yyzboater

AUGUST 2021 - Excellent docks and facilities kept to the highest standard of repair and cleanliness. Possibly the most modern and well designed facility on Lake Ontario. The only negative is the closest fuel dock facility is outside the marina and up river and in an awkward location for a larger (65++ ft plus and beamy) vessel. In summer 2020 the fuel dock was largely blocked with water level booms making it virtually inaccessible.

July 2020: Took over vessel here that was in transit from Fort Lauderdale to Toronto. Stayed two days while provisioning. Accommodated any boat of 65+’ LOA and 18’ beam at wall dock. People are friendly. Docks are well maintained. Staff is well trained and local boaters kind and friendly. It was a Great place to start a 1400 nm journey. It is a long way to grocery stores and other supplies as this is outside the city core.

July 2020 - In transit from East Coast to Toronto and was looking for a marina that could accommodated 65++ feet. They shoe horned us onto the end of the first west pointing tee dock as you enter the channel toward the fuel dock. Tight fit. Just enough water. A safe and well serviced dock. Pay attention to your charts and sounder on the approach. Facility is nice and rests solidly in the mid-market of Thousand Island marinas. Management and staff were very accommodating. Two thumbs up!

July 2020 - Now Crate’s Marina Belleville. A work in progress the new management is very helpful. The facility has limited space for a 65++ ft LOA vessel but if they can make the space they will and that is much appreciated. We tucked in here for a night on a transit from Nova Scotia to Toronto while avoiding a series of violent thunder storms. The dock staff were very friendly and helpful and Ryan Crate is a friend to boaters.

September 2020 brief visit. Private Marina for members only and their guests. Restaurant is nice and higher end. Docks are not very sheltered from the passing boat traffic so even a large vessel gets bumped around. Docks are well maintained but NO dock staff (because of Covid staff reductions??) to provide assistance. In fact, didn’t see a dock hand at all which is odd for this caliber of facility. Land facilities are beautiful. This place needs a customer service crash course and with that it would be a first class facility. It is world class physical facilities being staffed by people with little or no front line customer service for the affluent users of this facility. It’s very odd that way. Almost inexplicable. The stars are for the architects and investors who funded it.

July 2020 in Transit from Halifax to Toronto and stopped here for the night. Cornwall Marina is municipal. The facilities are clean and well maintained. At 65++’ LOA we arrived late in the evening (9 pm) and they let us stay at the dock immediately adjacent to the fuel dock (we were leaving early in the morning). Marina residents, staff and management were all very friendly and helpful. A cab ride into town for us dinner in a COVID restricted patio. It’s a bit of a drive but the taxi service was very friendly and had helpful suggestions. This is a nice stop if for no other reason then the people are very nice!

July 2020 in transit from East Coast to Toronto. Wow. This is a world class facility with very helpful staff located close to the old port area of Quebec City. Running through the short tidal lock is fun and a memorable experience. It’s a must stop destination and a great marina facility.

July 2020. Docked overnight. Docks are floating so good for tidal zones. Can accommodate fairly large vessels (over 65+’ LOA). Power is reliable 50 amp. It is a very long walk to restaurants. Food and hardware stores are closer. Friendly people but not crowded at all.

My vessel requires more than 65+ feet of dock and more than 6 feet of water. The wall here was perfect though exposed a bit to the wakes of passing boats. The marina is clean and well staffed. Abbey is great to work with. It is very close to the Main Street in Clayton. Overall excellent.

Keenan manages this marine very well. It is not weedy. The docks are well maintained. Power supply is adequate. It is proximate to a few good restaurants. Fuel prices are fair and relatively low. It is a great stop even for a vessel larger then 65 feet. They really know how to take care of boaters.

1. Docks are Great 2. No Staff to help you dock. Understaffed for dock hands and people to clean the docks generally. It might be a budget issue but the rates and full occupancy suggest otherwise 3. Goose poop stays on the unoccupied docks for the entire summer. 4. The mix of boating community is some long term boaters combined with some new very inexperienced boaters. Lots of bad habits here like excessive wakes, drunk boaters/guests, excessive music from boats at docks and some pretty rude newbies. 5. Management runs a good storage facility but needs to get out on the docks and be more present. They could learn from Whitby were senior management is ever present. 6. Marina is in the middle of nowhere for transients. 7. The core long term “residents” are fantastic. What they need: - More visible management to the residents. Get out on the docks folks and talk to your customers. - Clear rules that are enforced. - Security with some authority and a backbone. - Warn then evict bad boaters quicker. - Paint some lines on the parking and enforce the fire lanes, no parking zones and no “tailgating” in parking lots. This place needs management to take a reset and be truly present to the boater residents (not the day boaters renting from Freedom Boats). The Toronto Port Authority charges a lot and boaters do not have enough to show for it. Smarten up folks at the TPA BOD

