It’s easy to forget how lucky we are in Toronto.
I live a few miles north of Lake Ontario and often weeks go by without my seeing one of the world’s largest lakes. And then I get down there on a perfect night in late spring and admire the light on the water and the brilliant white sailboats bobbing along and the feeling of sun on my face, and I look at the shoreline and say to myself, “I wish I owned a place right over there.”
That’s probably not going to happen, and I’m probably never going to own my own boat. But who needs the hassle of boat ownership when you can let the folks at Mariposa Cruises take care of the details for you? And at a VERY reasonable price.
Cruising Toronto Harbour with Mariposa Cruises. JIM BYERS PHOTO
We had a great, two-hour Sip and Sail ride last Thursday night on the Oriole, a 76-foot beauty with polished wood and brass, plush upholstery and a solid, turn-of-the-century style feel to it. There’s a nice indoor area but on a night like we had it was strictly outside for us.
We pulled away from Harbourfront Centre (the boat docks near the foot of York Street, making it easy to get to on public transit or by car) and spent a few minutes puttering around the harbour and watching small planes come in for a landing at Billy Bishop Toronto Island Airport. The sun was glinting off the city’s growing skyline with a mix of sun and cloud that was perfect for an amateur photographer.
A Mariposa Cruise trip around the Toronto Islands is a marvellous way to spend an evening in the city. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Pretty soon we were out of the harbour and cruising the channels around the western end of the Toronto Islands, one of the most remarkable and charming features of our city that I try to get out and enjoy at least once a summer.
The Oriole took us into the channel that separates Hanlan’s Point from Muggs island, home of the Island Yacht Club. It’s a beautiful part of the city, and once you get past the yacht club it’s almost as if you were up in Algonquin Park or some other place hundreds of miles from civilization.
We cruised up towards Gibraltar Point and the Lighthouse and then slowly made our way back. From there it was part way out the Western Gap towards Ontario Place, and then back to the dock at Harbourfront.
The Oriole is one of several ships in the Mariposa Cruises’ fleet. JIM BYERS PHOTO
We’d already had dinner, but they had several items you could order for a meal or a snack, including chips and salsa, bruschetta and mussels with white wine and roasted garlic, a half-pound for a very reasonable $12. Drinks also are quite fairly priced, with beers and house liquor servings set at $7.30. (By contrast, I went to the Blue Jays game on Saturday and paid $13 for a tall boy of beer.) A cold Corona with lime on a boat on a warm night in June is pretty close to heaven, if you ask me.
They had music playing on most of the trip, but it was reasonably quiet up front when we were cruising around the Toronto Islands. Later my wife and I went to the main seating area and chatted with some folks from Scotland who were in town for a wedding. The music got turned up at that point, and a group of young people gathered in a circle on the top deck and bid anyone who wanted to show off their moves to come in and join the fun. One young fellow, in particular, was outstanding, and it was a joy to watch.
A group shot aboard The Oriole on our Mariposa Cruises trip around Toronto Harbour. JIM BYERS PHOTO
You could go to a sporting event and perhaps pay $100 or more for a seat and get a dud. Tickets for the sip and sail are just $24 plus HST and you pretty much know you’ll be getting a great ride, with peaceful waters, a lovely boat, good drinks and a beautiful city to admire.
The Mariposa folks have a fleet of ships (we passed one, Showboat, during our cruise on the Oriole) and a wide variety of cruises to choose from, including lunch cruises, dinner trips, student trips, wedding cruises (wouldn’t that be a great way to celebrate?) and private charters.
