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About Us
CharterAbility’s Launch Crew: 2003
Creativity and output have never been higher than during CharterAbility’s first six months which saw the inaugural meeting in July, the first cruise in September, incorporation in October and a submission for funding to the Ontario Trillium Foundation in November. An incredible amount of work accomplished by the enthusiastic band of seven pictured below.
Clockwise from left to right: Laurie Campbell (inset), Tom Redpath, Alan Tonge,
Eric Rogers, Deborah Dennison, Dion Sceats, Stephen Cull
Special thanks are due to Captain Eric Rogers for making the Wayward Princess available for our fundraising cruises, to Deborah Dennison for coming up with the name, “Cruise for a Cause”, and to Tom Redpath for creating the original newsletter that went on to become our web site.
Stephen, Eric, Dion and Alan became CharterAbility’s first board of directors. Since then we have been indebted to Julie Dean and Hasnain Moledina who have also served as members of the board of CharterAbility.
Current Board of Directors
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Stephen J Cull
Born and raised close to the shores of Lake Ontario, Stephen Cull led an active life until a tobogganing accident in 1991. After 38 days in intensive care and 11 months rehab he was confined to a wheelchair - immensely grateful to those who had brought him through his ordeal, and aware of how fortunate he was to have survived. In the summers that followed he would often sit by the side of the lake watching the hustle and bustle of life on and around the water, remembering the exhilaration of sailing, reflecting on the absence of people in wheelchairs, and wondering if it would ever change. Then he got to thinking, "Why not? Why couldn't people with disabilities experience the pleasures of boating?"
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It was the glimmering of an idea that finally crystallized almost a year later in the summer of 2001 at a cottage in Muskoka where Stephen was staying with some friends, one of whom had a pontoon boat and a specially constructed dock, both wheelchair accessible. Stephen invited his 85 year old aunt along but she declined. Having sailed most of her life, she knew that you had to 'climb' into a boat and felt she was no longer able to do that comfortably. When Stephen mentioned that he would be 'rolling' onto the boat in his wheelchair her eyes lit up, "Count me in," she said. As the four unlikely shipmates were cruising on the lake the look of pleasure on his aunt's face got Stephen thinking about what it would take to provide the same opportunity for others. Access to the harbour and the dock were key factors. So too was the location. It should be within easy traveling distance for as many people as possible. Then there was the boat itself. It would have to be barrier-free and fully equipped to handle the needs of people with disabilities so that they could enjoy the experience in safety and with dignity without having to go beyond their comfort zone. And so began Stephen's voyage of discovery.
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Captain Eric N. Rogers, P. Eng.
 Eric has over 30 years of experience in the marine industry, with particular focus on the design, engineering and operation of passenger vessels. An entrepreneurial Torontonian, Eric operated his first water taxi business at the age of 13, and continues to develop and apply a detailed knowledge of the technical, economic and regulatory environment surrounding the passenger vessel industry. As an experienced captain with an engineering background and decades of business management experience, Eric spreads his time between two businesses, Toronto Dry Dock and Nautical Adventures.
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Toronto Dry Dock provides boat owners and commercial operators with a wide range of services including naval architecture and marine engineering, diving and salvage work, navigation and towing, as well as emergency assistance. Nautical Adventures operates two charter boats; the tall ship Empire Sandy, a 200' Topsail Schooner, the largest in Canada, and the Wayward Princess a 92 foot, three deck motor yacht. Captain Rogers is often to be seen at the wheel of the Princess or the Sandy where he has been known to hoist the Jolly Roger from time-to-time and order the canons to be fired! Eric was instrumental in getting CharterAbility launched when he offered to place the Wayward Princess at our disposal for our first fundraising cruise in September 2003. And, he was at the helm for our fifteenth cruise in September 2010.
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Alan E. Tonge
 In his youth Alan had two passions; cricket and aircraft. After trials with the county cricket club, and an offer of a scholarship with the Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough, Alan's decision to pursue computing as a career surprised everyone, including himself. "Few people knew anything about computers in those days and I went to an interview out of curiosity more than anything else. That was on a Wednesday. On Friday I was offered a position and a years training conditional upon being at the company's offices in Park Lane, London the following Monday. I didn't have a lot of time to think about it."
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So it was that Alan embarked upon a forty year career in computing or, to be more precise, information technology. Alan's interests lay not in the technologies themselves but how they could be applied for the benefit of the users, individuals and businesses alike. Early on Alan gained a reputation for troubleshooting and found himself thrust into some challenging situations; all great experience. From there it was into management and then into providing services for other companies. "Over the years I worked with many talented people. It always seemed to me that if you gave them a strong sense of purpose and direction, the freedom to perform and help when they needed it, there wasn't anything they couldn't accomplish." The family (Alan, Janet, Sara and Peter) moved to Canada in May of 1981. "In the UK I had a great job which was very rewarding. But, I was away from home a lot of the time. The kids appeared to have grown whenever I got to see them". In Canada the family was able to spend more time together, got into boating and baseball, swimming in the backyard, and traveling around in a Winnebago. Alan's involvement with CharterAbility came about in the spring of 2003 at a chance meeting with Stephen. "We got into a long discussion during which Stephen described what he had in mind. A week later we'd put together a plan of action the upshot of which was the first meeting of 'interested parties' on July 16, 2003. Since then Alan has kept himself busy attending to administrative matters, creating promotional material, helping organize the cruises, and preparing the grant applications that led to the accessible docking facility on Sixteen Mile Creek.
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Katie J. Hrycun
 Katie J. Hrycun is a Funeral Director with Oakview Funeral Home in Oakville. She was raised in a small farming community outside of Simcoe, ON. Family, water activities, local social events, lakeshore living, reading, and career dedication are all very important to Katie. Katie began with CharterAbility as a Creek Cruise Co-Captain, and immediately fell in love with what it stands for; how it affects people with tranquility and a deep peace. This inspired her to be more active, resulting in her current status as a Board Member. She is a great believer in community involvement, and in addition to being a board member and Captain with the CharterAbility, is a Board Director with the Willow Foundation, and volunteers with the seniors at S.E.N.E.C.A. regularly. CharterAbility has added a quality to Katie’s life that she is thankful for, and it is consistently enriching her life as each individual is touched by the therapy of water and nature.
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Copyright © 2004-2011 CharterAbility. All rights reserved.
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