)

Bras d’Or Lakes Sailing Charters: Several Bras d’Or Lakes boating specialists, based in Baddeck and St. Peter’s, offer vacation sailboat, power boat and cabin cruiser charters. Skippers can be provided on request. Sailors will be asked to demonstrate seamanship and anchoring skills appropriate to the boat’s size.

Vintage Sailing on the Legendary Elsie: One of the Bras d’Or’s most beautiful yachts, custom-built in 1917 for the family of Alexander Graham Bell, has been restored and is now available for charter during the months of June – September. The Elsie sails from Baddeck with a professional captain and crew, offering luxury tours of the Bras d’O’rs historic harbours and coves. Short sails, picnic cruises and eco-adventure tours on the Elsie can also be arranged.

Bras d’Or Yacht Club Annual Regatta Week: This week-long sailing event, held each year in Baddeck during the first full week of August, features daily races and children’s dinghy racing programs.