Kingston waterfront news: October 2007

Marine Museum: STILL IN LIMBO, from CKWS-TV news.

Update: Here's the situation as described by the Marine Museum.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OPEN HOUSE PHOTOS from MetalCraft Marine are now online.

The BMCM CARL BRASHEAR, Newport News' new Firestorm 30 fireboat from MetalCraft Marine, is now in service on the waters of Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.

Recall that this was the vessel that mysteriously sank at the dock overnight at the Leeward Municipal Marina on March 21st, 2007.

Here's the marine surveyor's assessment of what happened that night.

Interesting: OPG ONTARIO LENNOX 2 OIL/GAS UNIT BACK IN SERVICE from Reuters UK.

BEACH REPORT 2007 is a 36-page PDF just released by Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.

Seven of the Kingston-area beaches are covered in the report:

• Richardson Beach (they call it "Murney Tower")
• Grass Creek
• Rotary Park, (incorrectly identified as part of "Collins Bay Marina")
• Lemoine Beach
• Arrowhead Beach
• Crerar Beach
• Everitt Beach
• Lake Ontario Park (they call it "Lake Ontario Municipal Beach")

Oddly Big Sandy Bay, one of Lake Ontrario's most beautiful beaches, isn't included.

Many of the observations arise from the abject neglect by our municipality for our beaches.

That's not the only beach-related thing that's neglected by the City.

On August 24th we were pleased to report that FINALLY WE HAVE AN ONLINE BEACH REPORT.

But our fears were well-founded: as it turns out, that online beach report is just another web page the City is unable to properly maintain. There has been no update in the two months since August 24th when the information was first posted.

NATHAN BARON has been working hard towards his goal of qualifying and sailing in next year's solo Transat 650 race. He's often out in Kingston Harbour practicing, and he recently completed a Toronto Training Run.

He's also documenting his journey with over 120 photos so far in this Flickr photoset.

Nathan plans an "Open Boat" event on October 21st from 1-3pm at KYC where people can come down to see the boat up-close and get a taste of what life aboard a mini is like.

MEET THE CITY'S NEW FIREBOAT, formerly known as the CCGC Bittern: Good article today in The Whig about the refit project, which was done here in Kingston at MetalCraft Marine.

You can see the vessel at today's MetalCraft Marine Open House which runs from 1-4 pm.

Here are before and after photos:

Update: Here's a transcript of CKWS-TV's report.

Check out the SEPTEMBER 2007 NEWSLETTER of the City's Ravensview Water Pollution Control project, which is enormous.

It doesn't contain much information, but the photos give you a sense of the project's scale.

METALCRAFT MARINE IS CELEBRATING 20-YEARS of building high-tech vessels here on the Kingston Waterfront.

They are hosting an open house on Friday, October 5th, between 1 and 4 pm.

They'll have tours of their operations, and show glimpses of projects they have on-the-go.

Pass the word.