ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

“It’s like a washing machine. You get hit by all kinds of waves on all sides,� van der Zande says.

She and her sister — who was once toppled into Lake Ontario by strong competing wakes while kayaking — now stick to early morning and weekday jaunts.

“We’ve seen an uptick in people wanting to sail and we’re also seeing more party yachts,� says George Chenery, a certified sailing instructor at the St. James Town Sailing Club.

Earlier this summer, two motorboats anchored in an area marked off by buoys for sailing lessons. Chenery politely approached them to ask the captains if they could park elsewhere — sailboats have the absolute right-of-way on the water while under sail.

One courteously left. The other refused. Police were called.

“It turned into a bit of a thing,� Chenery says.

The Wild West on the waterfront

Traffic in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s harbour first boomed during COVID, and has continued since, as residents sought outdoor recreational options that allow for natural social distancing, investing in kayaks and paddleboards, speedboats and jet skis, and dinghies.

“I think what we’ve seen a lot is during COVID, people couldn’t travel. So I think there was a lot more time to explore what you can do in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½,â€� Chenery says.

Post-COVID, being on the lake has become a popular alternative for people who don’t want to join the traffic choking the highways to cottage country.

On a typical weekend the harbour teems with watercraft, operated by people whose knowledge of Lake Ontario and skill at handling their craft is, to say the least, varied.

The boom is resulting in conflicts on the water between people who like the thrill of engines and those who prefer the peace that paddling or wind in a sail can bring. It has also put people with rudimentary boating skills and little knowledge of the perils of Lake Ontario in danger, at times with tragic results.

“Since COVID, there’s many more new boaters, who don’t know the laws,� says veteran TPS Marine Unit Const. Grant Forest, from behind the wheel of a 32-foot Zodiac, powered by two Mercury 300 horsepower outboard motors, that sliced easily through the waters of Lake Ontario on a recent weekday.

The marine unit, with 27 constables and 10 divers, patrols ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s waters 24-7, ticketing speeders, conducting and assisting search-and-rescue operations, and educating the public about water safety, and the rules and regulations in the harbour. Calls for service are on the rise.

“I would say, during COVID, it kind of became the Wild West out there,� Forest says.

A booming harbour isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s good for business, and Dave Corrigan, owner of the Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre, likes that it means more people are enjoying the waterfront.

“The problem isn’t the number of water taxis, it’s not the number of recreation boats or motorboats, it’s just that a lot of them don’t follow the speed limit out there,� Corrigan says.

The speed limit within 150 metres of any shoreline or breakwater in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ harbour is five knots, which is about 10 km/h, and 10 knots, or just under 20 km/h, elsewhere in both the inner and outer harbours.

The local Business Improvement Association is also lobbying for more, not fewer, options on the water, and research from the agency overseeing local development has predicted even more traffic is on the way.

“If we want to be a world-class destination waterfront, then you’re going to have to offer premium ways that people can get on the water,� says Tim Kocur, executive director of the Waterfront BIA.

The many dangers of Lake Ontario

The problem is, many novice boaters and paddlers either don’t know the laws, or they don’t know the particular dangers of Lake Ontario, which is more inland-ocean than lake-in-the-Kawarthas.

Last year it was five paddleboarders who were swept eight kilometres from Woodbine Beach into open waters by a north wind.

Paddlers who rent at Cherry Beach and get caught by a north wind blowing off the land get stopped by the Leslie Spit. The marine unit often responds to calls there. But there’s nothing between Woodbine Beach and the far shores of Lake Ontario, says Marine Unit Const. Stacy Kellough.

When the marine unit finally located the paddlers, they were kneeling on their boards, screaming, nearly hypothermic, in metre-high waves.

“They were in extreme danger,� Kellough says.

“Whenever there’s a north wind, I’m prepared for a major lake search.�

Earlier this year, a man died of hypothermia after falling into Lake Ontario while trying to rescue his girlfriend, who had fallen off the back of the jet ski he was driving, Forest says. The woman was found first and survived. By the time the man was located, it was too late to save him.

The water in Lake Ontario is so cold, even in summer, that it can drown a person in less than a minute, by triggering involuntary gasping that can result in aspirating water. Within minutes, blood flow to the extremities is constricted, making swimming difficult, then impossible. In such conditions, a life-jacket could save your life, by keeping your head above water longer than you can yourself.

In 2020, a marine-use strategy report by Waterfront ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, the tri-partite agency charged with overseeing development on the city’s shoreline, predicted an imminent increase in all forms of recreational boating on the lake around ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, including power boating, sailing, canoeing, kayaking and rowing.

Even before COVID, the study found that almost all local marinas had already been operating at 100 per cent capacity for years with a one-to-two-year waiting list for new members.

It predicted an increase in ferry ridership, cruise ships, and increased traffic from Great Lakes tour boats, chartered boats and personal watercrafts.

Figures from the city reveal more people than ever are trying to get to the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Islands — ferries carried 1,349,778 passengers across the inner harbour in 2022, up from 1,278,505 in 2019, before the pandemic.

