Goodbye Riviera......
Hello Thousand Islands!
Be careful what you wish for...
It's not like we have not been warned by our mothers. Every year when we return to the islands, the common lament is that we hope the water levels will be high in June, as we all know that even though there are no tides in this fresh water river, the levels fall over the summer into the fall by as much as 3 feet (1 M).
This causes a number of shoals to suddenly rear their ugly heads in places we had boated all summer long -fat and happy- and now destroying one boat propeller after another (or worse), acting like a can opener on the bottom of the boat. Naturally, crib docks (the kind that are fixed and not floating) are designed to allow for these variations and require you to step UP into your boat in June and DOWN into it in October.
This year was different. The whole area was awash in rain that did not let up and many cities and towns along the St. Lawrence river [the river that runs from the 5 great lakes where we are at the mouth] to the Atlantic ocean, risked being flooded. This in turn prevented the authorities from releasing water through the locks, lowering the levels in the islands.
The long and the short of it is that the water level of Lake Ontario is the highest it has been since
reliable records began in 1918 (according to one official source), breaking the previous record set in June
1952. This has caused flooding of a number of our friends and neighbors cottages, as well as numerous businesses. I was told that 140 communities along the river have declared an emergency. Many crib docks, including ours, are completely under water, meaning that in many cases you have no place to launch your boat from and when you show up at your island, you have no place to dock. Hmmmm.....
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| Normal times. Note surfboard bench |
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| What's wrong with this picture? Our dock is 18"( 50 cm) under water. The water is so clear it looks like much less. Photo credit: Ralph Arthur (Bud) Andress
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| How it is today |
Honey Bee? Well any fear of us being flooded are a non issue. We are up a little hill and if we were flooded New York city and Boston would be under water too. While a portion of our crib dock was under water, a part of it was just a few inches above the water. This was because the end above the waterline broke free from the bottom of the river and the dock was now at an angle. Our surfboard bench on the dock was at water level as though we were ready to surf.
This will be a tough summer for many who will have seen water in their cottages, as well as many shoreline businesses who will have a lot of damage to repair.
Meanwhile, it is great to be back in the real world. Boats and jet ski's are now in the water, temporary fixes have been made to outer docks and to the aircraft carrier, the plane is out, the birds are singing and we have not a care in the world. It is not an easy life we lead.
If you are bored with endless silly airplane stories, you can skip the rest of this. I picked up my new floats and they are ready for a quick install. But then, we went for our first boat ride and immediately realized that to my great chagrin that I will not be putting the floats on right away. Who knows, maybe not this summer.
The river is FULL of debris floating and some of it semi submerged. In 1 mile on the water, I encountered 2X4"s with nails sticking out, logs or all sizes and....get this.... a 12 foot long X 2 foot wide dock floating down the river. I have heard of refrigerators and boathouse doors bobbing out there. It would be impossible to safely land or take off anywhere.
I was at the post office telling someone about the floating dock I saw when he asked "Is it the one with the two deck chairs on it?" "No" I said, "It's another one" "Well this one is even better" he said pointing to the wanted poster on the wall. Some guy was looking for his dock also....with two jet ski's still attached to it.
This will be a tough summer for many who will have seen water in their cottages, as well as many shoreline businesses who will have a lot of damage to repair.
Meanwhile, it is great to be back in the real world. Boats and jet ski's are now in the water, temporary fixes have been made to outer docks and to the aircraft carrier, the plane is out, the birds are singing and we have not a care in the world. It is not an easy life we lead.
From the flight deck
If you are bored with endless silly airplane stories, you can skip the rest of this. I picked up my new floats and they are ready for a quick install. But then, we went for our first boat ride and immediately realized that to my great chagrin that I will not be putting the floats on right away. Who knows, maybe not this summer.
The river is FULL of debris floating and some of it semi submerged. In 1 mile on the water, I encountered 2X4"s with nails sticking out, logs or all sizes and....get this.... a 12 foot long X 2 foot wide dock floating down the river. I have heard of refrigerators and boathouse doors bobbing out there. It would be impossible to safely land or take off anywhere.
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| Dock we saw floating by in the river |
I was at the post office telling someone about the floating dock I saw when he asked "Is it the one with the two deck chairs on it?" "No" I said, "It's another one" "Well this one is even better" he said pointing to the wanted poster on the wall. Some guy was looking for his dock also....with two jet ski's still attached to it.
I am fully aware of my good fortune in having my own plane and flying all over the place at will. I have lost one set of floats but do not want a repeat performance so patience must be the order of the day. Still, I cannot understand why I can't do everything I want whenever I want. You know, like have everything my way all the time. My 3 year old grandson and I see eye to eye on that subject.
