LITTLE CURRENT—The Port of Little Current played host to the very first Great Lakes Cruising Club (GLCC) Rendezvous nearly 60 years ago. The GLCC was supposed to hold their bi-annual gathering in Little Current just as the pandemic hit, leading to a considerable delay in returning. Although the club had hoped to come to Little Current in 2024, the stars did not align, but that worked out rather well. This year the GLCC plans to make up for it arriving July 13 to 16, 2025.
“We pointed out to the club organizers that next year would be the 60th anniversary of the rendezvous taking place and it would be fitting that it be held in Little Current, as the first one was held here,” said co-organizer Debby Turner of Little Current. She, along with husband Jib Turner and Manitoulin Cruiser’s Net host Roy Eaton have been tagged with setting up the logistics of the visit.
“We are anticipating that there will be anywhere from around 80 to 150 boats,” she noted. “The last time, in 2008, there were close to 300 people at the dinner. When the GLCC Rendezvous is held in the Port of Little Current and the North Channel, everybody wants to come.”
While the GLCC started out with a limited membership of around 200, today there are over 2,500 registered members and the club provides the most accurate and up-to-date assessments of the Great Lake ports, including those of Manitoulin and the North Shore.
Little Current and the Turner family have deep roots in the boating community and were central to the creation and expansion of the club, as the GLCC website notes: “To the Canadian government, too much credit cannot be given. Arch (Gibson, founder), through his friend Grant (Barney) Turner at Little Current, Ontario, was put in touch with key people in important departments. In the name of the club, he was able to obtain not only some very helpful improvements in several areas—including new aids to navigation—but, in addition, the government did a considerable amount of aerial charting of some very attractive spots for the Log Book to feature. Many of these places were not at that time surveyed for navigation.”
The late Dr. Jack Bailey also served as the GLCC’s honourary fleet surgeon until his passing in 2015.
Space shouldn’t be that much of an issue according to Ms. Turner.
“People can remember when boats would raft out from the docks two or three deep,” she recalled. “Boaters are a very tight community and will go to great lengths to help each other out.”
