Sound Boat Works Ltd. sits on the southeast shore of Parry Sound harbour at 73 Emily Street, and it has been family-owned for more than 50 years. In 1973 John and Ruth Shipman bought a wooden boat building business on the site; with their son Gerry and his wife Mary they grew it into a full-service marina, and the third generation is now active in the business. The yard keeps the authentic feel of a working boatyard — the buildings are old, the equipment is modern — and regulars describe a family-like camaraderie among the boaters.
The marina offers 90 slips in 30, 35 and 40-foot lengths, an 80-foot fuel dock with gas, diesel, pump-out, ice and drinking water, and indoor and outdoor storage. The boatyard handles repair and restoration for power and sail, gas and diesel: engines, electrical, fibreglass and woodwork, with a 30-ton hydraulic trailer and a repair crane. Visiting boaters get 30-amp shore power, clean washrooms with showers — and famously, bathtubs — plus WiFi, a picnic site with propane barbecue, a children’s play area, a launch ramp and even a designated swimming area. The marina monitors VHF channel 68 and holds a four-star Clean Marine rating.
It calls itself a boaters’ marina, and it shows: the customers are people who love being out on Georgian Bay, in power or sail, with the 30,000 islands a short cruise away. Whether you need a season’s dockage, a haul-out and refit, or just fuel and a pump-out on your way through the world’s deepest natural freshwater port, Sound Boat Works is the working yard that treats you like one of the family.