Sailing Float

5 Sept

Life’s a breeze!

FLOATER’S BLOG: Lake Date, September 3rd 2025

I was privileged to be invited for a sail from of a marina along Toronto’s shoreline a couple of days ago.

Unfortunately the only floating happening here was being onboard this slick single hull craft and the ice cube chilling another passenger’s cocktail.

Unlike my recent cottage river float where I had idyllic floating conditions there was no prospect of reclining in an air filled tube in the open water of Lake Ontario, with an unknown current, strong wind and fairly large waves, without holding on to a tether from the sailboat. Knowing these conditions and not wanting to impose my wishes upon the rest of the folks on board I opted for just a swim. Even with the boat only drifting at 1.5 knots it would take a few strong strokes to get back within reach of the ladder, which I did after a short while. Then I spent a bit more time gliding along tugged behind the craft bouncing in the waves and chatting with the captain who had also opted for a plunge and was now holding onto a drag rope beside me.

No float, but still great to be out on the open water. It started as a calm sunny afternoon as we motored out of the inner harbour, before raising sails outside the eastern gap. The wind would gradually pick up to the point that seasoned sailors would remark on the chop. Our initial heading was south before turning northwest and then back east. During this last leg we made our plunge before eventually motoring to port through the western gap. At our furthest out we must have been close to halfway across Lake Ontario as we could make out the few towers that have been built at Niagara Falls some 30 km further south. Coming back to port we took in the marvelous Toronto skyline.