Solo Swims of Ontario Inc.

Approved Boaters List

SSO's guidelines for the boating-support on swims were designed to achieve safety when operating with volunteer, recreational boaters; however, not all aspirants are able to recruit volunteers.

Swimmers do have the option of hiring proven, professional, charter boats to support an SSO marathon swim.

There are a number of advantages to professional charter boats:

• The operator has previously shown expertise in managing the navigation and crews involved with a marathon swim.
• If booked early enough, support can generally be obtained for the chosen swim-days.
• Depending upon the charter service and the number of people in the aspirant's crew, SSO's basic 4-boat guideline may not be required.
• The SSO-approved boat-operator has proven experience in the safe management of a number of people on the boat, under a variety of weather conditions.

Costs for such Charter services can vary notably depending upon the required equipment (boats, inflatables, kyaks, etc.), and their transportation to a given venue (lake and course) from the charter's homebase.
The costs and arrangement of contract-details for such services are the duty of the swimmer.

To aid swimmers in the selection of such charter services, SSO initiated this listing of charter companies who have demonstrated expertise in the navigation and crew-management during one or more local marathon swims:

Name of Service	Contact	Comments
Christine Arsenault Located in St Catharines, Ontario???	Christine Arsenault Owner & Captain carsenault26@gmail.com	R&R, 39 foot twin-engine, Flybridge Carver boat. ?? years of boating support for swimmers including Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario. Noted for maintaining some of the straightest tracks for the swimmers. Christine has also crossed Lake Ontario herself (NOTL-MBP). '
Orange Force Marine HQ: Port Stanley, Lake Erie	Their Team: Derek Niles, Founder, President & Boat Captain Chris Onyschuk, Boat Captain 449 George Street Port Stanley ON N5L 0B1 info@orangeforcemarine.com (226) 376-0494	Transport Canada commercially licenced and insured provider of vessel services. Many years experience with RCMP and Canadian Coastguard, and fully familiar with regulatory requirements for operating crew and passengers in USA-Canada waters. 24-7 Commercial service. Supported successful Lake Erie crossing in 2022. Readily transportable by land to other lakes, including Lake Superior. Currently (Jan 2023), 3 boats available with different features: Orange Apex Erie Guardian Jet Boat Vigilant

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Created: 30^th January 2013
Last Updated: 22^nd January 2023