Grassroots Sailing School - Sailing School located at Cooks Bay Marina.
Grassroots Sailing School
Provides Sail Canada keel boat Courses for Adults :
- Intro to Boating/ Sailing - 3-4 hours
- Start keelboat Sailing course - 2 days
- Basic Cruising Standard - 4 days
05/10/2026
Grassroots Sailing will be back on the water soon and we are planning to offer Sail Canada courses on Lake Simcoe at Cooks Bay Marina.
Top popular courses we will offer from the Sail Canada curriculums for 2026 will be :
1. Intro to sailing / 3-4 hours
2. Start Keelboat Sailing / 2 days
3. Basic Cruising Standard / 4 days
You can start any of these courses separately or as a progression if you wish.
12/26/2020
Very sad news to share that our leader, mentor and friend Rick Butler passed away on Christmas Day after a long battle with cancer. There will be a small funeral for family only, and hopefully a larger celebration of his life later this year. May you have fair winds and following seas wherever you are, old friend, you will be truly missed.
10/18/2020
u4ric hauled out yesterday and put to bed for the year. All derigging and power washing done. Thanks to Annabelle, Troy, Clinton and Alain for coming out on a great day!
Had an adventure when we were transporting the boat back to the barn. We blew a wheel bearing on the trailer half way back to Bradford! Huge thanks to two fantastic local farmers - Ed and Walter, they helped us replace it on site!! Special thanks to Annabelle for running to Princess Auto to get parts. Lesson learned, take care of your trailer bearings - grease them regularly! And remember to pay it forward when someone does something really great for you!
The Perseid Meteor Shower is Approaching
Each year, the Perseid Meteor Shower with its many shooting stars returns to the night sky in August. This year, the shower is predicted to peak on the evening of August 12, but there should be good observing possible on adjacent nights as well. The deck of your boat in the middle of the bay is a perfect spot to watch. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, which is close to the more familiar Cassiopeia in the northeastern sky. Have fun!
07/31/2020
Dear Grassroots Sailors,
After long last, we are ready to sail!!
With help from Alain, Troy and Dmitry, we launched u4ric last week, and she is now rigged and ready to go. Same slip as last year -- B11 at Cooks Bay Marina. Since we have a shortened season, we decided to keep Waterbaby on land.
Check the google calendar for times available for mentoring and recreational sailing (link below). We currently have skippers set up to sail on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. If you want to book the boats for any other time, please contact me, and I will slot you in.
Remember our rules are that skippers need their Basic cruising and need to be skippered off to take out the boats. A minimum of one crew with SKS is required. Skippers with Intermediate level cruising are able to take the boats out themselves with no crew.
We have put in place new protocols for COVID-19, including sanitization of the boat, and wearing of masks when in close quarters. Please see attachments for a COVID waiver and safety protocols. Everyone will need to sign a COVID waiver before sailing. Waivers are on the boat.