Lake Ontario, ON

My Watermark is the Kingston Waterfront of Lake Ontario.

My most powerful memory of the Kingston Waterfront was when I acted as a 'guide boat.'

For several years I acted as a 'guide boat' for a friend, who in her 60's had decided to do the Kingston Triathlon. She had been training in a pool, but needed experience swimming the lake. But her visual impairment made her quickly disoriented, so she asked me to paddle beside her. I said 'sure!' having never paddled on the big lake.

Our first outing began on a sunny July afternoon at Breakwater Park. The waves were huge! It was all I could do to keep my canoe upright! I had a great time, but it wasn't all that helpful. After that, we met in the mornings, and I used a kayak.

On Triathlon days I would rise early and ride my bike to Catwright Point to borrow a kayak, paddle the calm beauty of the lake past Cedar Island and RMC into the harbour. There, I would wait while the Island Belle took the triathlon swimmers out to the starting point. At the horn, swimmers leapt into the water. I would escort my friend along, chatting and encouraging, letting her know where we were. Once she was out and on her bike, I would paddle away. It was lovely.

The Kingston waterfront is important to me because it is why I live in Kingston. We swim, we paddle, we sail, we skate, we walk, we cycle, we picnic. The water is everything to us!