Earlier this summer, entrepreneur Mat Slaman hung up his pirate hat after 17 years sailing around Mooney’s Bay with his company, Pirate Life Adventures. Now, he’s helping Ottawans brave the colder months with a more relaxing, year-round venture.
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Earlier this summer, entrepreneur Mat Slaman hung up his pirate hat after 17 years sailing around Mooney’s Bay with his company, Pirate Life Adventures. Now, he’s helping Ottawans brave the colder months with a more relaxing, year-round venture.
Last August, the National Capital Commission put out an RFP to find a partner willing to design, build and operate a floating sauna near the NCC River House. Earlier this week, Slaman’s company, Saunoa, was announced as the winner.
“Waterfront spaces, much like the NCC River House, are highly used in the summertime but in the winter they become vacant, empty spaces as folks retreat indoors,” Slaman told OBJ. “Creating a floating sauna gives people a whole new way to access waterfronts in the winter months.”
As an entrepreneur, Slaman made a splash when he took over Ottawa company Pirate Life Adventures, a tourism brand that sailed guests along the Rideau River every year between May and October. Under his leadership, the business expanded to Toronto in 2014, and between 2023 and 2024 added two more boats to its fleet with new locations in Hamilton and Barrie.
But in May, Slaman decided to “pass the pirate hat” and sell the business and its four vessels.
While the company and ships are still for sale, Slaman has found success with Saunoa.
“I’m always looking for unique and novel ways for people to get together, things that don’t already exist and places where we can connect,” Slaman said. “I look for things that are just so unique and create something that people will be able to talk about.”
The business launched in Toronto with its first floating sauna on the harbourfront last year, inspired by Finnish sauna traditions.
“Sauna culture has existed in Finland for thousands of years,” he said. “In Nordic countries and others in Europe, it’s part of everyday life. Canadians have equally harsh winters and yet we haven’t really engaged in sauna culture the way the Finns have. Having experienced some of the sauna life in Europe, I thought it was time to bring the concept to the Canadian waterfront.”
While Slaman is currently based in Toronto, he said the call for proposals from the NCC caught his attention as someone who had operated a business in Ottawa for years.
“I love Ottawa,” he said. “I went to university here and stayed until 2013 because I moved to Toronto. I still love this place. Ottawa is so connected to the world and to nature and it has beautiful greenery and waterfronts that some might say are underutilized. And here we are, working with the NCC to leverage the beautiful River House and create winter activation.”
Though the sauna will be active year-round, Slaman encourages people to visit during the colder months to enjoy an icy dip in the river.
“They can soak, sweat, stay warm, relax by the water, then go for a splash or, in this case, a polar dip in the Ottawa River itself,” he said. “It’s one of the few places today where you can disconnect from your devices. Sauna is a space for gathering. It’s a space for community. It’s a space that we need more than ever today and I thought this was a really good way to bring that to Ottawa.”
