Friday, July 20, 2012
Our Policy on Pirates
“A policy on pirates?” you are asking… “in Saskatoon? Are you crazy?”
Well, actually, no. While we encourage people to dream up and host themed events on The Prairie Lily, we do not permit pirate-themed parties onboard, under any circumstances.
Pirates are often thought of as fun-loving, brave and independent-minded folks who sailed the seven seas centuries ago, probably with parrots, cutlasses, and peg-legs. In fact, they were predatory criminals and – though few are aware - piracy has become as much or even more of a problem in 2012 as it was 200 years ago.
Modern pirates prey on unarmed ships to extract ransom from governments and shipping companies (far from the swashbuckling legends about battling armed merchant ships and naval vessels). Worse, many of the folks involved in acts of piracy today target innocent and unarmed vacationers, just like some of our customers, who try to enjoy yachts and charter boats while on vacation. Particularly offshore of the southern USA, the people on board are usually shot (probably after the women are raped) and thrown overboard, and the boats are used to smuggle drugs and weapons before being abandoned.
So, no pirate parties onboard The Prairie Lily. We choose to lead by example, and be part of the world that says “this shall not pass”. And. the naval roots of The Prairie Lily’s owners run deep; it is the peaceful naval forces of the world that are daily in danger trying to protect our citizens and our economies from those who would murder and steal.
Pirates are a curse, not a joke.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
A multi-million dollar nightmare for water managers?
What is only the size of a dime but costs millions of dollars worth of problems? A zebra mussel, and we certainly don’t want to see one in Saskatchewan. Keeping them out is not going to be easy, if experience elsewhere in North America is any indication.
A multi-million dollar nightmare for water managers? Zebra mussels and a related species, the quagga mussel, are small fingernail-sized mussels native to the Caspian Sea region of Asia. They were first discovered in North America in Lake St. Clair near Detroit in 1988 and have now spread to parts of all the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and are showing up in inland lakes as well as in the Red River in North Dakota. Next stop? Could be Manitoba.
Zebra mussels clog water-intake systems of power plants and water treatment facilities, as well as irrigation systems, and the cooling systems of boat engines. As early as 2002, Ontario Power Generation estimated that, as a direct consequence of zebra mussels, its operating costs increased by between $500,000 and $1 million per year at its Darlington and Pickering nuclear stations, and for fossil fuel stations, about $150,000 per year at Nanticoke, $75,000 per year at Lambton, and $50,000 per year at Lakeview.
Coming soon to a river near you? NOT !
Shearwater Marine Services Ltd. and Shearwater River Cruises Ltd. in Saskatchewan became acutely aware of the threat of this species in the course of importing a large riverboat – The Prairie Lily – to its river cruise operation in Saskatoon. The vessel had been in service in Laughlin, Nevada on the Colorado River downstream of Lake Mead, where the lower Colorado River has been colonized by quagga – and more recently zebra – mussels since both species started showing up in North America.
After The Prairie Lily was pulled from the Colorado River, the hull and drive mechanisms were immediately – and thoroughly – pressure washed to remove any accessible encrustations of mussels. The lower deck, hull and machinery (including any parts of the vessel that could have mussels attached) started off the slow haul north a couple of days later, and was taken to a boatyard near the Arizona/Utah border where it was determined that – to ensure zero infestation of living mussels or their larvae – the vessel would need to be quarantined for 18 days, and then have all her piping, sea-water intakes and heat exchangers tested and if necessary, purged with high-pressure steam.
After the quarantine had been completed, The Prairie Lily began her journey north through Utah, Wyoming, Montana and into Canada, arriving at Saskatoon May 18th. “It was a tense and frustrating month,” says Shearwater’s Mike Steckhan. “On balance, though, we would not have had it any other way,” he continues. “Happily, the transport company (which specializes in moving large vessels all over the USA and beyond) cooperated at every level to make sure the job got done right.” Steckhan is well aware of the problems caused by the pesky little bivalves, having spent many months over several years dealing with Canadian Navy ships on the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River where zebra mussels have gained a very solid foothold. He is also cognizent of the delicacies of inter-agency regulations and enforcement through his years of involvement with the Navy’s Port Security operations.
Why we don’t ever want to move a mussel… into Saskatchewan
For starters, zebra mussels are a major fouler of industrial, municipal, and hydroelectric water intakes and outfalls. They cause a decline in water flow and plant efficiency. De-fouling of water intakes and other equipment infested with zebra mussels costs millions of dollars each year. These, and related, costs confronting publicly owned water treatment facilities and other water-intensive industries, would ultimately be passed on to homeowners and consumers.
