Water-based fun the promise of new company

Cape Breton Watersports set up on both sides of Sydney harbour

SYDNEY — The surprising absence of watersport activities in the scenic Sydney harbour has been addressed by an upstart company of new Cape Bretoners.

Kayaks, paddle boards and Jetskis can now be rented in the harbour from Cape Breton Watersports, a startup under the guidance of Gunny Brar and his brother Guntas Singh Brar who have moved here from India.

Gunny is a former Cape Breton University student and now a nurse, while his brother is a physician who has begun the two-year certification process to practice medicine in Canada.

While awestruck by the beauty of the island, both had been concerned with the lack of activities in the area, particularly for students and particularly on water.

They decided to do something about it.

“Initially when the business idea started it was involving getting people to stay here,” Gunny said.

“I think Cape Breton needs more people. I think we have an amazing opportunity where CBU is bringing all these students and workers. We need to capitalize on that. We need to make sure a big percentage of them end up staying here. I think that’s where the growth is at, that’s my personal opinion.”

The company first set up at Dobson Yacht Club and then at the Port of Sydney.

“People down here, especially the youngsters are pretty excited,” said Guntas. “They want to do something during summer so water sports is a good thing to do.”

When the water is calm, kayaks have been most in demand, he said.

“But when it is a little wavy and a little windy, Jetskis are most popular.”

Safety is a focus of guided tours and for solo ventures within a defined radius of their harbour locations.

“We go towards Coxheath,” Gunny said of guided tours. “And then we also take them out a little bit towards the Northside and the views are beautiful.”

The service has already proven popular with students and locals alike. Cape Breton’s cruise ship industry is seen as a growth area.

Other expansion plans are nothing short of cool when you factor in the impending launch of flyboarding, an extreme sport that propels participants into the air using pressured water.

They already have that equipment but are still searching for a scenic, fresh water location to launch their flyboard.

“We want to do something different to attract people to Cape Breton,” said Gunny. “We’ve been trying to do something unique and flyboarding is unique.”

His research so far has found no operational fly boarding activities in the Atlantic region and only about two in all of Canada.

The brothers are hoping their entire water-based venture is successful for a variety of reasons, especially if it keeps international students coming to Cape Breton and staying here.

“There’s something in the air that is changing in the last couple of years that you can feel,” Gunny said.

“I personally love this place; I love the people. That’s one of the biggest reasons I stay here. I find a lot of people end up moving out of here because there is not a lot to do. That is part of the problem we are trying to fix. We are part of the solution.”