Sitting at the exact spot where Lake Joseph meets Lake Rosseau, Port Sandfield Marina has been part of Muskoka’s boating story for more than 70 years. It was founded by Alf Mortimer, whose family had already made their name on the water with Mortimer’s Point Marina, and it grew up alongside one of the prettiest landmarks in cottage country: the Port Sandfield canal and its 1924 swing bridge, the oldest of its kind in Ontario, which still swings open to let boats pass between the two lakes.
The marina sits in the little community of Port Sandfield, a place that exists because of boats. The canal was dug in the 1870s to connect Lake Joseph and Lake Rosseau so steamships could move cargo, mail and passengers across all three big Muskoka lakes, and the waterfront here has been a natural gathering point ever since. Many boaters treat it as an obligatory stop, whether for fuel, supplies or ice cream.
Today the marina is a full-service operation and one of the best-known dealerships in the region. It has been a Mercury dealer since 1952 and is Muskoka’s premier dealer for Regal boats, with MasterCraft models added more recently, offering more than 80 models to choose from. It is also Muskoka’s largest luxury rental boat provider, so visitors can get out on the water even without owning a boat, and the floating showroom moored at the junction of the two lakes is a sight in itself. The on-site Boathouse store covers everything from parts and accessories to cottage decor and clothing.
In 2024 the marina joined the Maple Leaf Marinas group as its 20th location, with longtime owners Jonathan and Nada Blair staying on to run it. Seven decades in, it remains what it has always been: the friendly crossroads of the lakes, where the swing bridge, the canal and the docks all tell the same story of Muskoka life built around the water.