Boaters and fishermen who use the Highland Glen Conservation Authority boat launch will have to find someplace else to hit the water.
The St. Clair Region Conservation Authority says there has been a lot of damage done to the steel and concrete launch during this winter’s high water and heavy winds and it is simply not safe to use anymore.
Brian McDougall, general manager of the authority, says the protection on the west side of the ramp is now gone. The steel-sheet wall in the groyne system built in the 1970s was ripped away during a storm in November. “From there, we have been struggling to get a quote for the repair,” he says.
There is also a lot of erosion around the boat ramp, with parts of the shore around its base being eaten away by the high water and heavy winds.
“It’s a mess,” he says adding more sand than normal has washed into the boat ramp area and is visible on the ramp itself.
McDougall says the board believes that makes it dangerous for the public to use.
“In a perfect world, where the water is perfectly flat, launching into standing water, you’re going to think it’s okay….coming back in, with a storm coming up, you will be almost unprotected if you’re trying to trailer your boat,’ he says.
That could lead to boats being smashed against what is left of the steel walls and people getting hurt.
McDougall says one contractor has “guestimated” it will take about $300,000 to fix the boat ramp. He expects when an engineer looks at the issue, it could be more like a half million dollars.
And McDougall says that money is not available now even though the boat ramp has been user pay for a number of years.
He says the revenue generated from that is about $10,000 a year in the last couple of years.
And while it is an issue of safety and money, McDougall has no doubt boaters will be disappointed saying, “there is almost a cult following of day users; some of those people are out there almost every single day.”
It is the only public boat launch from Sarnia to Grand Bend.
On line, boaters were angry with the move. “They’re saying it will be closed because they need to spend some money to repair the groyne and make it safe and usable for all the people.
“Please guys, just repair it ASAP and have it open for the season or a soon as possible,” wrote Todd McNally.
McDougall doesn’t know how long it will take to repair the boat launch but it will be closed at least for 2020.