Thursday, May 03, 2007
Maid of the Mist Launch
It was a beautiful, sunny day today, and we drove to the Falls to catch the launching of the Maid of the Mist boats. This story has been in the papers and on TV news lately because there is a great deal of anxiety about whether American tourists will be coming this year in numbers. One concern is the passport issue, which is confusing Americans--"Do we need a passport to go to Canada?" Two is the strong Canadian dollar, which increases the cost of vacationing here for Americans. And three is the increasing price of gasoline, the highest price we've seen so far this year (I paid $1.07 a litre this morning) and threatening to go higher this summer.
When we reached the bottom of Clifton Hill, we immediately could see that the volume of water going over the American Falls had increased from last week. During the winter the volume is decreased. During days in the summer the volume is at 50% and at night it is 25%. It will not be increased to 100% at anytime because that would cause erosion to the falls and damage to docks downstream.
The Maid of the Mist boats were launched today in Niagara Falls. They have to be kept out of the water during the winter because the river ices over. We went down to the docks where local TV stations (from Buffalo and Hamilton) were taking film of the event. We took pictures and video, and I put together a short film showing what happened.
When we reached the bottom of Clifton Hill, we immediately could see that the volume of water going over the American Falls had increased from last week. During the winter the volume is decreased. During days in the summer the volume is at 50% and at night it is 25%. It will not be increased to 100% at anytime because that would cause erosion to the falls and damage to docks downstream.
The Maid of the Mist boats were launched today in Niagara Falls. They have to be kept out of the water during the winter because the river ices over. We went down to the docks where local TV stations (from Buffalo and Hamilton) were taking film of the event. We took pictures and video, and I put together a short film showing what happened.
Go here to see a better quality Flash version of this movie
Currently CBC is holding a contest to find the Seven Wonders of Canada.
www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/nominate_a_wonder.html Niagara Falls may be choosen. But some people have complained that it is natural not man-made wonder and should not be included. I disagree. Niagara Falls long ago ceased being something "natural". But we love it just the same.
# posted by jpatersn @ 7:00 PM 
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