should the riverboat be freed at our expense?

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2010/08/03/14909306.html


the owner is saying that river levels should be raised in order to free his boat.

I am assuming a cost comes with that.. and an impact of some sort. Should that cost and impact be held by Manitobans?


Should we be dredging the river ( me I say yes to the dredge) but no to the paying to free this boat.

I thought I read that the boat operator had signed a waiver saying he knew the river had shallow spots and may not be safe...

Waterways are a federal responsibility, and the federal government used to dredge the river. I think it stopped to save money in the early 90's.

Do we dredge any other rivers at our expense? Or are they all done at the expense of the people who use the river?


I am wondering of the rivers like the St Lawrence ... is it dredged by fees charged to the ship owners?

Well, on one hand he did sign a waiver.

On the other hand IT"S THE MIDDLE OF FREAKIN JULY!!! GET THE DAMN BUOYS OUT ALREADY!!!!

The Libs killed the dredging program back in the 90's. The thing is it didn't cost very much. I think I read it will cost more to get the dredges back up and running than it will to run the program. There is a safety aspect to it - the coast guard boat couldn't make it down the river to the River Rouge.

Anyone else wonder if not dredging has had any effect on the continual high water levels of the red in the city?

When does this B.S. stop!

Who got the boat stuck?

From some of the comments I've read on various websites, many former Red River captains have stated that this boat was way off course, and never should have been in the area to which it is now stuck.

The owner is balling that "someone should take responsibility for this"....why hasn't anyone asked him why HE isn't taking responsibility for his own operation?

Not only that, but if I can buy a depth finder for my Dad for fathers day, and it only cost a couple hundred bucks to outfit his little aluminum fishing boat...why doesn't a boat this size have anything similar? If it does, why wasn't it in operation, and/or why wasn't anyone looking at it while the boat was being operated??

whatever....f*ck-it, I guess taxpayers are ultimately responsible for EVERYTHING...so we may as well hold our noses and pay this guy's tab because he or his staff f*cked up and they'll let it rot otherwise.

Come to think of it...never mind, we're not paying the bill. In fact, we'll sell tickets and have a contest to see what everyone's predictions are for what the boat looks like in the spring after the ice has had it's way with the craft...and use those revenue's to sue the bastard for the expenses of hauling the wreck out and having it broken down and sold for scrap by the ton. (all recycling revenues to be recouped by the legal fund)

I remember reading where the owner was trying to sell and was bemoaning the fact of all the regulations and floods and such will killing the business.

Now with this.

Who would want to buy it?


And was he off course? not good. It sure would be nice to keep this attraction in our city, but not at a substantial expense to taxpayers.

Weird, the Red is shallow while the Assiniboine is going wild and still floods the River Walk.

They should be dredging the river faithfully so as to stop the river from overflowing the banks. It is a federal responsibility and the numbers were relatively small (reportedly $1.3~ million annually). If the mud and silt continues to build then the river diverts no?

Deank wrote:I remember reading where the owner was trying to sell and was bemoaning the fact of all the regulations and floods and such will killing the business.

- I remember reading this too, not long ago -

Deank wrote:
Who would want to buy it?

- IMO nobody in their right mind without a ton of cash and not a whole lot of "give a damn" for said cash.

Deank wrote:
And was he off course? not good. It sure would be nice to keep this attraction in our city, but not at a substantial expense to taxpayers.

- Was he off course? Nobody who's been reporting on this story has thought to ask! Can we find one reporter out there who's willing to ask the owner and/or captain some hard, yet surprisingly logical and simple questions?

....this boat was way off course....

Without buoys how can one tell on this small river?

JTF wrote:

....this boat was way off course....

Without buoys how can one tell on this small river?

Generally speaking, anyone with their boat operators certificate should know that if you don't know the river that well, stick to the middle, where it's most likely to be the deepest. All the photo's of the boat show it uncomfortably close to the one shore...I wouldn't go that close in a fishing boat unless I was going really slow...and even then, a "depth finder" is worth it's weight!!

150 feet off the shore supposedly

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/manitoba/2010/07/30/14882351.html

thats not close

The navigational maps of the Red are outta wack because there has been no dredging for 10 years.

btw, the middle isn't always the deepest because of the bends in the river which cause underwater currents to move the soil around.

"btw, the middle isn't always the deepest because of the bends in the
river which cause underwater currents to move the soil around."


agreed


and the reality is that with all the excess water we have had this year even last years maps would be out of whack. Still it is everyone boaters responsibility to navigate the waters themselves.

JTF wrote:btw, the middle isn't always the deepest because of the bends in the river which cause underwater currents to move the soil around.

...which is why I qualified that comment with a well placed "generally speaking"

I cannot comment on dredging, as I'm not old enough to have been able to pilot a boat on the Red whilist it was dredged. I've only known a post-dredge, or shall we say, dredge-less river.

Deank wrote:and the reality is that with all the excess water we have had this year even last years maps would be out of whack. Still it is everyone boaters responsibility to navigate the waters themselves.

Even if maps are not updated, pretty much any pissy boat has a depth sounder, sonar, radar and other tech gadgets that show what is going on below and around the vessel. A ship that carries passengers and profits from operations should be up to the latest standard and be liable for any costs.

you would think that it would be a fed regulation for them to have some sort of depth sounder

Yeah, What about the story the other day about the motorboat that hit a log near Maple Grove Park and was stranded for 3 hours.

Why weren't they carrying paddles?

Dredge the river because it needs dredging, and then charge Cap'n Dingleberry for the removal of his boat.

I think there were aboriginals drinking on the river front and it was those buoys drinking that was the problem.
This isn't the captains fault.
No one spends any money to maintain the water way. That harper is so cheap!

Meh. The boat is one of the attractions and benefits the city as a whole. Youngsters graduate there etc. etc.

Help him out and give him a 'don't do that again' talking to.

Meh, give me 500 bucks and the use of a dump truck with an gas powered winch.

Is the Red a commercial waterway?

Not really. Almost all pleasure craft, at least in Winnipeg anyway.

Meh, I've known the owner for years. He's just being a smart "cheap" businessman and doesn't want to spend a dime of his own money to free his boat if he can get someone else to pay for it. If he has to let it sit till spring I'm sure he will. To find out more about his moral character why don't you guys look up his history of having "thefts" and "fires" wipe out his music service on multiple occasions.