Celebrating and watching the Kingston Ontario waterfront

SURPRISE! You would think that a winter with negligible snow accumulation would have negative impacts for Lake Ontario Water Levels come springtime.

The latest LAKE ONTARIO WATER LEVEL FORECAST predicts higher than normal water levels into the summer.

This makes little sense because the big lakes upstream are still well below long-term averages.

A LASALLE CAUSEWAY Lift Bridge Marine Traffic Survey is underway at http://www.lasallebridge.ca.

The purpose of the survey is to help us to better understand the use and economic value of the lift bridge.

Take a moment to fill-this-out if this matters to you.

INTERESTING AGENDA ITEM for the November 1st Council meeting.

City staff is recommending the addition of Pay and Display parking on the west side of Emily Street. This is a prime parking area for Kingston General Hospital patients and visitors. The additional parking spaces will also accommodate waterfront park users, particularly windsurfers at Richardson Beach.

This is great because recent renovations to the Richardson Beach area eliminated some parking, and the west side of Emily street has been a no-parking zone for many years. It looks like this is about to change.

THE OCTOBER 11th Environment, Infrastructure & Transportation Policies Committee Meeting has the proposed Multi-Purpose Trail on the West Side of the Greater Cataraqui River on its agenda.

More on the Great Cataraqui River Trail.

KINGSTON ROWERS Rob Gibson and Will Crothers won a bronze medal in the Men's Eight finals at the world championships in Bled, Slovenia.

In the process, the team also qualified for the 2012 London Olympics by placing in their semi-final heat.

Here's Mike Koreen's Whig Standard story about it.

WHAT GOES UP, it is said, must come down.

The latest LAKE ONTARIO WATER LEVEL FORECAST shows the extent to which Lake Ontrio levels have dropped since late spring.

Right now we are about the long term average.

As for the big lakes upstream, they are still well below long-term averages, but higher than predited earlier this year.

THE LINK to the Bypass Log For The City of Kingston.

It's improved; you can page back in history.

THE CITY has posted its July 2011 City Priority Matrix.

Here's K7's summary of waterfront-related priorities found in the document.

Of the 86 items in the matrix, only seven concern waterfront.

Just three of those would improve access and two of those are actually being implemented: Lake Ontario Park and Richardson Beach. The third item, the proposed Cataraqui River Trail Project, is citizen-led and still a long way off.

Nothing has changed since the April 2011 Priority matrix except the Richardson Bath House and landscaping work is complete.

Very disappointing overall.

THE JULY EDITION of the Thousand Islands Life e-zine is now online with a couple of interesting local stories.

POKER RUNS AMERICA final 2011 schedule is more modest than the one published last January.

Back then there were six poker runs scheduled in the immediate region or closeby.

Evidently the events in Valleyfield, Gananoque, and Muskoka have been scrubbed.

The 1000 Islands Poker Run (labeled "THE BIGGEST, MEANEST and BADDEST") stinks-up Kingston Harbour August 5-7, which is one day longer than originally advertised.

A SECOND FERRY for Wolfe Island? The Ontario Ministry of Transportation thinks so.

"A WONDERFUL SHOWPIECE ON THE CITY'S WATERFRONT!" are words historically uttered by Kingstonians with absolutely no clue.

LINK to the Whig article about a recent Provincial grant to MetalCraft Marine.

GOOD VIDEO of Hub Steenbakkers of Collins Bay Marina explaining to CKWS-TV all about wisely using new-style inflatable life jackets.

This was part of a recent event to educate the public about boating and life jacket safety.

EPIC.

HUB AND MICHELLE STEENBAKKERS at Collins Bay Marina have won the Natural Marine National Environment Award

F7U12

KINGSTON'S DAVIS FAMILY has recently posted some great regatta results.

Paul Davis the father just won his third Soling World Championship in Chiemsee, Germany.

Son Robert Davis just placed second at the 2011 Laser Atlantic Coast Championships at Wrightsville Beach, NC.

ANTEDILUVIAN FORECASTS laid waste.

No surprise; the latest LAKE ONTARIO WATER LEVEL FORECAST is up sharply over what was predicted earlier this spring.

Right now we are about 8 inches higher, just above long-term average, and the outlook for the first half of the summer looks about 4 inches higher than forecast six weeks ago. That's great news.

As for the big lakes upstream, no tangible change in their forecast levels; still well below long-term averages.

THE SNOWBIRDS OVER RMC on May 21 and 22 2011.

KINGSTON'S 2011 MAJOR REGATTA PICTURE looks light this year.

No Worlds' and four North American Championships booked so-far.

Our last Worlds' was the Byte CII Worlds in 2009.

Not included in the 2011 tally is the Canadian Lightning Class Pan-Am Trials, July 1-3 hosted by KYC, which is the summer's first and possibly most hotly contested.

More details in our list of major regattas in Kingston.