But it gets worse. Zebra mussels have the potential to severely impact native mussels and many other native species by interfering with feeding, growth, respiration, and reproduction. They filter algae from the water, turning it clear. (Interestingly, scuba diving in the Great Lakes area has become a growing sport because you can now actually see in the water. Unfortunately, the absence of microscopic aquatic plant and animal life will cause many species to disappear as the ecosystem changes radically.) Through their filtering activity, zebra mussels take in hazardous compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Fish and waterfowl that eat the mussels carry those poisons into the food chain. And, this invader has the potential to spread across Canada through rivers and streams as well as by migrating wildlife and – as has been the case in the USA particularly – the transport of recreational boats and industrial equipment that has not been properly decontaminated when it moves from mussel-infested waters to an uncontaminated area.
The invasion of Lake St. Clair by the zebra mussel in 1988 annihilated 13 native species in that lake and caused the near extinction of 10 species in Western Lake Erie: one of the greatest reductions of biodiversity ever witnessed in North America. In a 30-kilometre stretch of the Rideau River, just 25 kilometres south of Parliament Hill, the density of these creatures increased from one animal per square metre to 383,000 per square metre in just three years, wiping out all native mussel species in the process.
For Shearwater River Cruises president Peter Kingsmill, gaining an understanding of the complexity of the issues and learning about preventative procedures has been a bit of a head-turner. Kingsmill, a recipient in 1992 of the Governor General of Canada’s Conservation Award, acknowledges that combatting invasive species like zebra mussels is a very different matter from trying to conserve native species like pelicans: “Of course, it’s all about conserving the ecosystem as we know it, here where we live. It’s pretty horrifying to consider the potential impact on our fish stocks, let alone everything else.” “Will we be successful, as a province and as a country, in keeping the zebras away from Western Canada forever?” Kingsmill muses. “Certainly I don’t know. Perhaps nobody does. Folks live with these things in Europe and in eastern Canada and the US, after all. However, even if we only measure the financial costs, every year we do manage to keep them away is one more year where the cost of clean-up and maintaining our water supply infrastructure doesn’t put added strain on our economy.”
A short webliography about zebra and quagga mussels:
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/mollusks
http://www.anstaskforce.gov/spoc/zebra_mussels.php
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/att_c20021004se01_e_12345.html
http://boating.ncf.ca/zebra.html
And… typing “zebra mussels” into Google Images will be rewarded with some incredible – and scary – pictures that demonstrate why this is one global visitor we could well do without.
Peter
/zebramussel/ http://www.anstaskforce.gov/spoc/zebra_mussels.php http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/att_c20021004se01_e_12345.html http://boating.ncf.ca/zebra.html And… typing “zebra mussels” into Google Images will be rewarded with some incredible – and scary – pictures that demonstrate why this is one global visitor we could well do without.
A multi-million dollar nightmare for water managers? Zebra mussels and a related species, the quagga mussel, are small fingernail-sized mussels native to the Caspian Sea region of Asia. They were first discovered in North America in Lake St. Clair near Detroit in 1988 and have now spread to parts of all the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and are showing up in inland lakes as well as in the Red River in North Dakota. Next stop? Could be Manitoba.
Zebra mussels clog water-intake systems of power plants and water treatment facilities, as well as irrigation systems, and the cooling systems of boat engines. As early as 2002, Ontario Power Generation estimated that, as a direct consequence of zebra mussels, its operating costs increased by between $500,000 and $1 million per year at its Darlington and Pickering nuclear stations, and for fossil fuel stations, about $150,000 per year at Nanticoke, $75,000 per year at Lambton, and $50,000 per year at Lakeview.
Coming soon to a river near you? NOT !
Shearwater Marine Services Ltd. and Shearwater River Cruises Ltd. in Saskatchewan became acutely aware of the threat of this species in the course of importing a large riverboat – The Prairie Lily – to its river cruise operation in Saskatoon. The vessel had been in service in Laughlin, Nevada on the Colorado River downstream of Lake Mead, where the lower Colorado River has been colonized by quagga – and more recently zebra – mussels since both species started showing up in North America.
After The Prairie Lily was pulled from the Colorado River, the hull and drive mechanisms were immediately – and thoroughly – pressure washed to remove any accessible encrustations of mussels. The lower deck, hull and machinery (including any parts of the vessel that could have mussels attached) started off the slow haul north a couple of days later, and was taken to a boatyard near the Arizona/Utah border where it was determined that – to ensure zero infestation of living mussels or their larvae – the vessel would need to be quarantined for 18 days, and then have all her piping, sea-water intakes and heat exchangers tested and if necessary, purged with high-pressure steam.
