Roy Eaton has long love affair with the North Channel
Introduction by Rear Commodore/Port Captain Dee McClure
We look forward to welcoming new Port Captains in each issue of the Lifeline. Harbor Reports are the lifeblood of the organization. Recently, a new Harbor Report, NC-17.5 Eaton Cove, has been added for the North Channel. We are lucky to know the people whose name is attached to it.
The beautiful Eaton Cove sits directly behind Picnic Island and offers an opportunity to anchor in an area that is otherwise limited to marina dockage only. The cove happens to be in front of Roy and Margaret Eaton’s home. Because of all the good works and years of service they have provided to the North Channel community, it is informally known as Eaton Cove.
Roy requested and has been appointed as Port Captain for this harbor. We are fortunate to have Roy Eaton looking out for, and connecting us, in the North Channel. If you haven’t had an opportunity to meet Roy, he is presenting at the Toronto International Boat Show on January 17,18 and 19. Roy will also present his webinar on the North Channel and the Little Current Cruiser’s Net for the GLCCSchool on March 26. Learn more about Roy:
Roy and his wife, Margaret, sailed for 36 years before selling their boat, Mystic Loon, and
buying an RV. They sailed all of the Great Lakes and, the year after Roy retired as principal of Manitoulin Secondary School, they sailed from Little Current, Ont., on a nine-month adventure down the Intracoastal Waterway and across to the Abacos Islands, to spend four months wintering in the Bahamas.
Roy was the Commodore of the Little Current Yacht Club from its founding in 2003 through its first three years. He started broadcasting Little Current Cruiser’s Net in 2004 as one of the services the Yacht Club would offer North Channel boaters. Roy is known as the “Voice of the North Channel.” In 2025, he marked his 21st year as the Net Controller, broadcasting each morning at 9 a.m. during July and August, on VHF Channel 71 and simultaneously via Zoom.
The value of Roy’s connectivity to boaters is reflected in his being listed as a resource for the Canadian Coast Guard, Ontario Provincial Police and Air Search and Rescue.
Roy Eaton’s second career with Cruiser’s Net has turned the North Channel into an
area where boaters can stay informed, seek or offer help, and find new friends. And it’s
in good measure due to Roy’s decades-long commitment to boating broadcasting.
Roy’s dedication to the boating community has been widely recognized. He has received two national awards: the prestigious Governor General’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers, and the Canadian Safe Boating Council’s Volunteer of the Year. Roy is a lifetime member of America’s Great Loop Cruisers’ Association, and an honorary member of the GLCC and the Trailer/Sailors Association, among others. This is year, he received the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his quarter century of work with the Royal Canadian Legion.
Roy sums up the goal of his Cruiser’s Net’s: “You may come to the North Channel as a total stranger, but through the Cruiser’s Net, a community is formed and you are no longer a stranger. You may go into an anchorage not knowing anyone, and after Cruiser’s Net and the boater call-ins, you’ve heard who is in your anchorage and can introduce yourself to them as well as request assistance if needed. The motto is, Boaters Helping Boaters – that’s what it’s all about.”
He added, “Joining the GLCC has brought me a world of cruising facts which I didn’t know existed. Volunteering as a Port Captain will give me the opportunity to help others with the knowledge I have learned in our home ports along with meeting great members in the Club.”