In 2025 the Tall Ship St. Lawrence II will sail from one end of the great lakes to the other, from Kingston to duluth, on an exciting voyage that combines outdoor adventure programming, with an immersive cultural, heritage, community, and environmental focused project visiting ports throughout the great lakes region!
If this sounds like the sort of adventure that you’d like to be part of, we encourage you to apply!
TSEC is dedicated to enabling access for youth to our programs, and our low cost participant fees are a reflection of that dedication to access. If you are registering and are able to make an additional donation we would greatly appreciate the support! The actual cost to operate the program is roughly $350/pp/pd - the cost being offset by community donations and volunteer support.
Youth COURSES
Ages 13-18
2025 Schedule:
Sail # 1: Thunder Bay - Duluth - Apostle Islands - Duluth
july 4th - 10th 2025 - Ages 13 - 18
Heading to our first Tall Ship Challenge port of the 2025 season in Duluth, MN, you’ll get to experience some of the best sailing anywhere on earth. Lake Superior is a true inland sea, and offers a spectacular sailing experience, breathtaking scenery, and a myriad of wildlife.
Sailing to Duluth to clear customs into the US, turn back eastward and head to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin. The park boats amazing geological features, sandy beaches, and pristine wild areas for exploration. There is no better way to explore this region than aboard a Tall Ship - we carry two vessel equipped with outboard engines for shore expeditions, which allows us to explore many areas inaccessible by land.
This Course ends at the Tall Ship Festival in Duluth, MN at the western boundary of the Great Lakes!
Course Cost:
$1050, no tax
Sail # 2: Duluth - Isle royale - Thunder Bay
July 13th - 18th - Ages 13-18
Leaving the fun and excitement of Tall Ships Duluth behind, we’ll turn eastward to start the voyage back down the Great Lakes!
Enjoying world class sailing on this inland sea, while taking in the amazing seascapes and shorelines of the remote Minnesota lakeside on our way to Isle Royale.
The Isle Royale National Park is a world renown national park and wildlife preserve in the middle of Lake Superior, and one of the most pristine wilderness areas anywhere in North America. This is a special place that very few people will ever have the opportunity to visit and explore. The ship is outfitted with two boats to enable shore expeditions, allowing us to explore the remotest regions of this unblemished wilderness park.
We will finish this course in the Canadian city of Thunder Bay, where we will moor the ship after exploring The Sleeping Giant.
Course Cost:
$1050, no tax
sail #3: Thunder Bay - Lake Superior - Slate Islands - Sault Ste marie
July 20th - 31st - Ages 13-18
Departing Thunder Bay, we will head eastward along the remote Canadian shoreline of Lake Superior. This is some very remote shoreline, and is home to moose, black bears, and many other species of wildlife that call the northern lakes region home.
The nest planned stop will be the Slate Islands Provincial Park, one of the places wild Caribou are still found, having migrated over an ice bridge as recently as 1907. This archipelago has early Oneota and Iroquoian campsites, as well as mining and logging relics.
Depurating the Slate Islands, we’ll begin the long run south toward The Sault under a press of sail, passing Michipicoten Island, with a potential stop on the island at Quebec Harbour, we’ll sail onward into Whitefish Bay, finally arriving at our destination of Sault Ste. Marie - home to lovely bakeries, cafes, and museums - where we’ll spend our final evening reminiscing and relaxing.
Course Cost:
$1500, no tax
Sail #4: Sault Ste. Marie - MANITOULIN Island & The North Channel - Killarney - Fathom Five - Tobermory
August 2nd - 9th - Ages 13-18
Join us in Sault Ste. Marie for a very special voyage visiting some intriguing natural spaces, with long histories and ties to indigenous culture. Sailing down The Sault while doing hard sailing skills training, we will enter the north channel of Manitoulin Island.
Manitoulin Island, know in Ojibe as Spirit Island, is the largest freshwater island on earth, is home to a large Anishinaabe community, and is home to unblemished natural spaces, shorelines, and beaches. We will enjoy exploring this area, visiting Lake Topaz, Bridal Veil Falls, and the areas many anchorages for campfires.
After a stop in the former outport of Killarney - a village on a natural granite cut - we’ll head out onto northern Georgian Bay for some open water sailing on our way to Fathom Five marine Park and Tobermory. Taking our boats out we’ll visit snorkelling sites before entering Tobermory for our last evening alongside this gem of a village at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula.
Course Cost:
$1500, no tax
Sail #5: Tobermory - Fathom Five - Bruce Peninsula - Midland
August 11th - 15th - Ages 13 - 18
Welcoming you aboard in Tobermory, we’ll spend the first day learning the ropes and doing drills, before heading out to explore Fathom Five Marine Park, and snorkelling on some wrecks!
Leaving Fathom Five, we’ll head toward Wingfield Basin and the wreck of an old iron tugboat, before tuning south to begin our sail down Georgian Bay along the eastern shore of the Bruce Peninsula. This is a lovely area, with lots of villages, anchorages, bays, and rolling hills.
We will also visit the eastern side of the bay, and the Thirty Thousand Islands, a UNESCO biosphere reserve, and a region that was a crucial inspiration for Group of Seven landscape painters.
We end this course in the lee of Giant Tomb Island, as we make preparation to finish at Tall Ships Midland, a festival that is part of the 2025 Tall Ships Challenge series!
