Ahoy, boaters! Welcome to yet another boating blog, this one focused mainly on small-craft cruising and boatbuilding on the canals and lakes of Ontario, Canada.

Many folks- like us- love the water, but have land-based commitments (you know, jobs and things like that) that prevent us from sailing off to the sunny south. That's OK- there are plenty of interesting places to cruise right here in Canada, many of which can be explored in a weekend (or perhaps a long weekend... or a week).

Our current flagship is Maverick V, a 1974 C&C 35 Mk.II sloop. She's supplemented by Sunset Chaser, a five-metre runabout designed by Phil Bolger and built by Matthew B. Marsh in 2001. In the shop is the prototype of the Marsh Design Starwind 860 power trimaran, which we are building to extend our cruising grounds.


On The Water

Photos, ramblings and the occasional bit of useful information from our voyages aboard the runabout Sunset Chaser and other small boats.

ARC fleet, some distractions from the approaching winter

Winter's approaching. It's cold, it's grey, and the sun is setting at five in the afternoon. Thanks to modern technological marvels, though, we can enjoy- remotely- a bit of the excitement of being out on the ocean. Yes, it's Atlantic Rally for Cruisers time again, and the fleet's been underway for five days now.

Cleaning up the docking paraphernalia

For a small boat, Sunset Chaser carries an awful lot of docking and mooring paraphernalia. Small boats are inherently much more vulnerable to storms than large ones, and get knocked around more by smaller waves, so our inventory shouldn't come as a surprise: four 4"x12" fenders, two 6"x15" fenders, seven 3/8" docklines (four 12', three 20'), plus of course the anchor, its rode, and assorted light cordage.

Raccoon defences

Raccoons are kind of cute... as long as they're not on board your boat, rummaging through your food bins. I've had them raid campsites before, but I think this is the first time we've been boarded by the clever little critters.

Raccoon at Chaffeys Locks

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