Visited in Late August of 2020 once the Marina opened to transients under COVID restrictions. Docks are in disrepair and you need to keep your wits about you when walking on them if you want to stay dry. The City of Kingston is not spending here and should be a little embarrassed. Gas docks are at the sister Marina in Portsmouth miles away. Staff are relatively inexperienced but kind and try hard. They meet you and help with dockage which is a big help in the constant 20 knot wind that blows here. You can not beat the location relative to the downtown core of Kingston but for the rates charged and the density of the Marina they could invest some CapEx in reinvigorating this marina. Good breakwaters make this a safe dockage even in the most blustery day. Proximity to provisions is excellent. Advice to Kingston: stop relying on the Marina location and look at the infrastructure and service being delivered in the municipal Trent Port Marina in the Quinte West. They put you to shame. See https://www.quintewest.ca/en/marina/Trent-Port-Marina.asp UPDATE TO THE ABOVE REVIEW AUGUST 2022 : City of Kingston is finally investing in repairs and upkeep and it is showing in the power supply and the condition of the docks. It is still expensive but given the cap-ex and the location and staffing its probably worth it. I did not see it being used heavily which suggests they have reached a tipping point in transient rates and people are finding alternative dockage.

If you are over 65’ this is the only show in town. Power can be a challenge but Craig, the Marina Manager, works hard to make things work. Sackets is a great stop on the US side of Lake Ontario. Good restaurants. A quaint town and nice people make it a terrific stop. Did I say Craig was great? He is. Chaumont Bay, just north of Sackets is a nice day anchorage close by.

Needs a little cap-ex to justify the transient price but its a good safe harbour. Everything is a cab ride or tender ride away. The staff are VERY HELPFUL. Nice people and a nice boating community. Fun to visit. Port Dalhousie has lost the old “bar and restaurant vibe” as the land has been developed for condos. That’s a shame as it was a fun place to visit. It’s a bit sleepy now. They would be four to five star if they dealt with the severe weeding. Docking here is hard because your strainers and thrusters get fouled with weeds. Time to put some effort into culling the weeds. It’s a hazard and an inconvenience.

Helpful staff. Good Fuel Prices. Nice though basic restaurant. Slips on both sides of the harbour. Better location then port Pier Marina around the corner.

New marina with solid infrastructures but its in the middle of nowhere. It’s a cab ride to most shopping and all but a couple of restaurants. It’s a good waypoint to break upon the journey between the Western and Eastern end of Lake Ontario.

Well maintained Marina with an inexperienced but helpful staff. The location is great - proximate to the downtown main shopping street and restaurants. Deep water, adequate power supply and a safe harbour behind a solid break wall. All in all worth a visit.

Rustic marina that has seen better days but you can’t beat the surrounding area. Charles the former manager has retired and Joe is running the marina now. Joe works hard and is helpful. Power supply remains i“challenged” if you draw heavy. Potable water is at the fuel dock. Great sunsets. Friendly boating community.

September 2020. Closed. Dilapidated retaining walls. Silting. Not safe. The Town of Port Hope has abandoned all hope of this ever being resurrected. Shameful.

September 2020 stopped here for fuel. State of the art facility with a very well trained and friendly staff and newish docks in good repair. This is one of the best Marina facilities in the Thousand Islands and includes strong mechanical service performance. Congrats to ownership and management for showing the rest of the Thousand island Marinas what it takes to be top of the heap on the customer service front. They should run training courses. Regrettably no transients but annual boaters must be happy.

Right next door to these docks (to the east 500 feet) but not listed on this website is the excellent facility operated by SilverFox. Great food. Great Docks. Great People.

Commercial but in a pinch when you have mechanical difficulties the young harbour master was VERY HELPFUL. Fuel is delivered here by truck and the fuel truck and Dockmaster know the routine... very efficient.

Not for pleasure craft unless you like rust, proprietary fishing vessels and a ferry captain who has hit boats in 2020.

July 2020: Under Construction and not permitted so not open at the time. It looks like it will be very nice but being closed makes it impossible to rank.

July 2020. You can not beat the location proximate to the Old Port of Montreal. The marina is excellently appointed with good dockage and reliable power and water. Fuel is a different story. We ordered a fuel truck to the dock (no proximate facilities). We had to move the vessel to the Western Concrete wall to meet the truck. It is a “rough” wall. Thankfully after the mystery of how to get the truck into the marina was solved (marina staff had no idea) we took on 3000 litres of fuel and headed off up river to Cornwall. It is a great facility and Montreal is a great city!

Very Limited transient capacity and nothing over 65 feet. Great town. Looks like a nice Marina but slips are very scarce.

Stopped briefly for fuel. Took on 2000 litres, emptying their tank in the process. Staff were friendly and helpful. In South South Westerly wind the Marina Channel is choppy with some backwash off the break wall so take care in a chop. The fuel dock is large and solid. This Marina is run down like its sister municipal marina, Confederation Basin. Clearly Kingston is having some financial stress or does not prioritize servicing the boating community. That’s pretty short sighted. We spend a $$$. Trenton port Marina is a shining example of how a municipality can service the community. Kingston could learn from them. A City as regionally important as Kingston can do a far better job. This decline has been happening for years. they need a management reset.