After the quarantine had been completed, The Prairie Lily began her journey north through Utah, Wyoming, Montana and into Canada, arriving at Saskatoon May 18th. “It was a tense and frustrating month,” says Shearwater’s Mike Steckhan. “On balance, though, we would not have had it any other way,” he continues. “Happily, the transport company (which specializes in moving large vessels all over the USA and beyond) cooperated at every level to make sure the job got done right.” Steckhan is well aware of the problems caused by the pesky little bivalves, having spent many months over several years dealing with Canadian Navy ships on the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence River where zebra mussels have gained a very solid foothold. He is also cognizent of the delicacies of inter-agency regulations and enforcement through his years of involvement with the Navy’s Port Security operations.
Why we don’t ever want to move a mussel… into Saskatchewan
For starters, zebra mussels are a major fouler of industrial, municipal, and hydroelectric water intakes and outfalls. They cause a decline in water flow and plant efficiency. De-fouling of water intakes and other equipment infested with zebra mussels costs millions of dollars each year. These, and related, costs confronting publicly owned water treatment facilities and other water-intensive industries, would ultimately be passed on to homeowners and consumers.
But it gets worse. Zebra mussels have the potential to severely impact native mussels and many other native species by interfering with feeding, growth, respiration, and reproduction. They filter algae from the water, turning it clear. (Interestingly, scuba diving in the Great Lakes area has become a growing sport because you can now actually see in the water. Unfortunately, the absence of microscopic aquatic plant and animal life will cause many species to disappear as the ecosystem changes radically.) Through their filtering activity, zebra mussels take in hazardous compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Fish and waterfowl that eat the mussels carry those poisons into the food chain. And, this invader has the potential to spread across Canada through rivers and streams as well as by migrating wildlife and – as has been the case in the USA particularly – the transport of recreational boats and industrial equipment that has not been properly decontaminated when it moves from mussel-infested waters to an uncontaminated area.
The invasion of Lake St. Clair by the zebra mussel in 1988 annihilated 13 native species in that lake and caused the near extinction of 10 species in Western Lake Erie: one of the greatest reductions of biodiversity ever witnessed in North America. In a 30-kilometre stretch of the Rideau River, just 25 kilometres south of Parliament Hill, the density of these creatures increased from one animal per square metre to 383,000 per square metre in just three years, wiping out all native mussel species in the process.
For Shearwater River Cruises president Peter Kingsmill, gaining an understanding of the complexity of the issues and learning about preventative procedures has been a bit of a head-turner. Kingsmill, a recipient in 1992 of the Governor General of Canada’s Conservation Award, acknowledges that combatting invasive species like zebra mussels is a very different matter from trying to conserve native species like pelicans: “Of course, it’s all about conserving the ecosystem as we know it, here where we live. It’s pretty horrifying to consider the potential impact on our fish stocks, let alone everything else.” “Will we be successful, as a province and as a country, in keeping the zebras away from Western Canada forever?” Kingsmill muses. “Certainly I don’t know. Perhaps nobody does. Folks live with these things in Europe and in eastern Canada and the US, after all. However, even if we only measure the financial costs, every year we do manage to keep them away is one more year where the cost of clean-up and maintaining our water supply infrastructure doesn’t put added strain on our economy.”
A short webliography about zebra and quagga mussels:
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/taxgroup/mollusks
http://www.anstaskforce.gov/spoc/zebra_mussels.php
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/att_c20021004se01_e_12345.html
http://boating.ncf.ca/zebra.html
And… typing “zebra mussels” into Google Images will be rewarded with some incredible – and scary – pictures that demonstrate why this is one global visitor we could well do without.
Peter
/zebramussel/ http://www.anstaskforce.gov/spoc/zebra_mussels.php http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/att_c20021004se01_e_12345.html http://boating.ncf.ca/zebra.html And… typing “zebra mussels” into Google Images will be rewarded with some incredible – and scary – pictures that demonstrate why this is one global visitor we could well do without.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
If falling bridges are for real, who’s going to fix them?
Going under bridges every day in the summer, this is the kind of stuff that captures my interest (apart from avoiding people in rowboats who seem to forget they are facing backwards!)
Berry Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, says falling bridges are real. In a December 22 (2011) letter to the National Post, Vrbanovic rejects statements in a Dec. 6 commentary by the Post’s Jack Mintz that the infrastructure deficit is make-believe. “Canadians see bridges falling apart on the evening news,” says Vrbanovic. “They worry when they hear that 1,000 boil-water warnings are issued every year across Canada, and they're tired of crowded buses, traffic gridlock and spending the equivalent of 32 working days a year commuting to and from work… it's clear Canadians want all orders of government to continue working together to put our aging roads, bridges, water systems and public transit on solid ground.”
