The owner of the Edmonton Riverboat is assessing the damage after what he called unusually rapid water level fluctuations submerged part of the boat in the North Saskatchewan River Wednesday.
The boat appeared to have large pieces of ice jammed under the port side Wednesday morning, which forced the starboard side and part of the stern into the water. The gangway also appeared to have suffered damage.
Jay Esterer, who owns the boat, said the water troubles started a couple of days ago.
“A couple days ago the water went up maybe a metre and a half and the back of the boat came up over the top of the vertical posts that the boat is supposed to be moored to,” he said.
When the water level went down, the boat became stuck.
“We got that unhooked yesterday and then six hours later, the water level went up by three metres suddenly. This raised the boat up and then when the water went down at 3 a.m., the boat then went down on top of the middle set of posts. So now the boat is resting precariously on the middle posts.
“I’m surprised it hasn’t perforated the bottom of the boat yet.”
Esterer said the boat doesn’t appear to have any holes in it yet, and crews are working on a plan to keep that from happening.
“The posts are bent over at a weird angle, which is saving us. If they were vertical there would be holes in the bottom of the boat.”
A post on the riverboat’s Facebook page Wednesday said they are working to assess the extent of the damage to the vessel.
“She is a sturdy girl but ice and water are tough adversaries,” the post read.
“We are currently working on ascertaining the level of damage to our girl, however due to the unpredictability of the water and ice, we must ensure we do so under the safest of conditions.”
This incident is the latest in a series of problems the boat has faced in the last several months. The boat was also damaged by ice back in December, when the river rose quickly, forcing the boat onto some ice along the river’s shore.
Last summer, a number of passengers had to be rescued from the vessel when it became stuck along a sandbar near Accidental Beach.
Esterer bought the Edmonton Riverboat, formerly known as the Edmonton Queen, in April 2016. He admits he didn’t think it would be this eventful.
“I didn’t know there would be this much action — a little more action than I thought there would be,” he said.
“If I had a place to park the boat through the winter, that would be the best thing.”