The report also found the safety ladders alongside certain areas of the dockwalls were in poor condition, making it difficult for people who tumble in to climb out.

A spokesperson for Waterfront ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ says a joint marine co-ordination committee has been formed, including four different agencies with responsibility for the harbour, and a request for proposals has been issued to study an enhanced public marine transportation network.

Tony Farebrother, chair of the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Island Community Association, says the harbour has become much busier, and more dangerous, especially with the number of water taxis in the harbour.

“It is less safe for recreational users, especially standup paddleboats, kayaks and canoes, with having fast water taxis running back and forth,� Farebrother says.

Islander Kathleen McDonnell sees it differently.

“The water taxis have been saving the island ferry service’s bacon since the pandemic,� McDonnell says. “When things get really busy on weekends, the water taxis are invaluable in handling the overflow.�

Bureaucracy on the lake

ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s harbour has become the busiest in Canada, says Ron Jenkins, secretary of Waterfront for All and a sailor at the National Yacht Club.

The speed regulations for the inner harbour are often exceeded, Jenkins says, citing water taxis and jet skiers as frequent offenders.

Anyone behind the wheel of a power boat in the harbour needs a Canadian Pleasure Craft Operator’s Permit (PCOP), and a separate ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ harbour licence, administered by the Port Authority, to operate a power vehicle between Humber Bay and the Eastern Beaches.

“It’s a little unusual. When you drive from Mississauga to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, you don’t need a separate drivers’ licence. But when you go into the port and harbour of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, you are supposed to have both a PCOC and a ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Harbour Licence,â€� says Jenkins, adding that he doubts everyone in the harbour have both licences.

“There isn’t anything to trigger the knowledge that they even need it,� Jenkins says.

“It’s supposed to be a regulated world, but it’s less than regulated, really.�

There’s a yacht-sized loophole to the licensing requirements.

If the jet ski or boat is rented from a company registered with Transport Canada and a Transport Canada rental “check list� is completed, the person renting the boat is not required to hold a PCOC or the Power Vessel Operator’s Permit (PVOP).

The safety checklist includes information on boat operation, safety rules, local hazards and what to do in an emergency, and a completed rental boat safety checklist is considered proof of competency.

Essentially, in these circumstances, no licence or prior experience is required. This is an issue when it comes to jet ski rentals in particular.

“We’re finding a lot of problems with that obviously, because you have people who don’t even have a PCOC who are on a rocket in the water, basically,� Forest says. “Those things go 60-70 miles an hour.�

Forest cited an accident in which one jet skier accidentally killed a friend who was also jet-skiing, when he tried to create a wake of water to dislodge his friend from a seawall, where he had become stuck.

Jenkins thinks another problem is the bewildering array of organizations overseeing development, activities, and enforcement in the harbour. They include: PortsÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Police Services, Transport Canada, the City of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) department, Harbourfront Centre, Waterfront ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, CreateTO, the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and Region Conservation Authority and ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½â€™s Waterfront Secretariat.

Even sorting out who owns what part of the seawall presents challenges. PortsÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ owns 17 per cent of the dock walls in the harbour. The remaining walls belong to different entities, including the City of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, Waterfront ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, CreateTO and Harbourfront Centre.

To pick up and drop off passengers on the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Islands, water taxis must have a permit from the city’s parks and recreation department. But they have to find dock wall owners on the mainland who will allow them to set up on their properties. PortsÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, for example, has two water taxi operators on its property.

According to the City of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, there are currently five water taxi operators in all, with 43 boats combined.

More enforcement not ‘a bad thing’

Jenkins, of the yacht club, says he routinely sees people breaking the rules, including the occasional boat puttering through the exclusion zones around Billy Bishop airport, meant to keep the masts of sailing ships away from the underbelly of airplanes taking off and landing.

“I think that it wouldn’t be a bad thing for there to be a little bit more enforcement … in the inner harbour,� Jenkins says.

The marine unit has a lot of water to cover. In addition to policing Lake Ontario from Etobicoke Creek to the Rouge River and 13 nautical miles to the U.S. border, the marine unit is responsible for all waterways in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, including the Humber River, and the Don River. They’re responsible for searching local rivers, creeks and ponds, including Grenadier Pond. They have been called on to provide transport for human organs from Hamilton to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ hospitals.

The unit’s 10 divers are tasked with finding evidence flung into the water, and the bodies of people who have drowned or been murdered.

“I’ve been involved in homicide cases where the victim was encased in a concrete barrel and others where it’s just accidental drowning,� says TPS diver Sgt. Sean Griffiths.

Griffiths often finds himself at the bottom of the harbour among the carp, where visibility is zero or close to it, sweeping the lake bed with his hands, in search of guns or knives.

Chenery, the sailing instructor, says that overall, most people are reasonable, and most matters easily settled. The motorboat that wouldn’t pull up anchor until police intervened was an exception.

“It’s more of an ignorance of what’s OK,� he says.

Jenkins agrees more education is needed, in particular when it comes to the dangers of boating in a busy area on one of the Great Lakes.

“The big lake is not like a little lake.