Toronto Boat Show

I went to the Toronto Boat Show with a couple of friends this past weekend.  I couldn’t walk so far or so well so I was focussed on what I wanted to see.   

• Solar Panel system
• Ports Book for Ontario
• Liferafts
• Limited lookabout

I’ve gotten a Starlink, a couple of laptops and all rechargeable lighting and other tools.  I’m also preparing to spend more time away from shore power and anchored out away from docks.  This suggests that my 190W solar panel from 2007 needs to be upsized.   I’ve decided to shop for an 800W system which hopefully will fit on the current arch.  I’d take the current solar panel off and replace it with 2 rigid panels.  I’m unable to measure the current arch for fit but I hope I can use it as is.  Otherwise there’ll be some welding/bolting to do.

This implies a bigger MPPT and may demand more or bigger batteries.   I’m not sure I’m ready to go to lithium yet but my 4 6 volt golf cart batteries may not hold enough charge.  I haven’t done the inventory of usage yet.  Before all this I acquired a 1000 amp inverter to replace the current 300 amp inverter and this tempts me to use bigger 110v power than ever.  I’m not sure that’s a good idea, but there it is.

The back up system, in case house batteries discharge, Is the 95amp alternator on the motor and starting batteries and windlass batteries to start it.  

So I’m shopping for a larger, entire solar system.   

Toronto is on Lake Ontario, far from the ocean.  I should not have been surprised that there were lots of dinghy sales booths but I did not see a single life raft company at a Toronto boat show.  But I was.   I’ll have to google life raft companies and spend the time on my butt reaching out to them. 

The big win for me was the new edition of the Lake Ontario Ports book.  It came out this month and lists every port on Lake Ontario:  descriptions of each club and marina with information on getting there, phone numbers, repair shops, and town essentials.   I happily bought it and over a beer, checked out the places I’d been in 2022 and brought back memories.  I am planning to cruise the hell out of Lake Ontario this year before heading south and this is the ultimate planning guide for me.

I remember in the 1990s sailing my 24’ Shark in company with another Shark (Lady Carol’s Aquarius) from Kingston to Niagara on the Lake.  

These Sharks had a compass and nothing else, but Lake Ontario is fairly easy to navigate.  If you are on the west end, you can take a sighting on the CN Tower in Toronto.  If you are on the East end, follow the shoreline.   There aren’t many rocks and one Shark sailor (Miss you Bo) used to sail up to the shore and ask anyone mowing their lake shore lawn which way to go.  

Carol had the official chart of Lake Ontario and I had the Ports book.  I’d follow her to the entrance and she would follow me into the harbour. 

What did I learn during that trip on Sharks from Kingston?  Drunken olives are made by draining a jar of olives and pouring in vodka to replace the olive juice.  Place in bow in the morning and it is ready for consumption when you dock in the evening.   And a few other things.

As I was walking through the many large retail booths a thought struck me. While I liked looking at the shiny new things, I didn’t really need any of them. Cambio is very well equipped. So I looked harder for something to buy and really didn’t find anything. I need some bib sailing pants but that was it. This realization made me feel rather good for the state of Cambio’s inventory for this spring.