Barry was Commodore when I joined the club and I would see him regularly on the back of his big boat at the centre of the outside dock.
The last few years his boat has not been in its slip but I have had the pleasure of saying hello when he stopped by to visit. Barry did us the great service of taking charge and caring for the club for so many seasons.
Summer on the river in 2021 turned out to be a long warm season defined by the closing and opening of the locks at Lockport. With so little rain, the level of the river was consistently near normal and the river never did flow strongly. The lack of current added to the growth on ours boat hulls and the docks, so cleanup was a a bigger job than usual. Our new electric power washer helped with that.
The pandemic restrictions kept the clubhouse mostly closed but as the restrictions eased up people were able to meet on the docks and I hear there was some fairly regular barbecues on the weekends.
The lost revenue from being unable to rent out our space was lessened by income from a movie shoot on our site. The movie production painted the garage a green colour that has not been appreciated and there are plans to cover it up next year.
Movie production alters the look of our garage.
There are a few activities making use of our river access this winter as well. A curling tournament and a company that harvests ice will be using our ramp in the upcoming months.
Well they are not quite ‘in’ yet, but the task of assembling and attaching the docks is nearly complete and on May 31st members will be parking their boats on the water.
Empty docks after sunset May 29th
Thanks to everyone who helped put this together. There are a number of new members this year who I am sure are ready to get out there. Everyone is excited to have a place to go in this time of lockdowns but we do need to follow the current health regulations so the socializing will have to wait.
Summer on the river is wonderful, let’s get started.
This post jumps forward slightly with the Free Press articles to 1959. The previous two years had articles about the club meetings and election of the club officers. This first article from April includes a big fish story and a tie in to the present with upgrades to the ramp.
The next article from June has the club supplying boats for a cruise arranged for inner city children. It names the club ‘cruisemaster’ as Ron Spears.
In July, there was an article that I find astonishing. The club is sponsoring a race across much of Lake Winnipeg and down the Red River. I wonder how many times this was done.
On September 12th, there is an article about more relaxing cruises organized by the club for members to take part in.
Lastly on September 19th we learn of the winner of the big race, Ronds Marina. Apparently the starting point was switched from Berens River to a more reasonable distance of Gull Harbour at Hecla. Also mentioned is a cruise for Red River Day sponsored by Redboine and a number of other boating organizations.
These articles are a nice and interesting slice of the past. With the favourable spring conditions we are currently experiencing, I guess that my next post will be about getting the docks in early this year. Fingers crossed…
The Red River started into winter in a much different way this year compared to last. Last fall ended with extremely high water on the river that froze early and then fell through the winter as the water went down. This year once the locks were opened the river level quickly fell to near 0 ft James, which is normal for winter and 6 feet lower than the normal summer level. This and the lack of snow exposed the bottom section of our launching ramp and it did not look good.
It appeared that we were lucky there was no trouble with the process of pulling all the boats out this fall. So fixing the ramp moved to the top of our repair list, and the weather was cooperating. The decision to act was made quickly and we went from quotes, to work in progress, to complete in a matter of a few weeks.
Now that the concrete has hardened, it has been uncovered and we were able to get a few pictures before it gets covered up with snow.
The weather did not fully cooperate but over the last week it was good enough to get all the docks in the water. Thanks to all who helped and especially Chester for running the operation.
There are still some details to finish off but boats can get in the water and tie up as of tomorrow June 8th. The weather may not cooperate with that however.
By the end of the week the sun will be out and there may be a lineup at the launching pad. I for one am excited about another summer on the river.
The process of putting the Redboine Boating Club docks back in the water has begun. And to celebrate that, I will share the story of one dock in particular. Dock #1 is located at the east end of the row closest to shore and has a well engineered notch for one of the posts that hold the docks in place.
Last year ended with a sudden rise in the river due to record September rainfall and with the rush to get the boats and docks safely out of the water dock #1 was left chained to the post with only a corner of it visible above the surface. The river froze at a very high level and although attempts were made there was no chance to rescue the dock. It spent the winter in the ice.
Spring came and the ice broke up and more attempts were made to rescue the dock. It was tied to shore with a strong rope and plans were being made while the quite high spring flood was happening. The dock broke free of the ice, snapping the rope, and started floating down the river with the ice. Luckily it did not get far and was tied up to the shore just west of the club.
As the spring flood receded, dock #1 was brought to shore and included in the spring repair ritual. After much straightening and board replacement it was put back in the water, the first in, after being by far the last out.
This of course is only a small part of the story. If you want to hear of all the adventure and heroics I think Pat Bohme is the member to ask.
This photo would have been taken in the mid sixties in front of the new clubhouse. I will guess that that is the Commodore raising the triangular R flag. There is another photo that shows a large Canadian flag that was also flying on that pole.
In December of 1958 the Redboine Boating Club signed a lease with the city of Winnipeg for land at the club site to build a ramp to improve the club members access to the river.
The precursor to our boating club that was mentioned in the last blog was the Greater Winnipeg Boating Association that was formed in the early fifties. A poster advertising for memberships at 3$ per year has been saved and is shown below. The large lettered RIVER FILTH attracts your attention, how was it not more successful?
Redboine Boat Club 