The Liveaboard Life - Lynn's Sailing Biography

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I’ve always enjoyed being on the water – something I got from my father’s side.
I first got my feet wet, and then the rest of me, while canoeing with him. An introduction to sailing came at cottages and summer camps.

My adult sailing life picked up when I met Ken. At his insistence, I got my Toronto Harbour and VHF licenses before I was qualified to solo on “Shortwave”.

I decided that I needed to know more, so took the Canadian Power & Sail Squadrons’ Boating course. Piloting, Weather, Extended Cruising and Instructional Techniques have since followed that. Volunteering with the Toronto Squadron in various capacities has been an excellent source of many other valuable skills.

I have crewed on many short cruises but unfortunately have not had the opportunity to see as much of Georgian Bay as I would have liked. Some of the best skills that I have picked up from cruising on a small sailboat might be provisioning and stowing! This was never more evident than when I managed to pack our life into a 6-metre sailboat for the Toronto to Kingston trip.

I would like to give a brief explanation for our choice of sailboat – a Niagara 35 Mk I.

I stand 6’2”, Ken is 6’, so standing headroom is rather important to us! We also like the interior layout of the Mk I – there isn’t a V-berth (it’s for storage) and the mid-ships galley and head are in what I consider to be a better location. I have never figured out the reason for having the head forward in the bounciest part of the boat.

Mark Ellis designed the N35 Mk I as a coastal cruiser, and she can be single handed from the cockpit – changing tack doesn’t require waking the crew! I’ve seen better liveaboard layouts, but this is a means to an end, and after all, Silverheels III is home.