The Real Millennium Dragon







Millennium Dragon is a sailboat, a Contessa 32. She is of British design, built to take just about anything the sea can throw at her.


She was built in Toronto by Taylor, under license from Jeremy Rogers in Britain, in 1989, then shipped to Maple Bay, where she stayed until 1992.


I bought her in BC and brought her back to Toronto, where I lived at the time. There I raced (long distance) and cruised her on Lake Ontario, visiting the Thousand Islands, Niagara on the Lake, the 'western' Ports, the 'eastern' Ports such as Kingston, anchored many times at Toronto Island and behind Leslie Spit and visited many, many other Lake Ontario harbours, both in the US and Canada .


In 1997 I sailed her as part of a flotilla of 75 boats of all sizes and shapes from Toronto, Ontario, to Bonavista, Newfoundland. It was an epic journey of five chilly weeks down the St. Lawrence, across to Magdalen Islands and onto the south coast of Newfoundland, around Cape Race and up the East Coast to Bonavista. Dodging icebergs was the least of the challenges. We braved everything from storms to fogs and broken down gear. However, we were rewarded daily for our hardships by having the opportunity to be hosted by the most loving, hospitable and warm people on the entire North American continent - the Newfoundlanders. They have lived off the sea for generations, and Newfoundland has never been one of the places where the dollar rules everything in life, there just aren't too many dollars to play with. The people still live all the basic values, we allegedly all subscribe to. But - in times of need, the Newfoundlander comes through with all he has to give to help and comfort.


The flotilla commemorated the 500th anniversary of Giovanni Caboto's landing his vessel Matthew in NFL. He had crossed the Atlantic during May 1497 under atrocious conditions and is said to have shouted 'oh buena vista' when he finally glimpsed land on the 21. June of the same year and 'discovered' North America once again. Cabot went to school with Christopher Columbus, but he worked for the English Crown, who wanted a slice of the action across the ocean in the New Found Lande.


Eric the Red had already made camp there much earlier in the year 1000, up at the north end of Newfoundland, at Anse de Meadows...but John Cabot (as he is known in English) was not aware of that historic event.

I wrote "the book" about this journey, a wild and crazy undertaking for all the captains and crews who took part in it. The title is 'The Millennium Arrives'. It was published and is still for sale.




In 2000, Millennium Dragon went again to British Columbia. She was moored in Maple Bay again. I sailed the Gulf Islands, a year later Desolation Sound, and then the Broughton Archipelago. This year - who knows. The little red boat may just head 'up north' again. She is being single-handed.