ASSINIBOIA — A self-proclaimed Saskatchewan farm boy has proved you’re never too old to dream big. It’s hard to believe that the first sailboat, built by former Assiniboia resident, John Lemond, in 1988, sailed its first voyage at Willows Dam, south of Assiniboia.
That early start ignited a passion for sailing that has resulted in a bigger boat and the open ocean to sail on.
Lemond tells the Assiniboia Times and SASKTODAY.ca how his love of sailing began.
“Growing up in the prairies of Saskatchewan and specifically in the town of Assiniboia, the sight of water and sailing was not something that comes to mind other than perhaps a sea of wheat. However, I was always drawn to water and to self-propelled boats.”
As a kid, Lemond said he would always dam up the run off as it was making its way to storm drains and when the ditch behind their house turned to a small river, he would spend hours building dams and floating boats down the streams, setting the stage for his passion for sailing and the adventures it would bring.
Like any great dreamer, trial and error was part of the process as Lemond says he would create a rickety raft to attempt to propel across the small slough in the prairie behind their house, without falling in or getting a boot full of water.
A childhood trip to see relatives in Esquimalt, B.C., brought the Assiniboia youngster up close and personal with the Esquimalt Navy shipyard and a nearby marina.
“I remember walking down the ramp and along the pontoon. I found a small sailboat with a couple sitting in the cockpit, having a drink and some snacks. I was likely just staring at the scene in front of me in total amazement. They looked up and said, ‘Hello, would you like to come aboard and have a look at our boat?’ Well, I had just won the lottery, and said, ‘Yes, would I ever!’ They showed me the forward cabin where they slept, the head (bathroom) and galley where they cooked their meals and so on. I had so many questions. That was the highlight of the vacation for me. Little did they know what an impact and lasting memory that friendly couple had made on me.”
Lemond says in his early 20s, he took up canoeing after moving to Saskatoon. Some trips, including multi-day excursions down the South Saskatchewan River deepened his love of boating on the water.
An article in Popular Mechanics detailed how to build a 12-foot, two-person sailing dinghy. Lemond says he loves to build things and more importantly, it was a sailboat, adding the magical appeal of what started him on his lifelong sailing journey.
The former Assiniboia resident says he hauled all the supplies back to Assiniboia from Saskatoon and turned his parents’ garage into a boat-building shed. His parents, at first, didn’t share his enthusiasm. And, as word started to get around, and Lemond saying the extreme dry heat had him work with the garage door open, curious onlookers would drive by to see what the silly sailboat idea was all about.
“I remember seeing Dr Gallet’s small Hobie cat sailboat on Willows Dam and thought that if it is good enough for him to sail on, then it is the perfect place for my launch. My mother said I should have my brother-in-law, Lyle Hanna, as my first mate, as he had saved two swimmers’ lives, so if things went badly and I needed saving, he was the guy to have on board,” affirms the Saskatchewan sailor.
Construction of Lemond's sailboat in his parents' garage in July 1988.
The maiden voyage, although it experienced some launch challenges, was deemed a success. Lemond says he was even able to take some spectators out for a sail that day.
Launching the first sailboat on Willows Dam with his father watching.
Being a Saskatchewan dam, there was some mud involved.
Sailing on Willows Dam.
Lyle Hannah and John Lemond returning from the successful voyage.
It was many years before Lemond experienced sailing on the grander scale as he had always hoped, with career and children came into the picture, delaying the dream, but only for a short while. Lemond revitalized his early sailboat and began by joining the Cooking Lake Sailing Club just outside of Sherwood Park. It involved racing boats around marks every other weekend in summer. The dream of owning a sailboat much like the one visited in Esquimalt was still prominent.
“After relocating to Mission, B.C. in 2000 from Edmonton, I signed up for some proper sailing lessons at the Jericho Sailing Centre in Vancouver to improve my sailing skills and see where things would go. Being surrounded by beautiful sailboats everywhere you look was too much for me to take. It was now time to graduate from dinghy sailing to larger keelboats, and I signed up for a cruise and learn course to learn to sail larger sailboats,” said Lemond.
“The following year, I made another highly questionable decision to purchase a sailboat. With this idea, I heard such things as ‘You’re doing what? You can’t be serious; you’re a grown man with children. She was a Catalina 36 named Satori II and I planned to live on her. I ended up renting out my apartment, selling most of my unnecessary possessions like furniture, beds and anything that I could not carry in a duffle bag to my new home. My children were 10 and five at the time, so to them it was just another adventure.”
A charter boat with Lemon's daughter at the helm.
Lemond's parents sailing on Satori II 2002.
