Rich Stivrins is enjoying the summer of 2022.
"We are busy," said the captain of the Chief Commanda II.
"Our weekends have been really strong for us. Most of our Saturday evening trips sell out during the week or at a minimum on Saturday afternoon so it is nice to see that."
That is a far cry from what kind of business they had in the summers of 2020 and 2021.
"It has been a huge difference obviously," he said.
"Two years ago we did not run at all and then last year we started running at 25 per cent capacity and eventually graduated to the 50 per cent mark which was nice but we would much rather take 100 per cent than 25 or 50 any day of the week. So we are happy to be back in full operations."
But as strange as it sounds, the fact that Ontarians were told by medical officials to avoid international travel may have been a benefit for tourist attractions like the Chief Commanda II which docks off the north shore of Lake Nipissing.
"I think in the past couple of years the positive benefits of COVID-19 is North Bay really got discovered by the folks in the GTA and in southern Ontario," he said.
"So we are seeing a lot of folks coming up and enjoying the services of the Chief as well as everything North Bay has to offer."
The Chief Commanda II is a 320-passenger, all-aluminum twin-hull vessel that cruises at a speed up to 13 knots or 25 km/h.