Beginning Of Season Near

[tomschauer]

Maryland Governor Hogan opened up recreational boating yesterday. We will be splashed one day next week weather permitting.

[RGrew176]

My season has begun. My boat is in the water and secured in her slip. Gotta admit this is the first time I launched when it was snowing.

Let the season begin

[Viper]

Some Simcoe marinas have been launching last week, and I heard boats in the Port Severn area will be launched starting next week, some may have already started. Not everyone will be in for the long weekend but still no access to marinas for the public so far anyway. We'll see if that changes by the weekend. It's snowing as I'm typing though

[Tireless]

Viper, Our Marina still on lock down and they have opened all the launch ramps in Muskoka, with the exception of the ramp at the park in Port Severn for some reason.

Need to get to the Marina, got things to do. It is snowing at the house right now in Durham.

I still have fingers crossed for a June 1 splash.

Greg

[bud37]

They are starting to launch boats around here.....no public access even if the boat is at the slip, they do everything. Public boat ramps still blocked, so no fishing yet.

Interesting, the virus numbers went up again.....seems to coincide with the easter weekend.

We need to prepare the boat as well....so once that is done there is 4 days before they launch without you the owner....then another 4 days before you are allowed on the boat...almost a week and a half after boat is deemed ready. Probably all this after the Victoria day weekend at the earliest. From what I gather so far, as they still have not come up with a detailed plan ( asked again ).....they are saying that they will not allow the owner to take his boat to it's slip, even after the public access is lifted....really getting the itch after seeing the boats in, but have to try and control my enthusiasm with reality...and play the waiting game....

2" of wet snow this morning...melting fast..

[RGrew176]

You guys north of the border are facing challenges getting your seasons started. I hope it gets going for you all sooner rather than later.

[Tireless]

It is possible that the residents in cottage country are taking issue with boaters and seasonal cottagers going north. They believe that the city folk are going to bring more virus, eat all their food and take up their hospital beds. They have influence with the politicians who are making the rules. The thing they need to realize is that seasonal cottage owners also pay taxes and boaters support the Marine industry.

Some of the FB forums up here are getting a bit nasty between the groups.

I think that everyone just needs to settle down, get along, respect the rules and use common sense. The Premier of Ontario has just authorized Marinas to allow access to boaters who need to use boats to get to their cottages, however, all other public cannot access the Marina's.

We will see what comes next week.

Greg

[Viper]

Ya I don't get the logic there Greg. They can still use their cottages without using their boats, that's fair if you're going to prevent other boaters from accessing marinas. A lot of cottagers use marina services and facilities too; fuel, pump outs, washrooms, repairs, etc.

I do understand why they're discouraging cottage use though. Like all municipalities, they're just barely dealing with their full time residents and don't need an influx of people that might be infected putting an extra strain on their system and resources. I can tell you I won't be going to any stores on weekends. Look at what happened south of the boarder when a state opened up, there was an influx from surrounding states, it didn't go over very well.

[Cooler]

Well, tomorrow 5/11, is the big day. CBTL hits the water at 10AM CST. Just received update from our marina in MI that the "stay safe" order is extended to May 28th. Boating is still considered an acceptable outdoor activity, so at least we can get access to the slip. Trouble is, no power - no water - no bathrooms till May 28 at the earliest. Very easy to comply with distancing requirement. Checked my fuel tanks yesterday, 3/4 full, so I can burn 100 gallons before I get concerned about fuel issues. Now my other issues are water level, bay fly seasonal hatch or two, keeping batteries charged, and cold nights. er

[Tireless]

Viper, in our area there are a lot of water access cottages. So they are allowed to go to the Marinas and use their boats to go to their "residences". Most seasonal people and boaters just need to bring their own food and drink up. As far as hospital services, if I needed one, god forbid, I would travel home and not go to a hospital up in cottage country.

In our Marina setting we could put boat in and attend maintaining distancing measures there is not a lot of boats compared to larger marina in the bay. I don't expect washrooms or facilities at this point. Pump outs for sure would be needed.

Would love to splash and fill that bad boy up at good fuel prices. Wonder what the opening Marine fuel prices will be? I guess it would depend on when they SAY they purchased the fuel in their tanks, fall or spring.

Greg