EDITOR’S NOTE: Manitoulin is being transformed with the influx of new residents and business owners who bring with them fresh ideas, experiences and perspectives that are enriching the area. Some individuals and families are still unpacking boxes, having only moved in the past month or two, while others made the move over the last few years and are now comfortably established in their new communities. Here are some of their stories.
With its laid-back lifestyle and camo-chic fashion sense, the Island might seem the last place on earth you would expect to find anyone accustomed to living alongside the world’s jetsetters and beautiful people cruising on super yachts anchored in places like Mallorca or Greek and Caribbean islands. But then, newcomers to Manitoulin are full of fascinating and surprising stories.
A case in point is Donna and Colin Clay-Marshall, she of the twinkly green eyes and impish laugh who steps in as a cashier during rush periods at Foodland in Mindemoya when she is not the store’s file manager; and he, one of the team on the Island installing high speed internet and cable TV as a fibre-optic splicer for Poirier Technical Solutions.
Both Donna and Colin are a long way from their birthplaces in Essex and London, England where they lived what must feel like a lifetime ago given their lifetime of adventures. Colin was trained as an electrician, an occupation he pursued until he and Donna met through mutual friends 35 years ago. At the time, she was at university pursuing a geology degree with the intention of becoming a teacher.
The pair quickly discovered they shared a passion for sailing. Colin so much so that he attained yacht master’s credentials. A Yacht Master is a highly skilled professional responsible for the safe operation and overall management of a yacht. Putting those skills to the test, in 1997 the duo packed up for a year with plans to return to England so Donna could complete university while continuing to travel and sail. They never returned home, however. Instead, they did a long-term detour that provided them with experiences worthy of a feature film.
In 1996, the family of five (mom, dad and three children) sailed on a 36 foot Benneteau sailboat from England to France, then down the Atlantic coast to Portugal, through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean. The sailed to the South of France, Tunisia, Morocco, Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Malta, Greece, Turkey and finally made a stop in Barcelona, Spain before planning to cross the Atlantic to the US. They ended up staying in Barcelona for 17 years where they bought a house and launched new careers. Both started working on private super yachts, working for celebrities such as Sir John Paul Getty, Tommy Hilfiger and Ramon Abromovich.
The family had their own suites on these massive vessels during the summer and winter seasons when the ships were at sea and lived a relatively normal family life, with Donna homeschooling the kids. Their two older daughters eventually went off to boarding school, but their younger son spent his school days learning about the world around him aboard luxury yachts.
Donna was the first to become land based, teaching English as a second language while she raised their children and cared for her ill mom who had joined them in Spain. Colin began working for a yacht refinishing company in Palma Mallorca, just across the strait from Barcelona, where he moved up to the level of general manager. After Donna’s mom’s passing, Colin moved to the US where he worked in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale for a company that had bought out a yacht refinishing company. It was his job to ensure the takeover went smoothly.
The family’s travels took them to a variety of exotic destinations, including the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt where Donna took up a volunteer position teaching English as a second language to members of a local Bedouin tribe. The job came with her own Camel whom she named Rupert. Meanwhile, Colin achieved his dive master and Nitrox diving certification, diving in some of the world’s most dangerous sites including the Blue Hole in Dahab, depending on where the ships were moored. When they were not somewhere on the Mediterranean during the summer months or in the Caribbean during the winter, the yachts would be in drydock for retrofitting. The family spent the shoulder seasons at their home in Barcelona where Donna would pick up her teaching gig again.
As impressive as their superyacht years may sound, Colin says his greatest thrill was serving as captain of the very famous yacht, the Black Knight, until taking her back to her home port in Fort Lauderdale where she still serves as the committee boat for the America’s cup
One of their daughters eventually moved to Canada where she married and now lives with her husband in Woodbridge. That led Donna and Colin to visit Canada frequently and, before long, they concluded it was time to set down roots themselves again. In 2010, they made Canada their new home as well. They initially lived in Woodbridge before moving to Newmarket. Once they got permanent residence status, Colin worked for an electrical company while Donna was employed by a repossession company.
In addition to being a yacht master, Colin is also a dive master and was encouraged by friends to make a trip to Tobermory as it’s such a great place to explore shipwrecks. When they saw the Chi-Cheemaun ferry and asked where it went, their love of sailing and adventure kicked in again. On one of the last crossings to Manitoulin in the fall of 2020, they made their first trip to the Island and stayed at the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre in Little Current.
Smitten by what they saw, Donna and Colin stayed an additional day, went into overdrive in search of a house, and made an offer on their now home in Kagawong all before returning to the city after the long weekend. The couple had to wait two long weeks to find out if their offer was accepted, since someone else was ahead of them in bidding on the property but that deal fell through.
“We went away for a weekend and left with a new house,” laughs Donna. “And we were back in no time. We had to give two weeks’ notice at our jobs down south, but we packed up and moved up by the end of the month.”
Before they even had a chance to unpack, Colin was head-hunted for a position installing fibre optic cable, a skill that capitalizes on his training and experience as an electrician, for the company that won the Manitoulin contract to do the work. Donna continued to work remotely for her former employer when they first arrived but, extrovert that she is, found it to be too lonely and isolating so applied for a job at Foodland.
A keen fisherman, Colin has enjoyed the chance to do some serious fishing since making the move. Even prior to living on Manitoulin he was profiled on the TV show, Fishing Canada, for his prowess at fishing big carp while living in Spain and for landing a 163-pound catfish on the River Ebro in Spain and a carp over 53 pounds on Lake Cassien in France.
“This is my place of rest,” he says. “I’m definitely done travelling as we’ve found a very special spot and made a lot of friends, including our beautiful neighbours.”
Donna chimes in, “I don’t miss life on the high seas with the rich and beautiful set one bit. We’ve been there, done that! I absolutely love my boss, Carole Patterson, and my wonderful Foodland work colleagues and am so glad to be living here.”
Heather Marshall and her husband worked as journalists and consultants in the National Capital Region for more decades than they care to admit before making their Sandfield cottage their permanent home. A lifelong learner, Heather loves discovering new things and people and relishes the opportunity to write about newcomers to the Manitoulin. If you would like to share your story or know of recent arrivals we should meet, send a message to HAMarshall@proton.me
by Heather Marshall
