Hi, my name is Paul Dewar and my Watermark is the Ottawa River. There are so many memories. It starts with when I was a kid, going to my grandparents’ cottage. I skated on the river, and played hockey on the river, swam on the river, did all of those things. But, when I learned to sail, it was so magical. The fact that you could take natural energy, and hoist up this piece of material, and just let yourself go.

When I learned to do that in my early teens, I felt I was in space, travelling almost. It was such a magical experience, and that has never left me. When I had some of the most stressful times of my life, I get in the sailboat and it would all be gone and I’m still a little kid, every time I get in a sailboat.