THOUSAND ISLANDS BOAT MUSEUM

Name

THOUSAND ISLANDS BOAT MUSEUM

Legal name

Thousand Islands Boat Museum

Website

https://tiboatmuseum.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Maritime Heritage Museum

NAICS

Museums (712110), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (48721)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Sightseeing & Scenic Boat Tours (Harbor, Sunset, Dolphin/Whale Watching) (THAJAJAA)

Keywords

• Maritime heritage museum
• Boat rides tours
• Youth sailing programs
• Historic boat collection
• Exhibits and education

Headquarters

HQ city

Gananoque

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Admission Fees: General admission to the Museum and in-water exhibits is $7.00 for visitors aged 7 and older. Free admission for Gananoque residents.
2. RiverPass Memberships: Annual memberships sold at three tiers: Individual ($35), Household ($60), and Corporate ($120). Benefits include free admission, newsletter, advance event notices, and 10% store discount.
3. Boat Camp Program Fees: Five 1-week summer day camps for youth ages 8-13 at $550/week. Subsidized rate of $350/week for local Gananoque/Leeds and Thousand Islands Township residents. Pay What You Can scholarships available.
4. Donations: As a Registered Charity (825536980RR0001), the Museum receives tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporations, foundations, and government grants. Over 70-85% of Boathouse funding came from private donors.
5. Boat Shop Café: On-site café offering coffee, pastries, drinks, frozen treats, and TIBM apparel. Revenue supports museum operations.
6. Boat Ride Tickets: Narrated boat tours on Limit Up (Gar Wood Streamliner) and Little Toot (tugboat) through the Thousand Islands.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Thousand Islands Boat Museum is a hands-on heritage museum on the Gananoque waterfront that preserves, displays, and interprets 35+ historic in-water watercraft from the St. Lawrence River and Thousand Islands region. It sells admission to its Boathouse Exhibit Gallery, narrated boat rides on the Limit Up and Little Toot vessels, weeklong Boat Camp youth day programs, on-water programming, and on-site café and retail, while delivering live boat restoration demonstrations and school partnerships.

