The easing of marina restrictions in Ontario is giving us hope

It was a beautiful spring weekend here in Ottawa.  In normal times, there is only one place you would have found us with weather like this landing on a weekend.  Yes, at Wild Horses, hard at work preparing her for the summer boating season.  Her cover would have been removed late last week and we would have completed a check for damage from the winter layover.  This past weekend would have had us elbow-deep in preparation for launch over the May long weekend.  Cleaning, waxing, painting, and running through commissioning checklists.  Sigh, music to my ears 😉.
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But not this year.  Restrictions in place to stop the spread of Covid-19 have us still dreaming of boat stuff instead of “doing” boat stuff.  We are buoyed, however, by the Ontario Government’s announcement that Marinas have been allowed to start operating as of today (May 4).  This doesn’t impact us directly but it does give us hope. 

What the announcement means is that boatyards that function as marinas can start setting up docks and facilities (gas, sewage pump out, water lines) and open up their parts and service activities.  This puts marina staff back at work (with physical distancing in place of course) and opens up the possibility of summer boating activities. 

Still, right now, all marinas remain closed to the public, which includes boat owners.

What does this mean for us? Not much right now.  Our boat is stored at a partial service marina.  They store and launch boats but they do not service them.  We will need to have access to our boat in order to prepare it for launch and, once launched, we also need someplace to go.  Since our summer dock is at a yacht club and not a marina, it is excluded from the current easement rules.  It is 100% closed.

​We are hopeful though! 

​Marinas are opening with their new “normal” in place and if all goes well, it will be likely that boat clubs like ours will be allowed to open and for boat owners to access their boats.  Wild Horses may be docked in the water this summer after all and Ocean can enjoy another morning coffee in the cockpit!