 Check out the bookstore at IRBS.com |
|
|
|
|||||
|
||||||
From: David (no email)
Date: Tue Jul 17 2007 - 15:54:10 EDT
http://www.canadaeast.com/ce2/docroot/article.php?articleID=29747#
TORONTO (CP) - Nestled in a cove with a panoramic view of Toronto's
towering skyline, where $500,000 condominiums seem to shoot skyward on a
weekly basis, floats the tiny oasis that Ross and Valerie Browning call
home.
Although they pay $800 each month to live at the water's edge, their
home costs are a fraction of those of their condo-dwelling neighbours,
with twice the tranquility: melodic birdsong in the morning and a cool
Lake Ontario breeze at night.
There is, of course, a catch - the Brownings live year-round on a
double-masted, 12-metre sailboat christened Mystic I, where they share a
kinship and sense of mutual helpfulness with fellow boaters that's hard
to find in most modern communities.
"Most people, they can't even imagine people living on a boat," said
Valerie Browning, who - along with her husband and five-year-old cocker
spaniel Madison - traded in the keys to their north Toronto home more
than two years ago for life aboard their boat, known as a ketch.
"I think we're at the point in our life where we just thought we wanted
to do something different and I thought, 'You know, I don't think I need
to live in a house anymore. If we get a bigger boat, I could do this all
year round,' and that's what we do."
Seasonal sailors since the early 1980s, the Brownings currently make
their home at Toronto Island Marina, square in the shadow of the city's
downtown core and a short journey across the Toronto Inner Harbour.
When the weather turns cold, they are among some 45 boaters on
houseboats, power boats and sailboats who are brave enough to stick it
out - wintering at a marina on the other side of the harbour, huddled
inside a veritable cocoon of long johns and space heaters.
Outsiders might see it as a romantic fantasy they known only through
movies, books and the odd real-life tale of sunken treasure and long-ago
shipwrecks. But the Brownings say they love the lifestyle for its
everyday adventures and challenges.
While they enjoy electricity, water, phone, Internet and television,
Valerie sometimes longs for the simple pleasure of a hot bath instead of
her usual trudge to the marina for a shower - often easier than using
one of the two small "heads" on board.
Keeping the place warm in winter is a constant challenge; there are
nights when Valerie's husband wears earplugs to drown out the howling
wind. Making sure the space heaters don't start a fire and that the
water surrounding the boat doesn't freeze are also persistent worries.
"There's a lot of things you have to take care of if you want to be on
your boat full-time and of course if you want to go cruising," he said.
"It's a fabulous lifestyle, but you certainly have to do a lot of
preparation and be right on top of everything to do it safely."
Estimates suggest thousands of people live aboard their boats in the
warmer seasons in the Toronto area, with about 300 people doing so
year-round.
In British Columbia, live-aboard permits are a cherished possession. The
City of Vancouver issues just 47 permits between two marinas within the
downtown core. There's a five-to seven-year waiting list at one; the
other doesn't bother taking names.
"We get inquiries every day, I would say, for live-aboard moorage, but
we don't even keep a waiting list," said Danielle Brown of Coal Harbour
Marina. Only a couple of the live-aboards are actual sailors, she added.
"We wouldn't even be able to manage the amount of interest versus how
often it's available."
North Vancouver's Mosquito Creek Marina, which is located on Squamish
First Nations land and therefore not subject to city restrictions,
manages about 45 live-aboard tenants and has a waiting list of about 70.
Manager Donny Mekilok, who himself owns a float home at another marina,
says it's hugely popular along the West Coast.
"If there could be live-aboards everywhere, there would be," he said.
"Living on the water is just a completely different way of life. As soon
as you get on the ramp to the marina and close the gate behind, you're
in your own little city, kind of - your own little world."
Don Robinson, who operates a yachting equipment store in Halifax and
lives aboard his 10-metre sailboat for as many months as he can bear,
said he knows of only a small handful of Maritimers who live aboard
their vessels.
Being on the ocean means there are fewer concerns about keeping the
water from freezing around the hull, but he admits folks on the East
Coast have more to contend with weather-wise than boaters elsewhere in
Canada - hurricanes and far colder winters, for a start.
"The first winter I attempted to get as far as I could; I stayed until
mid-January with a wind chill of minus 27," he said. "It's just hard to
keep a boat tight with winds that are that cold."
The boating industry has changed over the years, and those close to it
suggest sailing is a bit of a dying art. Motorless floating homes and
spacious power boats have begun to dominate the live-aboard industry,
predominantly along the West Coast.
In the early 1980s, sailboats comprised some 80 per cent of the
industry, while power boats accounted for the remaining 20 per cent,
said Sandy Currie, executive director of the Canadian Marine
Manufacturers Association.
That paradigm has since shifted, he said.
"As much as sailing is still a very popular and a very significant part
of the industry, it's a much smaller section of the industry now than it
once was," Currie said.
Currie attributes the popularity of power boating to today's fast-paced
lifestyle and an apparent lack of patience for learning something new.
"I'm a sailor and I'll tell you the perception amongst an awful lot of
people is that sailing is complicated and time consuming," he said.
"People look at sailboats without any hands on experience and say, 'Wow,
that looks complicated. What can I do that's easier?"'
But there are encouraging signs for sailing's future.
As part of the Toronto-based trade show, about 800 free boat rides are
available to those who want to experience boating. The demand for a ride
on a sailboat always exceeds that for power, although that doesn't
typically lead to higher sales, Currie said.
Still, some suggest the ever-rising cost of gasoline and renewed
concerns about the environment could also revive interest in sailing.
"People are looking for alternative energies and sailing is a very green
sport," said Neil Gillespie, a long-time sailor and founder of Nautical
Escapes, a sail training program out of Bluffers Park Marina in
Scarborough, Ont.
Gillespie said he's also seeing a trend in Ontario among seasonal
boaters who are looking for larger, brand new boats as an alternative to
a cottage.
"You can get a good sized boat for what you can get a cottage for these
days, and you don't have to fight through traffic to get to it."
Gillespie, 34, spent five years living aboard both a sailboat and
floating home until last month, when he bought a house in the hopes of
starting a family. He said the bulk of live-aboards are retired couples,
younger singles and divorcees.
While some boat dwellers argue they are often misunderstood and unfairly
labelled as squatters who pay peanuts to live in tiny quarters on prime
land, most say the draw has far more to do with a love of water, the
great outdoors and adventure than frugality.
"There's some sort of romance to the idea of having everything in one
place and sort of converting your house into a vehicle and heading out
and going on an adventure," Gillespie said.
"Once you kind of get the water into your blood, you can't really get it
out."
___________________________________________________________________________
|| The Live-Aboard List : send a "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" request ||
|| in body of message to: ||
|