Product overview

The Thousand Islands Boat Museum is a hands-on heritage museum (not a technology product company) offering multiple interconnected visitor experiences centered on St. Lawrence River marine history. The core offerings include the Boathouse Exhibit Gallery showcasing in-water antique boats and interactive exhibits (Local Boatbuilders, Canoe Club, Cottage Life, Merchant Ship), paired with active experiences such as Boat Rides (Limit Up and Little Toot), Boat Camp youth summer programming, On Water Programming, and Live Boat Restoration demonstrations. Supporting services include the Boat Shop Café, Children's Centre, RiverPass Membership, Adopt a Sailor scholarships, Research Requests, and school partnerships like the G.I.S.S. Junior Boaters Program. The museum is a not-for-profit registered charity operating from 125 Water Street, Gananoque, Ontario, with a collection of 35+ historic watercraft.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Boathouse Exhibit Gallery In-water exhibit gallery on the St. Lawrence River showcasing floating antique boats, interactive exhibits about regional boatbuilders, and immersive heritage experiences for general visitors.
• Boat Rides Narrated scenic boat tours through the Thousand Islands aboard the Limit Up Gar Wood Streamliner speed boat and Little Toot tugboat, available to ticketed visitors.
• Boat Camp Weeklong summer day camps for youth ages 8-13 offering hands-on boat and water activities including rowing, paddle carving, cardboard boat building, and island adventures, at $550/week with a subsidized $350/week rate for local residents.
• On Water Programming Summer programs featuring five days of river exploration in various boats with island adventures, designed for children ages 8-13.
• Boat Shop Café On-site café serving coffee, pastries, drinks, frozen treats, and TIBM apparel, with views of the river, supporting museum operations.
• RiverPass Membership Annual membership program with three tiers (Individual $35, Household $60, Corporate $120 + 13% HST) providing free admission, newsletter, advance event notices, and 10% store discount.
• Live Boat Restoration Public courtyard experience where visitors can watch skilled craftspeople restore historic boats, connecting with regional marine heritage through live demonstration.
• Children's Centre Creative indoor space with wooden workbenches, replica boats, and hands-on materials for children to explore river life and boat concepts.
• General Museum Admission Daily admission to the Museum and in-water exhibits at $7.00 per person for visitors aged 7 and older; free for Gananoque residents and walking the waterfront/exterior exhibits.
• Sailing School Sailing instruction program that has taught 128 children aged 8-14 to sail over four years, delivered as part of the museum's on-water educational offerings.
• Research Requests Historical research service accepting inquiries year-round to help visitors find answers about Thousand Islands boating history, with responses typically within 2-4 weeks.
• Adopt a Sailor Scholarship Sponsorship-supported scholarship program enabling youth to participate in Boat Camp through Pay What You Can pricing to remove financial barriers to water experiences.
• G.I.S.S. Junior Boaters Program Partnership program with Gananoque Intermediate & Secondary School providing students hands-on boat operator training, safety instruction, on-water experience, and restoration work on donated vessels.
• Boat Show & Special Events Annual events including the TIBM Boat Show and Family Day celebrations that have become community traditions on the Gananoque waterfront.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000 annual visitors generating tourism revenue
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Gananoque Boat LineminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2019Neighboring tour boat business; owner Neil McCarney provides instructional expertise for the Museum's Junior Boaters program and supports cross-promotion as adjacent waterfront attractions.
• Ed Huck MarineminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Fourth-generation Rockport marina loaned 108-year-old Fred Huck moulds used to teach students traditional St. Lawrence skiff construction; ongoing connection to regional boat-building heritage.
• Antique Boat Museum (Clayton, New York)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014The Museum was inspired by and maintains a close working relationship with the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY (the premier freshwater nautical museum in North America). The two organizations complement and promote each other's activities, collections, and programs. Future plans include a cross-border shuttle connecting the two museums.
• Gananoque Intermediate & Secondary School (GISS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Ongoing educational partnership where high school students build boats (St. Lawrence skiffs, Optimist sailboats) as part of curriculum, participate in Junior Boaters program learning water safety and boat operation, and assist with boat restoration projects.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Gananoque Boat Line: Adjacent Thousand Islands tour-boat operator and explicit TIBM channel partner; comparable in operating narrated scenic boat cruises on the same stretch of the St. Lawrence River and shares TIBM's visitor base.

Broad incumbents

• Mystic Seaport Museum: The largest maritime museum in the US; comparable in offering exhibits of historic vessels, hands-on boatbuilding, and youth sailing programs, but at significantly larger scale and scope than TIBM.
• Mariners' Museum: Large US maritime museum with a sizable vessel collection and educational programming; relevant comparable for collection depth and visitor scale, though significantly broader in scope than TIBM.

Direct peers

• Antique Boat Museum: Maritime museum in Clayton, NY explicitly cited as TIBM's inspiration and close partner; both operate freshwater in-water collections of historic boats with a comparable heritage-preservation mission and visitor experience.
• Lake Champlain Maritime Museum: Regional freshwater maritime museum with boat-building exhibits, on-water programming, and youth education; shares TIBM's freshwater heritage focus and small-team operating profile.
• Columbia River Maritime Museum: Mid-sized maritime museum on the Columbia River combining in-water exhibits, boat collection, and youth programming; structurally similar visitor experience to TIBM.
• Wisconsin Maritime Museum: Regional maritime museum with vessel exhibits, boat restoration, and youth education programs; comparable scale, programming, and freshwater heritage focus.
• Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum: Smaller Great Lakes maritime museum combining vessel exhibits and youth educational programming; comparable operating scale and freshwater heritage focus to TIBM.
• Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum: Mid-size maritime museum with in-water exhibits, boat restoration, and youth sailing; directly comparable operating model and programmatic mix to TIBM.

Regional players

• Marine Museum of the Great Lakes: Canadian maritime museum in Kingston, Ontario — same province as TIBM; both serve the St. Lawrence/Lake Ontario heritage corridor with comparable collections and educational programs, though they do not directly compete.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/thousandislandsboatmuseum
• Instagraminstagram.com/tiboatmuseum
• TikToktiktok.com/@tiboatmuseum
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thousand-islands-boat-museum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about THOUSAND ISLANDS BOAT MUSEUM