Kingston resident Jeff Campbell intentionally stranded his sailboat in the ice over the winter to see if the concrete hull was tough enough to handle a trip through the Northwest Passage.
In the end the ice didn’t get it, but the wind did.
The April 4 wind storm that swept through most of the Southern Ontario region marooned his boat on the nearby shores of Wolfe Island, where he had it anchored in a bay.
A number of Island residents get their water from that bay and were concerned about contamination from the boat’s fuel and motor oil if it spilled.
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Fortunately it didn’t, and Campbell hired a company to remove the potential contaminants from the boat.
Residents are pleased there are no more potential environmental issues.
“We’re all grateful, because this is where a lot of people have pipes out to get drinking water from the bay,” said Judy Greenwood-Speers, who lives across the street from the bay. “But when you have diesel spillage of any sort it really does do a number.”
Frontenac Islands mayor Denis Doyle hopes to prevent incidents like this from happening again.
“We’ve got to see what kind of provincial by-laws or rules will allow us to pass local by-laws to have some control over the area.”
For now, Campbell is discovering one good reason not to try this again.
The fuel pump-out up has left him with a hefty bill.
“These guys charged me $6,800; I don’t know where these charges are coming from. When I called some of the other companies, they were shocked.”
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