Marina History

The Beacon Marina in Caesarea was first formed and opened as Frayer's Fish Camp in 1928. It was known for its great bass, muskelunge and walleye fishing and the Frayer's had a few small cabins set up along the waterfront. Soon after, the actual Marina structure was built using two foot thick stone walls as a foundation which housed boat repair services and a restaurant down stairs and a large Dance Pavilion upstairs with a Panoramic view of the Lake that quickly became a popular spot. The most popular dances of all were the long weekend Sunday night dances that started at midnight! Local piano player and Ocala Orchards owner Irwin Smith can still recall setting up and performing at these functions as a lad. Many local couples first met at these functions and have now been married 50 and 60 years and still drop by for a visit now and then.

In the mid fifties and over the next few decades the Marina changed hands and became a full service Marina and became The BEACON MARINA in the early 1960's complete with fuel and service,boat repairs and rentals, restaurant and snack bar, fish hut rentals etc. and the dances continued right up to the late seventies. The most notable owners after Mr. Frayer were Fred Thomas, Reg Renouf and the Newbold Family and each owner added and improved the property over the years.

In 1990 the property came up for sale suddenly and was purchased by a local group of motorcycle enthusiasts called the Paradice Riders. The property gained infamy as a meeting place for lots of local motorcycle clubs such as Satan's Choice and The Vagabonds and eventually the Hell's Angels. The Hell's Angels began to amalgamate most of the existing clubs all over Ontario in 2000 and subsequently became the owners of this facility which then became known as Hell's Half Acre. The Motorcycle club decided to sell their clubhouse in 2005 and it was purchased by us and reconditioned and recommissioned and renamed the Beacon Marina with our goal of forming a sailing facility and sailing club much to the delight of the previous owners.

Since 2005 the new owners of the Beacon Marina have and continue to work hard to build one of the finest small boat sailing facilities in Ontario. We have worked with members of the community to revive and promote the annual Lake Scugog Regatta which began in 1928 the same year as the Marina and is the longest running three day festival in Ontario and are once again becoming a focal point in the community as we continue to serve as the oldest and most traditional Marina on Lake Scugog.

Gallery of Marina History