Chester Race Week. What more can a Galley Guy say? Lots of boats. Top notch race committee work. Full on competitive racing. Fantastic people. Too much wind. Not enough wind. Mega rain. Hot and steamy weather. Spectacular scenery. Fun parties. Lots of handshakes. Big-time hugs. And a non-stop supply of Goslings dark rum in a concoction called Dark & Stormies (note the use the plural form). Old friends. New friends. First-time stories. Stories that you may have heard once or twice before.

The Galley Guys have an idea, take out a sharpie and draw a big large circle on your calendar around October 10th, 2011, Thanksgiving Day. Consider this circle a waypoint for your boating season. Maybe even draw an arrow pointing to the circle as a statement that you are taking full measure of both the joy and beauty of your boat and the aboard companionship of friends and family.

Many of our friends consider the passing of Labour Day as the hard stop of the season and resign themselves to shutting down for the winter.

What is the etiquette for a potluck dinner? Should you bring a pot roast? Would fortune cookies bring luck? How about something more exotic? For example, a harpooned Canadian swordfish? Why not?

Under glorious sunny skies, led by club Commodore Peter Rourke and his wife, along with Cruising Commanders Eva Robinson and her partner Trevor McAlpine, 31 boats set out from the Port Credit Yacht Club for an enjoyable, but short cruise east to the islands of Toronto Harbour on a recent Friday afternoon.

On a really clear day, from my homeport of the Port Credit Yacht Club, you can just see Niagara-on-the-Lake, one of the most popular cruising destinations in Canada. The trip to Niagara takes about an hour by car or about five hours under sail, most of the time.

Niagara-on-the-Lake, the site of the first meeting of the leaders of Upper Canada beckons boaters of all stripes to cruise and enjoy the best that Lake Ontario has to offer as a cruising destination. The Galleys Guys began their voyage optimistically wanting to do a story on the Niagara Peninsula but came to a quick realization that their eyes were bigger than their stomachs.

We Shop And Stow, You Board And Go

It was a sunny mid-March Saturday in Vancouver.

Granville Island was crawling with locals provisioning their home galleys. The boatyard is crammed with boaters drawn by the breaking weather to remove the tarps, hit the hard and refresh the bottom paint in anticipation of the 8 months of boating to come. (Don’t forget, by March on the West Coast we have already cut our lawns 3 times and been to the beach twice!)

February in Vancouver is frustrating for this Toronto-based Galley Guy. There are boats bobbing in the water, but no place to go. At home, shrinkwrap removes any temptation to sneak out for a cruise even although it looks so easy to cast off the lines, hoist a chute and take a run down English Bay.

Bob Stevenson from Desolation Yacht Charters is planning to get his boats ready for action by late February and Marla from Cooper Boating is busily filling their charter schedule.