If misery loves company, then – as Canadians begin to grapple with a serious infrastructure deficit – it should come as a comfort that we are not alone with these challenges.
A 2007 article by Ellen McGirt in FastCompany.com quotes statistics from the American Society of Civil Engineers which indicate it would take more than a trillion and a half dollars over a five year period to bring (USA) roads, highways, bridges, railways, tunnels and dams back to “any sort of reasonable condition”. A New York Times article from the same year attacks “ideological influences that have pushed for smaller government and lower taxes – at the expense of our common infrastructure”.
To Canadians, this sounds depressingly similar, even if the numbers themselves are, of course, smaller. But the USA infrastructure debate gets even more weird and similar to – of all things – the health care privatization debate in our own country. Apparently private investors, mostly foreign, are quickly moving in to bail out desperate local governments in the USA which are facing budget shortfalls. In so doing, these investors are taking ownership of many of the taxpayer-financed infrastructures assets all across the USA.
Most fascinating, perhaps, is who is the major player taking on this ownership. McGirt points out that it is increasingly one major player, and not even a North American one at that! Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure Group (along with its several subsidiaries) is aggressively pursuing more and more privatization deals. As McGirt writes, “As the 800 pound gorilla in infrastructure deals world-wide, (Macquarie) is shoving other investment/private equity players out of the way. Says a source from a competing firm, “they seem to pay any price for what they want… The majority of these deals are considered public/private partnerships, or PPPs, which are long term leases. Local governments get the cash for immediate -and often pressing - needs, the investors take ownership of the asset, and monetize it through tolls which they set.”
As with health care, Canadians will be asking themselves if toll-roads and bridges are the way to build and maintain our future. This debate will be equally divisive, if not as emotional; in the meantime, engineers, contractors and service companies will be watching with interest. Taxpayers will always pay the piper, one way or another. The burning question is… who will be making the decisions and actually writing the cheques to get the work done?
The author, Peter Kingsmill, is a vice president at www.ShearwaterMarineServices.ca
Berry Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, says falling bridges are real. In a December 22 (2011) letter to the National Post, Vrbanovic rejects statements in a Dec. 6 commentary by the Post’s Jack Mintz that the infrastructure deficit is make-believe. “Canadians see bridges falling apart on the evening news,” says Vrbanovic. “They worry when they hear that 1,000 boil-water warnings are issued every year across Canada, and they're tired of crowded buses, traffic gridlock and spending the equivalent of 32 working days a year commuting to and from work… it's clear Canadians want all orders of government to continue working together to put our aging roads, bridges, water systems and public transit on solid ground.”
If misery loves company, then – as Canadians begin to grapple with a serious infrastructure deficit – it should come as a comfort that we are not alone with these challenges.
A 2007 article by Ellen McGirt in FastCompany.com quotes statistics from the American Society of Civil Engineers which indicate it would take more than a trillion and a half dollars over a five year period to bring (USA) roads, highways, bridges, railways, tunnels and dams back to “any sort of reasonable condition”. A New York Times article from the same year attacks “ideological influences that have pushed for smaller government and lower taxes – at the expense of our common infrastructure”.
To Canadians, this sounds depressingly similar, even if the numbers themselves are, of course, smaller. But the USA infrastructure debate gets even more weird and similar to – of all things – the health care privatization debate in our own country. Apparently private investors, mostly foreign, are quickly moving in to bail out desperate local governments in the USA which are facing budget shortfalls. In so doing, these investors are taking ownership of many of the taxpayer-financed infrastructures assets all across the USA.
Most fascinating, perhaps, is who is the major player taking on this ownership. McGirt points out that it is increasingly one major player, and not even a North American one at that! Australia’s Macquarie Infrastructure Group (along with its several subsidiaries) is aggressively pursuing more and more privatization deals. As McGirt writes, “As the 800 pound gorilla in infrastructure deals world-wide, (Macquarie) is shoving other investment/private equity players out of the way. Says a source from a competing firm, “they seem to pay any price for what they want… The majority of these deals are considered public/private partnerships, or PPPs, which are long term leases. Local governments get the cash for immediate -and often pressing - needs, the investors take ownership of the asset, and monetize it through tolls which they set.”
As with health care, Canadians will be asking themselves if toll-roads and bridges are the way to build and maintain our future. This debate will be equally divisive, if not as emotional; in the meantime, engineers, contractors and service companies will be watching with interest. Taxpayers will always pay the piper, one way or another. The burning question is… who will be making the decisions and actually writing the cheques to get the work done?
The author, Peter Kingsmill, is a vice president at www.ShearwaterMarineServices.ca
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