The following comments are…

The following comments are from a weekend sailor with a sailboat kept at a Midland-area marina on Georgian Bay.

As a preliminary note, most sailing vessels over 19' in length are equipped for overnight accommodation, and would be considered as "liveaboards" under the proposed new regulation, although the thought of living aboard a vessel that small is laughable.

Adoption of this proposal will immediately lead to serious safety concerns for any slow-moving boaters (i.e. sailors) in Georgian Bay contemplating an overnight or multi-day trip. The vast majority of the bays and protected channels providing shelter from the wind and waves also have cottages on each shore - at least in Southeastern Georgian Bay - and most sheltered bays and channels are less than 600 metres wide. The lawsuits against the province will begin mounting up as boaters are driven onto the rocks because they were denied access to shelter due to this regulation and were forced to anchor in open water. In a similar vein, the environmental fallout could also be considerable - ruptured fuel and greywater tanks, oil spills, etc. Marinas are clustered around Midland and Parry Sound, but there are no facilities between, and fewer facilities as the boater proceeds north - northwest.

There will also be a chilling effect on tourism; Georgian Bay is world-renowned as a sailing destination, and is an integral part of the "Great Loop", a well-planned circumnavigation of the eastern U.S. and part of Canada via mostly protected inland waterways.

This will have a deleterious effect on marinas and the recreational marine industry in the Great Lakes, as these exist solely to service recreational boaters who plan their weekends on the water to include overnight anchorages.

As an alternative, I would suggest reducing the planned 300 metre prohibition to a more-reasonable 30 metres. This will provide sufficient stand-off room for cottagers to access their properties and docks by water and to enjoy swimming and fishing from their shorelines, while still allowing recreational vessels shelter from the high winds and high waves that are a constant on the Great Lakes.

Thank you.