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The Cat Days of Summer

Aug 28, 2025

This issue includes both dogs (PFD) and cats (superstitions) so I took some liberties with the well-worn August dog-day weather cliché.

However, there truly is a lot of cat and dog action in the boating word currently. At least in the GTA, PWCs are creating quite a stir as bootleg rental companies are circumventing safety to extract large hourly rates renting jet skis to anyone with $150 regardless of whether they have even a teeny knowledge of boating.  This has ticked off legit, careful PWC owners who want to enjoy their craft during the hot summer days. And, this has really aggravated other boaters as well as beach users who are hounding local government to ban them.  The whole issue was yet further inflamed when a fatal rental jet ski drowning this weekend drew even more attention to the brawl. So far, the dogs are still running free but it looks like animal control is on the way and will round up everyone including the conscientious operators.

In other cat and dog news, US destinations are pitching like mad for Canadian boaters to visit and they largely are staying home. That’s a shame for both species because cruising to the USA was once fun while currently a lot of US events including festivals and regattas are not getting much participation from north of the border.

Although we’re not here to discuss politics, it’s tough to escape these days as the tariff and sovereignty fur flies. The big dog appears to be chasing his tail rather than sharing the ball, which is affecting boat imports, prices, tourism and boat picnic salads.  In the meme-driven sphere we find ourselves in, it looks like we are the cool cats.

And by the way, the boating season has enjoyed some pretty great weather.

John Morris, Online Editor

Photo by Adobe Stock

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