ECC East Coast Boat Cruise, Toronto, ON

Tonight Gord and I went on the ECC East Coast Boat Cruise.  It was the second annual boat cruise and it was in support of Chrysalis House (Youth in Transition) in New Brunswick.

East Coast Connected (ECC) is a social, philanthropic, and investment hub.

Major economic centres like Toronto and Ottawa are home to thousands of “ex-pat” Atlantic Canadians. These people have left the East Coast to advance their careers, to pursue secondary education opportunities, to honour family commitments, or to encounter different cultural experiences than they can find in their home provinces. They never lose their love for the Atlantic region.

East Coast Connected believes that Atlantic Canadians who have moved away are still, at heart, Atlantic Canadians. More than that, we believe that they are still a valuable resource for their home provinces – whether you’re talking about investment opportunities or fundraising for your former local charity, this diverse group of people is full of passion and goodwill.

Since 2007, East Coast Connected has been a forum for discussion, dialogue, networking, and informal mentoring. We aim to take advantage of the momentum generated since our inception. How? By channelling the energy of our members into doing good work, and by reaffirming our role as a key professional networking hub for Atlantic Canadians.

I'm originally from Nova Scotia and this is the second event we've done with them.

The cruise was on the Stella Borealis.  Early bird tickets were just $25 (then it was $35).  There were apparently about 250 tickets sold.

Boarding started at 7:30pm and we got there about 7:40pm.  It was great to see the flags from the Atlantic provinces hanging off the side of the boat!

Late night pizza was to be served ... but it was actually served right away (we had supper at The Fox so passed).

People were friendly and we had a nice chat with Tracy as we were waiting to head out.

And we're off!  We were supposed to leave the dock at 8pm but left at 8:30pm.  We headed west and cityline was pretty with the lights and the setting sun.

The CNE

The CNE

The Cinesphere at Ontario Place

When we got just a bit west of Ontario Place, we stopped.

The skyline looked gorgeous!

There was a DJ playing mostly dance tunes along with some occasional east coast tunes (like Great Big Sea, the Rankins, Stan Rogers, etc.).  People were having fun and dancing on the upper deck with the roof pulled back.

This guy was pouring shots of Grey Goose in people's mouths

Wearing the Nova Scotia flag as a cape

Wearing the Newfoundland flag as a cape

A selfy of me and Gord!

It was a fun time ... there were lots of friendly people!  It was a great night to be on the water.  I can't wait for the next event!

It would have been nice if we could have done more sailing around rather than just parking in the same spot for 3.5 hours.  Plus from boarding at 7:30pm to docking at 1am, most were on the boat for 5.5 hours (great value for $25!) ... but it was a long long time.  It would have been better if we'd docked earlier (we heard others grumbling about it).  Given the length of time on the boat, there were quite a few hammered people which could have proved dangerous given we were on a boat.