This graduated sailing adventure, a long way away from Willows Dam, involved day or weekend trips along the coast between Vancouver Island and the mainland. The longest trip was a two-week venture to a popular remote area called Desolation Sound.”
Lemond remarried a few years after that and moved back into a house, but he kept the boat for a few more years; however, work and life did not allow much time for sailing. He did sell the boat, but found it difficult to be without as he had always had a boat in his life at some time. An interim fix involved purchasing a 24-foot Bayliner Express Cruiser, which is a coastal fishing boat, and you could stay on it for a weekend.
“The sailboats we have owned stay in the water in a marina. When I was living on my boat, I lived at the marina in Mission on the Fraser River, so it was very convenient for the kids and school, but quite far to take down the river to sail on the ocean. In the summer, we would move her to a marina in the Vancouver area. Later, when I did not live on her, we moved the boat to Granville Island permanently to make it more accessible for sailing,” adds Lemond.
Lemond and his wife’s second sailboat are moored at Point Roberts, Wash., about one and a half hours from their home in Chilliwack. Point Roberts is a tiny peninsula located by the Tsawwassen Ferry terminal that is landlocked by Canada from the rest of the USA. It has about 700 boats moored in it and the Lemonds say they enjoy being there.
In August of 2022, with much support from his wife Katherine, a Hunter Legend 37.5 sailboat was purchased and was named Frejya in honour of Lemond’s Norwegian grandparents.
Freyja wtih the family after her christening in Granville Island 2023.
Retirement has given the couple the time they need to sail, as Lemond affirms, sailboats are slow and at times, you have to wait out the weather. Their dream is to sail the Salish Sea and Lemond acknowledges there are many islands and places to see that one couldn’t possibly do it all in a lifetime.
“The draw to the water has always been with me, and as I have found out, sailboats are the perfect fit for that. I like the technical aspect of sailboats since you are the one who makes them sail. The need to constantly be fussing with the sail trim or checking and rechecking that things are just right, as my wife sees it, suits me just fine. Boats always need maintenance and upgrades, so you need to either like working on boats, which I love or have enough money to pay someone else to do the work for you, which I don’t. Once out sailing with the sails set and the engine off, there is nothing like it. I find that it brings me closer to nature, you see things slowly pass by you, you hear the sounds of whales. In quiet, remote anchorages, it is so peaceful, with an abundance of wildlife like seals, porpoises, and whales is just amazing to see and experience,” says the Saskatchewan-born sailor.
Visiting Norway in 2018, seeing where his grandparents were raised and how much boats were part of the lifestyle, was affirmation it was in Lemond’s genes and dreams to be a sailor.
“We have recently joined the Point Roberts Yacht Club to meet more people who have the same mindset and goals. We have met new friends to go cruising together with on our adventures.”
Lemond said learning techniques of sailing came from lots of reading, taking courses and today, YouTube videos, as the learning never ends. He has now earned his coastal skipper certificate, which includes a variety of levels that include VHF radio certificate and navigation skills. With this certification, along with his insurance, he is allowed to travel up to 20 miles offshore along the coast, which Lemond says is all he needs as he doesn’t plan on sailing offshore to faraway places.
The sailing adventure also now involves sailing a friend’s boat in the Yacht Club and learning the skills that go with keelboat racing.
“It is a lifelong journey of learning which I love.”
Lemond says he has fond memories of taking his parents, sister Bonny Hanna and brother-in-law Lyle Hanna, sailing on Satori II when they came for a visit. They sailed the Bowen Island and tied up to the dock and set out to explore the island. It was such a rewarding experience for his family to see what the fuss was all about and where his passion lies on the water. That trip finished picking up crab traps on the way home and having a feast of crab for dinner.
The former Assiniboia resident says he has experienced multiple highlights in his sailing experiences, which included sailing in the British Virgin Islands with his son and a sailing trip to Desolation Sound, the maiden voyage on Freyja.
With a degree in Mechanical Engineering in Technology, Lemond worked in the centrifugal pump industry before retiring after 25 years. Never one to shy away from adventure, Lemond also volunteered with Mission Search and Rescue for eight years while living in Mission. This volunteer service taught him the skilled to climb sixty feet to the top of his mast to perform work.
“My wife, Katherine, grew up in B.C., and her father was in the commercial fishing industry. She lived and worked on his sixty-foot packer boat to put herself through university in the summers. So, we were a match made in heaven. She enjoys being out on the water, but she leaves the sailing work to me. My kids enjoy going out on the boat and we always squeeze in a trip with them into their busy working schedules.”
You’re never too old to dream, it’s never too late to act on your dream, and even if you’re from Saskatchewan, sailing can be a lifelong passion.
